"I'm sure that only a very few people know exactly what is going on. The article about Maxwell Street looks very bitter, and it appears that the historic society is out to give UIC a black eye. If that particular historic society is that mean spirited, I can see why UIC would do something like that. Why fight the university when UIC apparently has the upper hand. Working together solves a lot more problems than fighting, arguing, and trying to get over on each other. If the UIC would have made some kind of agreement, like dedicating the Shah's building to the current UIC president, then I feel certain that the building would have been saved. But no, the historic society felt that the best way to get things done is to use cutthroat measures to beat the university into submission. Guess what? They will probably lose much more of Maxwell Street before it's all over."
I understand your reaction. When I became involved in the movement to save Maxwell Street about three years ago, I reacted the same way to the bitterness I sensed from the people who already had been involved for several years. As time went on, I realized they were justified. The University of Illinois at Chicago does not behave like you would expect a university or other public institution to behave. They have no interest in cooperation. They view us, and Maxwell Street itself, merely as an obstacle to their ambitions. They are a metaphorical bulldozer, interested only in exercising their power. Their goals are not even all that altruistic. One reason for their obstinance is that they are involved in a partnership with private developers. Two-thirds of the South Campus Expansion Project will be for-profit development, with the university's share of the profits used to fund the actual university expansion. In other words, the private developers are really calling the shots. The university is just a front.
To some extent, the vitriol in that release was calculated. This controversy
has dragged on for years and it becomes increasingly
difficult to get the local media to run yet another Maxwell Street
story. The accusation of spite on the part of the university is
justified because they chose the oldest building on Maxwell Street
and their only apparent purpose was to create a hole in an otherwise contiguous
block, the last such block remaining on Maxwell Street itself. Since they
don't yet own the properties adjacent to the small lot where Shah's stood,
they can't begin any construction, so the only possible explanation for
the demolition was to damage the historic fabric of the neighborhood, to
make our National Register application a
little less likely to succeed.
I can imagine how, from a distance, it would be hard to believe that a university would use such tactics, but UIC has done this sort of thing again and again.
If you are interested in more background, I suggest you read "Maxwell Street; Still Hanging On."
- Chuck Cowdery, President
Maxwell Street Historic Preservation Coalition
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Contact Us
TO REACH US VIA EMAIL:
Chuck Cowdery, President (cowdery@21stcentury.net)TO REACH US VIA THE USPS:
Steve Balkin, Vice President (mar@openair.org)
Maxwell Street Historic Preservation Coalition
P.O. Box 6435
Evanston, IL 60204