Cityscapes: Chicago Neighborhod Development Awards recognize ten, including three for community design excellence

17th Annual Chicago Neighborhood Development Awards
Honor City’s Best in Community Development
1,400 Join to Honor Ten Award Winners

CHICAGO, IL – Chicago’s community development world will celebrate its present and future Tuesday, Feb. 8, at the UIC Forum (725 W. Roosevelt Rd.) with the 17th Annual Chicago Neighborhood Development Awards, recognizing the community leaders, architects, businesses, government leaders, foundations and community development organizations that keep Chicago’s neighborhoods vibrant and strong. 

Created by LISC/Chicago and now attracting nearly 1,400 leaders each year, CNDA is the nation’s largest awards program dedicated to neighborhood-based development.

A total of 10 awards were given out: seven for various aspects of community development leadership (recognizing programs, projects and individuals) and three sponsored by the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation for Architectural Excellence in Community Design. Many of the awards were accompanied by monetary gifts, ranging from $2,000 to $20,000.

Before the ceremony, attendees listened to a panel of mayoral candidates discuss their approaches to the city’s neighborhoods.

“Our neighborhoods continue to grow and strengthen thanks to the work and dedication of community advocates, who are committed to our city’s most important assets, its neighborhoods,” said CNDA Chair Christopher G. Kennedy, president of Merchandise Mart Properties and chairman of the University of Illinois’ board of trustees. “We know our neighborhoods are strong and will continue to grow because of the wide variety of people and organizations we have honored.”

This year’s winners are:

The Chicago Community Trust Outstanding Community Strategy of the Year ($20,000):
The Greater Humboldt Park Community of Wellness – The Greater Humboldt Park Community of Wellness uses a highly-localized, grassroots approach to keep area residents healthy and informed.  Since 2005, the Community of Wellness and its broad coalition of more than 200 community members and 60 organizations, including health care providers, human service agencies, advocacy groups and educational institutions, has worked to educate people and families about making healthier lifestyle choices and more proactively managing their own health care.  At the same time, the Community of Wellness is focused on re-imagining the community as a whole – its schools, homes and environment – so that it can better support people in sustaining healthy choices in their lives.

The Community of Wellness has also found ways to connect Humboldt Park residents with ongoing research studies and clinical trials in disease management and other relevant health issues, creating a true exchange in which the community is not only benefiting from health care services but also actively contributing to their advancement and improvement.

The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Award for Outstanding Non-Profit Neighborhood Real Estate Project ($15,000): PCC Community Wellness Center for PCC Austin Family Health Center – The $5.9 million construction of a new home for PCC’s Austin Family Health Center has dramatically expanded access to quality, affordable health care on the city’s Southwest Side and is already improving the overall health of the community.

One of the few primary care facilities in the area, PCC’s former location was severely limited in its ability to meet ever-growing community health care needs.  With only six exam rooms, the building’s waiting room and parking lot constantly overflowed with patients waiting for a chance to be seen.

The project more than doubled the original size of the center, which now includes 15 exam rooms, a lab, space for a pharmacy, a dental suite, a behavioral health department and space for a WIC nutrition center.  PCC health care providers can now accommodate more than 32,000 patient visits per year, up from 13,000.

The expanded facility addresses all three of these shortages and has enabled the Health Center to greatly expand its services to high-risk pregnant women, new mothers and their babies, efforts that can directly impact the community’s high infant mortality rates.

The Polk Bros. Foundation Affordable Rental Housing Preservation Award ($15,000):
Heartland Housing for Hollywood House – A long-term home for seniors in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood, Hollywood House, with its numerous code violations and deteriorating conditions might have been a prime candidate for a gut rehab and conversion to condominiums.

But Heartland Housing Inc. found a way to work with the building’s owner, creatively using the Illinois Affordable Housing Tax Credit to negotiate a below-market acquisition price and was, therefore, able to preserve the building as an affordable rental housing resource.  Even more strikingly, they found a way to repair and renovate the building without displacing the residents who called it home.

Heartland’s efforts meant that 90 percent of the units in the 13-story, 197-unit building were preserved as affordable housing, and 127 are now targeted to seniors earning 60 percent or less of the Chicago median income.

The project has also brought benefits to the surrounding neighborhood.  The TIF district that Heartland led the way in establishing, with Alderman Mary Ann Smith, in order to help fund the project, will now provide a source of capital for other redevelopment efforts. In renovating Hollywood House, Heartland managed not only to preserve affordable rental housing for seniors, but to deepen the connections between residents and their building and between the building and the rest of the community.

The Outstanding For-Profit Neighborhood Real Estate Project Award: Holsten Real Estate Development Corporation for Wilson Yard – The Wilson Yard development addresses three big issues facing the Uptown neighborhood: affordable housing, retail and transportation.  And its backers managed to secure $40 million in financing to make it all happen in the fall of 2008 – at the height of the national economic crisis and credit crunch.

