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AUSTIN WEEKLY news ■
Vol. 32 No. 6
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February 7, 2018
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Loretto in danger of closing?
austinweeklynews.com
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Also serving Garfield Park
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Emmett E tt Till Till, page 3
Austin branch library reopens North Austin Branch reopening is delayed By IGOR STUDENKOV Contributing Reporter
Austin Branch Library, the oldest library within the Austin community area, reopened on Feb. 5, almost three months behind schedule. The library closed on Sept. 25, 2017. While it was originally scheduled to reopen on Nov. 11, 2017, the reopening date got pushed back several times. According to Patrick Molloy, Chicago Public Library’s director of government and public affairs, this was because the library got extra funding through Tax Increment Financing, which allowed the Chicago Public Library system to do more renovations than originally planned. Meanwhile, the North Austin branch library, which closed for renovations on Dec. 18, 2017 didn’t reopen on Feb. 1, as originally scheduled. During the interview that took place that day, Molloy said that he wasn’t sure why the delay happened, but that he would research the matter. He didn’t respond by this issue’s deadline. Austin Branch Library originally opened in 1929. It previously went through major renovations in 1979 and 1981. As previously reported by Austin Weekly News, the latest round of renovations was originally supposed to include See LIBRARY OPENINGS on page 7
SEBASTIAN HIDALGO/Contributor
ON A MISSION: Robert “Rock” Calhoun, Sr., 64, a member of Men Making a Difference, or MMAD, an organization dedicated to reclaiming the physical and emotional landscape of North Lawndale.
N. Lawndale group reclaims lots and lives Men Making a Difference reclaims lost spaces, neighborhood bonds
By RESITA COX City Bureau
Before entering the alley that leads into a vacant lot off in North Lawndale, Robert “Rock” Calhoun Sr., 64, stopped to read a mural he helped paint on the adjacent building: “It is easier to build strong children than to repair a broken man.” Once just empty spaces, these two lots near the intersection of 15th Street and Homan Avenue have become a safe place
where people can gather, play games or watch a movie projected against a nearby building. There’s a playground for kids, and last summer a free children’s camp was hosted here. The road to reclaiming the space has brought together a group of men, some who say their past offenses have given them a desire to create something beautiful for the neighborhood. “It started out as dominoes,” Calhoun said, looking toward a makeshift wooden table in one of the lots. “We played dominoes from sun up to sun down sometimes.
It got cold, we dug a pit, [and] we burnt wood to stay warm… A group of men joined up with us, there was 36 of us at one time.” Crowds of people from the neighborhood would gather to observe the game and listen to their banter, jokes and spiritual discussions, he said. Calhoun and Charlie Wilson, close friends since the childhood they shared in the neighborhood, realized they had an opportunity to
Austin Chamber of Commerce on the move... 773.854.5848 • www.austinchicagochamber.com
See N. LAWNDALE MEN on page 4