An abandoned school graduates into housing
Good afternoon, Chicago. ✶
In 2013, amid great controversy, 50 public schools were closed around Chicago under former Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Charles Warrington Earle School in Englewood was one of them, and in the years since, it has remained empty.
In today's newsletter, we look into the plan to turn the building into affordable housing — and what that could mean for the future of other closed schools, the majority of which also remain unused.
Plus, we've got reporting on the suspension of a prominent fathers' rights attorney, the history of Puerto Rican LGBTQ+ activism showcased at a West Side gallery and more community news you need to know below. ????
⏱️: A 7-minute read
— Matt Moore, newsletter reporter (@MattKenMoore)
TODAY’S TOP STORY
Englewood’s shuttered Charles Warrington Earle School getting new life as affordable apartment community
Reporting by Abby Miller
A fresh face: Developers are kick-starting conversion of the former Charles Warrington Earle School, 6121 S. Hermitage Ave., into affordable apartments. The Englewood property is one of 50 Chicago public schools closed more than a decade ago.
Expected graduation: Wisconsin-based Gorman & Co. anticipates the project — with 100% affordable units — will welcome its first residents in December 2025. The developer held a groundbreaking event on Tuesday. The building is getting a new roof and windows so it can be enclosed before winter.
Affordable housing: Called the Earle School Apartments, the property's 50 units will be available to those making 15% to 60% of the area median income. That means the monthly rent could be as low as $315 for a one-bedroom apartment, not including utilities. Most of the apartments will be one-bedroom units, and the remaining 20 will be two-bedroom units.
Varsity experience: Earle School Apartments is Gorman’s eighth project in Illinois, said Ron Clewer, Illinois market president. Gorman has completed more than 20 school-to-apartment conversions, creating both market-rate and affordable units.
Price tag: The conversion is a $33.6 million project, according to Clewer, with funding sources that include state and federal historic tax credits, ComEd, the Illinois Housing Development Authority and Chicago’s Department of Housing.
Key context: Some of the 50 schools closed in 2013 have been converted into other uses, including luxury, low-income or apartments for older adults. A Sun-Times and WBEZ investigation last year, however, found that the majority of the buildings remain unused.
WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?
- Dads’ rights attorney suspended: The Illinois Supreme Court has suspended Jeffery M. Leving from practicing law for two months. Leving's firm charged clients hundreds of thousands of dollars for legal services despite accomplishing little in their cases.
- Madigan charges stick: A federal judge this morning declined to dismiss criminal charges against former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan involving an alleged bribery scheme at ComEd, despite a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that threatened the feds' case against him.
- Charges tossed in slain officer’s case: Cook County prosecutors on Wednesday vacated the conviction of the alleged gunman in the 2011 murder of Chicago Police Officer Clifton Lewis, a year after charges were dropped against the other defendants.
- Veep debate catchup: Republican Ohio Sen. JD Vance and Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz put their Middle American appeal to the test in Tuesday night's vice presidential debate. In our Wednesday Morning Edition newsletter, we recapped the debate, shared some analysis and heard from young voters.
- 3.5 stars for ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’: Although it is convoluted and repetitive at times, this show is packed with mind-boggling illusions, riveting choreography, an immersive score and a cast that sells the story with skill, writes Catey Sullivan in a review for the Sun-Times.
EXPLORING THE CITY ????
LGBTQ+ Puerto Rican history, activism and identity on display at Humboldt Park art gallery
Reporting by Ambar Colón
A West Side gallery is showcasing the rich history of Puerto Rican LGBTQ+ identity and activism in Chicago, which can be traced to the 1960s.
On display through February 2025 at the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture, 3015 W. Division St., is a collection of art pieces in the exhibit "liminal: LGBTQ+ Chicago – Boricua Imaginings."
The pieces accompany a time line of important historical events, such as the 1988 opening of Vida/SIDA in Humboldt Park, a medical clinic in the neighborhood that provides culturally and linguistically competent HIV prevention services for marginalized communities and residents.
Another milestone celebrated is the 2007 beauty pageant and "Coronation" ceremony, held to honor the trans Puerto Rican community and crown a "Cacique," a gender-neutral term for "chief" that comes from the Indigenous Taínos of Puerto Rico.
"The show [explores] how to be Puerto Rican, especially a 'diasporican.' Queerness is also on a spectrum," said Anaís Cezanné Caro, the exhibit’s curator. "All of the pieces are all of the artists thinking about those intersections of their Puerto Rican-ness and their queerness together."
BRIGHT ONE ✨
Void puts a grown-up spin on nostalgic kids’ favorite with Spaghetti Uh-O’s
Reporting by Dorothy Hernandez
The chefs at Void like to play with their food. And while they may have a dish called Spaghetti Uh-O’s, make no mistake: They take food seriously.
"We have lasagna and chicken parm, but we also have confit-grilled octopus with bitter greens and stone fruit," said Dani Kaplan, co-chef at Void. "We have tuna crudo and things like that. So it’s this meshing of things that are familiar, comforting, as well as something that gives us the opportunity to stretch our creative legs."
The Void team fully embraced the idea of grown-up SpaghettiOs, right down to the cans — with the label inspired by the old Franco-American branding — that are affixed by hand every day (Kaplan’s sister, Adrianne Hanley, is an artist and designed the artwork).
The neighborhood-focused restaurant, which opened in mid-August, is the brainchild of co-owners and friends Pat Ray, who is the general manager, and Tyler Hudec, who is the co-chef. The two bought the former Moe’s Tavern space at 2937 N. Milwaukee in Avondale, in 2021.
YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️
What do you think should be done with the Signature Room space in the former John Hancock Center?
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Written by: Matt Moore
Editor: Esther Bergdahl
Copy editor: Angie Myers