The project, 178 residential units with complementary retail components, including Target, has transformed a burned-out and long-vacant CTA facility – a community eyesore that cast a pall over an entire block – into a lively, mixed use complex that offers affordable housing for seniors and families as well as a Target store, an Aldi grocery store and other retail.

The developers overcame numerous challenges in seeing the project through.  The configuration of the site itself: a single, massive building with structural elements that would be shared by all four entities going into it, meant that financing for all aspects of the project had to be secured simultaneously before construction could begin.  A small but vocal segment of the local community agitated against the project, calling for market-rate housing.  But this creative and dedicated suite of financiers, troubled by the rapid gentrification that had already pushed many lifetime residents out of the neighborhood, was undeterred.

Special Recognition Award ($5,000) Goodcity – Creating the next generation of green entrepreneurs. Funding a gourmet coffee shop in Englewood. Preventing diabetes, supporting those who have lost loved ones to violence and helping female ex-offenders get a leg up.

For 25 years, Goodcity, located on Chicago’s West Side, has been working with local leaders and entrepreneurs, helping them train and prepare to lead initiatives in the city’s underserved neighborhoods.

To provide budding leaders with the knowledge and empowerment they need to be successful, Goodcity identifies and supports entrepreneurs who seek to create or enhance neighborhood and faith-based programs that promote self-sufficiency, hope and a sense of purpose in the lives of individuals in under-resourced communities.  Goodcity seeks to propel these social entrepreneurs to achieve maximum impact through in-depth training, mentoring and milestone-based funding.

Goodcity’s service to the community goes beyond helping individuals reach their potential. It has established partnerships and initiatives that touch on all aspects of the community, from education and faith-based programs to financial counseling and construction assistance.

Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Award for Architectural Excellence in Community Design, First Place ($15,000): John Ronan Architects for Christ the King College Preparatory School – In its vision for Christ the King Jesuit College Preparatory School, John Ronan Architects reimagines the academic setting to go beyond books, desks and lockers. The school, located in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood, embodies enlightenment – academic, religious and in the literal sense, inviting natural light to bathe the halls.

With vast swaths of light canvassing classrooms and open areas, Christ the King calls to mind a sanctuary, incorporating the school’s philosophy of Corpus Personalis, or care of the whole person, into the architecture of the 94,000 square foot building. The school itself is designed as a body, with the heart, mind and lungs are represented by the chapel, library and gym. 

What the L-shaped building and its colored-steel façade lacks in pomp and circumstance, it makes up in surprising nooks and crannies, a straightforward but imaginative design that stands in contrast to the battered buildings surrounding it, and a large courtyard that creates open space in the cloistered urban environment.

In designing the $20 million project, the first Catholic school to open on the West Side in 80 years, John Ronan Architects managed to create a place that inspires excellence both in those who work and study within its walls and those who live in the Austin neighborhood just outside them.

Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Award for Architectural Excellence in Community Design, Second Place ($3,000): Booth Hansen for Chicago Park District Fieldhouses – Parks are the prized centerpieces of Chicago’s neighborhoods, and the Chicago Park District is invested in continually adapting them to accommodate future generations.  This year, the Park District commissioned architecture firm Booth Hansen, well known for their emphasis on environmental stewardship, to create the park fieldhouse of the future.

The firm’s $7.3 million prototypes, installed at Taylor-Lauridsen and Jesse Owens parks, have succeeded in setting the standard for future fieldhouses: a thoroughly green building that can accommodate many uses, adapt to many sites and age gracefully within many settings.

Booth Hansen’s challenge in designing these buildings was to create something iconic, a community focal point, while still blending in with the surrounding neighborhood: a place both inspiring and welcoming. The prototypes’ design took into feedback from the community into account, and their flexible design allows for the future addition of an indoor pool. The prototypes conform to the City of Chicago’s green requirements, and are LEED-Gold certified.

Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Award for Architectural Excellence in Community Design, 3rd Place ($2,000): Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture for Teen Living Programs – Teen Living strives to create a safe and comfortable community for their residents, all of whom are youth that have fled their homes due to abuse and neglect. Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture’s new development, a visually stimulating, low-rise masonry building, features all the amenities and thoughtful design that allows for the successful rehabilitation and support of at-risk homeless youth.

The building boasts a façade similar to its surrounding community, the only exception being its bold vertical stripe of wall-to-ceiling glass windows, transforming it into an invitingly lit landmark for rootless youth to lay their heads. Precast concrete was used throughout the building for its durability and insulating nature. The concrete exterior wall panels were designed in a signature red color, further emanating warmth and security, and enabling ostracized homeless youth to feel connected within the community inside.

With some 2,000 displaced youths scattered throughout the city, turning to the street endangers their lives and disables their long-term potential for growth and success. The new development strives to do its part to meet and beat the challenge posed by the staggering statistic- it created safe, private bedrooms for its residents, welcoming communal spaces, shared lounges, a computer lab, and a common kitchen used for staging culinary nutrition sessions and cooking classes.
 
