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East Garfield Park townhomes enter second construction phase
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FREE Vol. 36 No. 10
March 9, 2022
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Also serving Garfield Park
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M Meett AWN’s AWN’ newest reporter, page 8
County’s Scavenger Sale under scrutiny from advocates Critics say program meant to fix blighted properties helps hedge funds more than small investors By JENNIFER BAMBERG Block Club Chicago
Nearly 1,000 people gathered at this year’s Scavenger Sale auction, aiming to nab one of the more than 30,000 local properties up for sale. The sale is the first step in a complicated process of trying to take over a tax-delinquent property so it can be restored and returned to the tax rolls. But many of the lots that go up are snapped up by hedge funds and large institutional buyers, or they stay unused for years, if not decades, while going through the sale again and again. Officials have made changes to the process, hoping to make the auction more accessible to everyday people. But opinions are split on how the sale can better benefit smaller investors in the future while allowing properties to get redeveloped. “Why should the scavenger sale property just go into a general pot and then be opened up to the fastest, most aggressive, most well-resourced bidder who gets to the starting line first?” said Michael Davidson, a senior director at the Chicago Community Trust who has worked to make the auction more accessible. “Is there a more equitable way of dealing with properties?” See SCAVENGER SALE on page 4
COLIN BOYLE/Block Club Chicago
The Chicago Public Library’s Douglass Branch, 3353 W. 13th St., in North Lawndale on Feb. 16, 2022.
Douglass library still reeling after millions in renovations
City spent $2.15M to renovate West Side library in 2018, but three years later mold, water damage and soggy books persist By PASCAL SABINO Block Club Chicago
Residents of the North Lawndale Homeowners Association won a hard-fought victory in 2018 when they convinced city leaders to renovate their dilapidated neighborhood library. But just a few years after the city invest-
ed $2.15 million to fix the water damage, rodent infestation and mold problems at Douglass Branch Library, 3353 W. 13th St., the building is once again in a sorry state due to deferred repairs and maintenance. Countless soggy books have been taken off the shelves, and water damage has caused many of the bookshelves to collapse. The excess moisture has also cre-
ated conditions for mold to thrive once again in the building, especially in the event space in the basement, said Dinita Robinson, a resident and member of the North Lawndale Homeowner’s Association. “You go to utilize the library, but if the See LIBRARY on page 3
RICHELLE M.
CHI.GOV/REALSTORIES