Thursday, March 06, 2014

Unity Hall Chicago Being Redeveloped 2014


 Unity Hall Saved from Wrecking Ball
 
In 2012, Unity Hall located at 3138-40 South Indiana was on Preservation Chicago's Most Endangered Buildings list.  This building is a Chicago Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and over the years was threatened with demolition by neglect.  Unity Hall is one of eight buildings and a monument that compose the National Register's Black Metropolis Historic District in Bronzeville.
 
Built in 1887 as a Jewish social club, Unity Hall later became the home of  The People's Movement, a black political organization headed by Oscar S. DePriest, Chicago's first Black Alderman and the nation's first Black Congressman from a northern state.  In later years, the building was also used for public gatherings before being converted into the Moorish Science Temple of America and more recently into a church.  The building, with its noble Queen Anne exterior, has sat vacant for the past few years and was the well known home for a family of raccoons.
 
Thanks to Tom Boney, a resident of the 3rd Ward and local developer, with the active support of Alderman Dowell, Unity Hall will not face the wrecking ball. After weeks of negotiation and public presentations, the building was rezoned on March 5, 2014 by the City Council from RS-3 to RM-6 to allow for the rehabilitation of the building to include 21 units of market-rate student housing.  The historic legacy of Unity Hall will be preserved in the common areas throughout the building.
 
Alderman Dowell thanks the Gap Community Organization and the Michigan Indiana Condominium Association for their input and suggestions. Construction will begin in March and will be complete by August 2014.

Posted by Alderman Pat Powell

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