The Norman Bobins Leadership Award ($5,000) Rob and Amy Castañeda, Beyond the Ball –Rob and Amy Castañeda could have left their Little Village neighborhood in 1998, and their troubles behind. Gang members retaliated against the Castañedas, setting their home aflame and threatening their lives, when they learned the couple talked to police after witnessing a crime. But instead of leaving their community, they stuck around to make it a better place.

Amy, a teacher, transferred to an elementary school closer to home. Rob began coaching the school’s basketball team. After Rob opened the school’s gym for practices on Saturdays, more and more children flocked to the school for a safe place to play ball. Relationships that were built on the court expanded across the community. Beyond the Ball was born.

Beyond the Ball empowers young people to transform their community through service, learning and sports-based youth development. Today it incorporates 10 different programs, ranging from community basketball leagues to multimedia courses. Located in Little Village, where ideas and attitudes toward gang culture develop at an early age, Beyond the Ball begins targeting youth in kindergarten and uses basketball to teach personal and social responsibility, build a healthy community and create positive peer networks.

For more than 10 years, they have mentored thousands of youth in Chicago’s Little Village and North Lawndale neighborhoods.  In addition to running beyond the ball programming, Rob and Amy serve as consultants for other Chicago sports-based youth development programs. 

The Richard M. Daley Friend of the Neighborhoods Award: Toni Preckwinkle, President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners – As Fourth Ward alderman for 19 years, Toni Preckwinkle oversaw unprecedented growth, development and change in Hyde Park and Kenwood. A four-term alderman who was recently elected president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, Preckwinkle’s long record working to improve neighborhoods across the city stands on its own.

In the City Council, she fought for the creation of mixed income and affordable housing, and secured funding for public schools and new commercial centers. She co-sponsored ordinances to boost affordable housing and two Living Wage measures.

A former high school history teacher, Preckwinkle served as president of the Disabled Adult Residential Enterprises (DARE) in 1985 and 1986, and was been a member of the Board of Directors of the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence. Her involvement with organizations including the Hyde Park Kenwood Community Health Center and the Coalition for Athletic Facilities for Kenwood Academy, as well as her work as executive director of the Chicago Jobs Council, coordinator of Economic Development for the City Club of Chicago and as a development officer for the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club showcase her dedication to Chicago’s neighborhoods.

As Cook County Board President, she has committed to cutting spending, streamlining the county’s operations and cleaning up government to ensure residents of Chicago and Cook County their leaders are working for them.

Applications representing a wide range of community organizations and development efforts were submitted for the four CNDA awards. Each application was assigned to a team of three or four judges who reviewed the application and visited the facility or project. Volunteer judges from the non-profit and for-profit sectors participated. Judges rated applicants on development process or organizational effectiveness, community impact and project or organizational challenge. The Awards Committee reviewed all of the applications and judges’ score sheets and discussed the merits of each application in detail.

Applications were taken separately for the three Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Awards for Architectural Excellence in Community Design. A Driehaus jury of volunteers evaluated the applications and conducted site reviews of the finalists. Their decisions were based on the quality of a project’s design within the constraints imposed by funding and regulatory agencies, the project’s contribution to the comprehensive development of the community, and the extent to which the project can be viewed as a model of design for developments in other neighborhoods.

This year’s ceremony, held at the UIC Forum, attracted more than 1400 people, including CNDA Event Chair Christopher Kennedy, president of Merchandise Mart Properties and chairman of the University of Illinois’ board of trustees, and leaders of Chicago’s non-profit, corporate and philanthropic sectors.  Before the ceremony, attendees listened to a panel of mayoral candidates discuss their approaches to the city’s neighborhoods.

Established in 1995, CNDA recognizes outstanding achievements in neighborhood real estate development and community building, especially the achievements of community development corporations, other community-based organizations and for-profit developers working to build healthier neighborhoods in the Chicago metropolitan area. 

The principal underwriters for this year’s awards include: Allstate Insurance, Applegate & Thorne-Thomsen, P.C.; Bank of America; Brinshore Development; Camiros, Ltd.; Charter One; Chase; Chicago Bears; Chicago Community Loan Fund; The Chicago Community Trust; Citibank; Cole Taylor Bank; Community Investment Corporation; Community Reinvestment Fund, Inc.; Enterprise Community Investment, Inc.; Exelon Corporation; Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago; Fifth Third Bank; The Habitat Company; Harris Bank; Illinois Housing Development Authority; LISC/Chicago; MB Financial Bank; Northern Trust; PNC Bank; Polk Bros. Foundation; Reznick Group; the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation; State Farm Insurance; Teska Associates, Inc., Urban Development Fund, LLC; Urban Partnership Bank; US Bank; and Walsh Construction. 

For more information, visit www.lisc-cnda.org.

 

via featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com

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