March 23,2009 – Johnny Veliotis, owner of the popular neighborhood liquor and fast food store, Johnny O’s, said Bridgeport’s Halsted Street used to be “a boom town.”
As resident of the community for 65 years, Velitotis recalls the commercial strip between 31st and 35th streets as a mix of businesses where residents didn’t have to leave their community to have their needs met.
Now, the Chicago Public Library is looking to expand into adjacent properties and residents are concerned over losing a 100-year-old neighborhood grocery store.
Several residents voiced concerned for elderly residents having to travel further if the Richard J. Daley library branch, located at 3404 S. Halsted Street expands, while some questioned the need for the expansion.
“I think it’s crazy. Why do we need a big library?” said Donna Cardoza, a cashier at Halsted Foods for 12 years. “You don’t. They got this building.”
Cardoza said the expansion has her concerned about the loss of her job because she is her family’s main provider. She said the store, which offers delivery services, has customers who come from as far as 147th and Tripp Street to purchase meat.
Carrie Root, a senior who has lived in Bridgeport since 1972, recalls when the store was an A&P.
“I feel awful because it’s the closest one,” said Root. “I don’t know what I would do without the store. I don’t drive anymore.”
In the fall of 2007, a Jewel-Osco located at 3033 S. Halsted closed, leaving residents with a nearby produce market and Halsted Foods. The closest large chain stores are Jewel at 34th and King Dr. and a Dominick’s at 31st and Ashland Ave, which many residents to express concern over having to travel such a distance.
Rick Lilley, store manger of Halsted Foods, located at 3416 S. Halsted, for 20 years, called the expansion “good for the neighborhood.” Lilley and part-owner, Kishore Gunda, have met with 11th ward Alderman James Balcer about the expansion.
Lilley and Gunda have not received a formal letter from the city about the impending expansion. Yet, Lilley said in a meeting with Balcer, they were guaranteed the store “would be relocated somewhere across the street” when the expansion began.
Gunda said the 10,000 square-foot store does about $2 to 3 million a month in sales, with 600 to 700 customers, including repeats, visiting each day. They have 18 years left on their current lease and Lilley’s biggest concern is being relocated to an equal space.
Mary A. Dempsey, commissioner for the Chicago Public Library, said the Bridgeport project “will probably not even begin construction for several years” while the CPL is still looking at acquiring land for the expansion.
While that may be true, the Mayor Daley chaired-Public Building Commission board moved on January 13, 2009 to approve the acquisition and designation of 3410 and 3416 S. Halsted Street for the expansion.
In November 2005, Guishi and Anna Li opened a house-ware store neighboring the library – only one month before the city’s Housing and Real Estate Committee, which includes Balcer as a member, authorized the acquisition of the Li’s property.
Court records show the city used eminent domain in 2006 to acquire the now-vacant property because it fell within the 35th/Halsted Street tax increment-financing (TIF) district. TIFs are property tax revenues set aside for public use to develop areas that are considered “blighted” or need conservation.
“At the beginning we didn’t want to sell,” said Anna, who owns other property in Bridgeport. “Because in 2005 we [just] bought it.”
Anna said she and her husband were initially offered relocation by the city or $880,000, which they rejected. For two years they battled in court for a fair market value offer and in 2008 they received $950,000 plus 6 percent in interest and $20,000 in returned property taxes, according to Anna.
Corporation Counsel, the city’s legal department, said the Li’s were provided relocation assistance as a part of federal stipulations.
The five-block corridor could be described as an urban ghost town. Two condo developments sit uncompleted and 20 storefronts, one with a portrait of John Wanye and Vespa scooter collecting dust, stand vacant or boarded up as past evidence of a once-vital thoroughfare. Halsted Street has attracted few businesses, a gym, restaurant, and dog groomers, in the last two years. In December 2008, the Ninth District Police Department opened a $29.9 million state-of-the-art facility at 3120 S. Halsted.
Dempsey said CPL has looked at other sites within Bridgeport and will hold the land until they have the funds to build the new branch. She would not speculate on the costs of the project, but did say a CPL project could range from $5 to 13 million depending on several factors.
“It’s premature to say what the eventual cost of the library will be there,” said Dempsey. “We are at the very, very, very, very preliminary stages of simply designating a site.”
The Bridgeport library branch is one of five buildings in Chicago dedicated to the late Mayor Richard J. Daley. Total building costs were $2.5 million and Daley’s son and now 11th district Cook County Commissioner, John, helped secure $1.2 million in state funds, according to a 1989 Sun-Times article.
It opened with two personal computers with printers, 1,400 videotapes and nearly 9,000 books. It has grown to a collection of 51,080 and 21 computers, offering one-on-one computing, GED and English classes, eight parking spaces and seating for just 56 patrons, according to Ruth Lednicder, director of marketing and press for CPL.
The new library could be based on a prototype that is 16,000 square feet and has state-of-the-art technology like recycled flooring and Wi-Fi.
Currently, the CPL has five libraries slated for construction next year and building a new library generally takes 14 months to complete, according to Dempsey.
Ald. Balcer said community members have been supportive of the expansion. He could not say if TIF funds would be used for the new library, only saying the process will take time because his ward is behind several other wards that will be receiving libraries projects.
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