Saturday, December 15, 2012

British School of Chicago Wants to Move Forward Just North of Roosevelt Collection Space

We've got some new news on Roosevelt Collection and today it's in regard to the land just North of the current building.  As you may recall, in July we posted about an article stating that the British School of Chicago was interested in building a new school just North of Roosevelt Collection.  Problem is that this was supposed to be a public park built by the owners of Roosevelt Collection and eventually turned over to the Chicago Park District.

Yesterday, Chicagorealestatedaily.com provided the latest on the subject:
Developer Dan McCaffery has asked the city to approve a plan to build a new South Loop campus for the British School of Chicago, even without the buy-in of the neighborhood's alderman. 
The developer and school, which has outgrown its Lincoln Park campus, are seeking a zoning change for a nearly 80,000-square-foot building, including an auditorium and gymnasium, within the Roosevelt Collection, a mixed-use project at Roosevelt Road and Wells Street. But Ald. Robert Fioretti (2nd) said they have not sought enough community input to gain his blessing. 
“They filed at their own peril, because they haven't done any of the things they've been asked to do the past several months,” Mr. Fioretti said. “They have to go out to the community instead of shoving this down the community's throat.”
First of all, the second paragraph in this blurb is a little misleading (we think).  While it says, "within Roosevelt Collection" we assume they mean it will be built just North of Roosevelt Collection and not within the vacant retail space.  We're assuming this.

Second, the point of debate is about the park.  It sounds like instead of having a park at street level, there may be a public park on the roof?!?!?
One of the biggest sticking points could be a 42,830-square-foot park on the building's roof. Mr. Fioretti said the original Roosevelt Collection plan called for the school space to be a park. He is unsure the community will support green space atop a roof instead.  
“I may be in favor of the school, but you've got to go out to the community, and they haven't done that,” Mr. Fioretti said. “Our green space downtown is very limited. The people in that area approved the (original planned development) because there was going to be a park. They have to convince the park district and the community that it's OK to put a park on top of a school.  
“I want to know what kind of access there will be, and how community use will be regulated.”
Sounds strange, but potentially interesting.  I guess we need more information before we can form an opinion.  Hopefully that information comes out soon.

What do you think?

26 comments:

Brianbobcat said...

How can this be good for the community? The school isn't going to bring density for the retail or restaurants near by, it will remove parkland promised to us, add to traffic that will just come in and out not spending time in the community, and add no value to our community. On a couple occasions, I've sat in the bar-ish thing in the Showplace ICON while waiting for a movieto begin, and I love the view of Chicago.

The weirdest thing is that there's a lot of empty parcels in the SL, and it seems like they could just use one of those other ones and leave the parkland to be parkland. What about that new lot made when the city moved Financial Place and rolled it into W 9th Street? That plot is even bigger, and because it's right next to the tracks, no one would want to live there but would be really good for a school because for a lot of the day, there wouldn't be people in the building anyways.

Paul Botts said...

Yea I agree. A growing private school isn't a bad thing to have join the neighborhood but it's definitely not worth giving up parkland for. The alderman should steer the school towards one of the other buildable spaces, offer to help make things happen for them in a spot that isn't this one.

Anonymous said...

Disclaimer: My kid goes to that school, so naturally I'd love to have it closer.

That said, I have to disagree with the 'add to traffic and not spend time in the community' part. Many parents can be found in local shops while waiting to pick up their kids at the north side school, or between events at the school (I don't know that I've ever been in the Whole Foods up there without running into another parent). I'm not sure that this would happen here as it would be a middle and high school, where the kids might be traveling more on their own using public transportation, but the chances are good that it would bring increased business to our community. The area is a bit of a strange spot, being not connected by through streets, so I'm not sure that this area would be ideal for anything other than parks or more residential anyway.

Don't get me wrong - I love parkland. But I do think that this particular area could use a boost.

Brianbobcat said...

While reading about the Wolf Point developments, an article mentioned that other aldermen won't vote for a project if the local alderman doesn't approve of it. It sounds like Fioretti doesn't approve of being sidestepped, so hopefully this thing fails in committee and the school and McCaffery learn to not try and supersede the local alderman.

Anonymous said...

Having had interactions with Mr Horton (Principal) of the British School, I can tell you that he doesn't care one bit about how this development will affect the South Loop. Neither will he have minded doing anything to avoid talking to the alderman. The school seems to think that they can buy whatever they want. The park on the roof will be used by him as he sees fit and he will do all he can to ensure that no-one else is able/comfortable using it. The company that owns the British School is a for profit organization and have created traffic chaos around their Lincoln Park building. Our local businesses up here have suffered as a result of the British School. People have told me that they actively avoid coming here around the start and finish of school as to avoid the congestion that the school causes. They even hire their own police officers and ticket cars in and around their school.

Anonymous said...

I live in a building extremely close to the property. We received a letter from the RC's attorneys that notified us of their intentions to get a zoning variance. The school would be on the vacant lot at 9th and Financial, and there would be a small green space nearest Polk and Financial. Considering that Wells St is a dead end, I imagine the school will create traffic along Wells, Polk, Financial, and Harrison. Not sure how it would have any access from Roosevelt until cars had to enter RC, go through the parking lot, and come down Wells. It seems like a very odd location for a school because it's tucked away in a closed off block of the South Loop at the western end of Printers Row.

Anonymous said...

private schools > public schools. Naturally all the lazy parents that dont want to spend money on their childs education are going to oppose this school

Anonymous said...

