Newswise — Greystone houses and apartment buildings in the low-income North Lawndale community merit a restoration effort similar to the public-private partnership that has preserved Chicago bungalows, says a report from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
UIC's City Design Center found that most of North Lawndale's estimated 1,700 historic greystones are owner-occupied and offer a range of affordable ownership and rental opportunities.
The study forms the framework for the Historic Chicago Greystone Initiative® to be launched in June in North Lawndale, from Harrison Street (600 south) to Cermak Road (2200 south) and from Western Avenue (2400 west) to the Belt Railway of Chicago (4600 west).
The nonprofit Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago will administer the program with input from a steering team representing residents, UIC, governmental bodies and community organizations that have planned the initiative since 2004. The City Design Center will evaluate the program's effect during its first five years.
"The market for housing in North Lawndale is growing, while housing subsidies expire and other building types have deteriorated," said Brent Ryan, co-director of the City Design Center and co-author of the report. "Given the number, quality, and distribution of greystones, the Historic Chicago Greystone Initiative can be a stabilizing force. It can encourage further housing rehab, economic development, and community pride in this historic neighborhood."
Most of North Lawndale's greystones were built in dense clusters from 1890 to 1915 to serve a booming immigrant population. UIC researchers identified 10 blocks containing such clusters and determined the number, location, types, condition, ownership and occupancy of the buildings.
They defined the three most common varieties of greystone as two-flats, one-story "shoeboxes," and mansions. Two-flats are most numerous because many immigrants financed their purchase of a greystone by renting out one of the apartments.
In June, the City Design Center will publish the first volume of the Greystone Guidebook, featuring a history of North Lawndale greystones. A second volume, to be published next year, will focus on historically sensitive, environmentally friendly rehabilitation.
The North Lawndale program will serve as a model for other greystone districts, said Susanne Schnell, research assistant professor at the City Design Center and senior manager for economic development at the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago. The Civic Committee has worked with North Lawndale residents and organizations to plan renewal strategies since 2003.
"The hope is that the Historic Chicago Greystone Initiative ultimately will expand across what may become known as the greystone belt in the city's central neighborhoods, an analogue to the bungalow belt in the outer areas," Schnell said.
The report on the Historic Chicago Greystone Initiative planning phase, including history, research methods, maps, photographs, and information on partner organizations, is available at www.uic.edu/aa/cdc/files/GreystoneInitiative.htm. Photos are available.
UIC ranks among the nation's top 50 universities in federal research funding and is Chicago's largest university with 25,000 students, 12,000 faculty and staff, 15 colleges and the state's major public medical center. A hallmark of the campus is the Great Cities Commitment, through which UIC faculty, students and staff engage with community, corporate, foundation and government partners in hundreds of programs to improve the quality of life in metropolitan areas around the world.
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