Is there a glimmer of hope for post-Daley Chicago?
Whittier Elementary School’s grass-roots community, led by a handful of school mothers, opposes the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) plan to demolish the adjacent field house and replace it with an astroturf field. Instead, they want the building to be turned into a library. Whittier school has a only tiny book collection, and there is no public library close by. The central office says the field house is not structurally sound, but the community has gotten a second opinion that the structure needs only a few repairs.
So, Whittier parents and local school council (LSC) members, along with students, teachers, and community members in this predominantly Latino Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago are occupying the field house to prevent the city from pulling what we in Chicago call a “Meigs.”