Have the British School of Chicago even bother to check the former (or soon be) Johnson Publication building on Michigan Avenue? What about other vacated buildings in the sloop loop area? What about buildings that were to be condos/apartments but never did? What about the soon to be former Jones Commercial High School? South Loop needs schools, but in areas that makes sense near public transportation. The area British School wants is not a good fit.

Anonymous said...

How much is tuition there?

Paul Botts said...

And this thread becomes yet another example of the obvious: get rid of anonymous comments!

Anonymous said...

please public schools are soooooo much better than pretencious private schools where kids grow up to be brats and have no sense of city civil pride

its 2012 people come on

Brianbobcat said...

Anon 10:23, the Johnson Publishing building will not be empty, it's being vacated for Columbia College Chicago's library to move into. http://www.sloopin.com/2010/11/columbia-college-buys-ebony-jet-hq-on.html As for Jones Prep, CPS is going to demolish the old building. http://www.sloopin.com/2012/06/debate-rages-about-high-schools-in.html

Anonymous said...

Paul Botts 12/17@2:55p, I see no reason why I couldn't post my 12/16@5:19a post anonymously, same as this, because I don't wish for all of my comments (on other issues) to be judged because of my personal decision to send my child to this school. See 12/17@3:39p (the one with 'pretentious' misspelled) if you can't guess why. Also I did NOT post 12/17@9:40a. Whatever method parents decide to choose for educating their children is their own business, in my opinion.

BRENDAN said...

Anon @ 8:51

We desire all comments to be accountable; makes for a much more enjoyable and even-mannered conversation.

( instead of most of the anon comments that are juvenile and rude )

Anonymous said...

Replying to Brendan 9:19, I somewhat agree with you as the rudest and most juvenile posts are usually posted anonymously. I do hope you did not find my posts that way. But there are many posts here and in other places where 'anonymous' people have responded with valid points, whatever their reason for remaining anonymous - and I say that for posts I both agree and disagree with.

Cherise said...

A green roof on the school would be a great feature, but it's not an acceptable substitute for the public park space the neighborhood was promised. Yes, it's Chicago, there's tons of parks, blah blah, but nothing "official" in this area -- gritty riverfront lots and that jungle south of Roosevelt don't count.

Is anyone attending the meeting about the development?

Cherise said...

A green roof on the school would be a great feature, but it's not an acceptable substitute for the public park space the neighborhood was promised. Yes, it's Chicago, there's tons of parks, blah blah, but nothing "official" in this area -- gritty riverfront lots and that jungle south of Roosevelt don't count.

Is anyone attending the meeting about the development?

Paul Botts said...

Right. Not all anonymous comments on any given forum are juvenile and useless, any more than all comments which someone has had the guts to take responsibility for turn out to be any better.

The real-life odds though are clear, as Ring Lardner put it and as this board's overall flow of comments demonstrates: "The race may not always go to the swift nor the fight to the strong, but that is the way to bet."

Anonymous said...

Full disclosure - I am also a parent at the school. The location of this middle and high school has been a big point of contention among many at the school. Many parents feel that it is too far from the current location to make sense. The public green space on the roof is likely a deal breaker for the school and most parents. I live by a new elementary school that built green space on their roof. Can you imagine the outrage if the school allowed anyone up there. The security breach potential for something like that is just outrageous. Private or public this is still a school with children. In light of recent events allowing for public access on school grounds is probably a non-starter.

Anonymous said...

You may have seen the zoning change signs they recently posted, but here's more details on the British School:
http://blog.chicagoarchitecture.info/2013/01/07/the-south-loops-british-school-invasion/

Including new 9th and 10th/Taylor Streets and no mention of the required public park. Looks like they are trying to go through this area's "new" aldermen (Burns AND Solis, because the city remap is a clusterf*ck in this area) and not Fioretti.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Full disclosure: Parent of a BSC student.

1. Having a good school, whether private or public, should be the requirement of any community. So, the debate on choice by parents for their children's education is best left out of this debate.

2. Having choices for parents in the S. Loop that range from St. Ignatius to the West and Jones College Prep, which would potentially include BSC, is a good thing for the S. Loop because that invites stability in the neighborhood. The choice is between a park or 700 children from the hours of 8am to approximately 5pm. My vote is 700 children (though, not all will be present at all times after school is over).

3. With regard to the park issue, points to consider: Is this area part of the TIF? If so, is that benefit to the S.Loop? Will this raise property values providing more dollars to the local TIF? While there's no argument against a park, a park without many children using it is nice to have and looks good. However, a school with children brings vibrancy and stability to the neighborhood unlike the Jungle (someone else's reference) south of Roosevelt.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

My vote is for the park (as required by law with the development of the Roosevelt Collection), though a park and a school are not mutually exclusive at this location, as there's plenty of land for both. I'm sort of apathetic about the school... not my first choice of development for this area, but it could be worse. You bring up the community, like we are going to be sending our kids to school here... I'm curious, what's tuition at the British School again? Exactly.

Anonymous said...

I'm curious if the park is actually still enforceable considering how the property was purchased by another developer. Seems like something like would have gotten dropped in the transaction. Was it not a foreclosure type purchase?

I don't mind the idea of putting a school here, and I think the idea of a roof deck that you can walk out to from the stores is an interesting idea.

Anonymous said...

Yes, the park is still required by law. It was written into the zoning changes for this property.

As for the roof deck, sounds cool in theory, but I doubt the public will be afforded access to a park on top of a school in the same manner they would a regular public park.

Considering the way the developer/school have handled this project so far, I won't just take their word for it that this will be a "public" space.

Why not put the park somewhere else on the vacant land this developer holds... maybe the intersection of Polk/Financial.