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New West Sub owner makes his case
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FREE Vol. 37 No. 5
February 1, 2023
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Also serving Garfield Park
City plans gateway arch to mark ‘Soul City Corridor’
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LGBTQ workers k push back, page 3
Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Ald. Emma Mitts (37th) and CFD Commissioner Annette Nance-Holt react during the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Public Safety Training Facility in West Humboldt Park on Jan. 25, 2023.
Chicago Avenue project expected to be completed in the fall of 2024 By IGOR STUDENKOV Staff Reporter
The city is ready to make a bold declaration of the “Soul City Corridor” on Chicago Avenue. It is choosing artists who will design a gateway arch and other markers for the commercial corridor stretching from Austin Blvd. to Cicero Avenue. As it unfolds, it will mark success for local business activists who have long pushed the concept. The Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) plan calls for a gateway arch at the west end of the corridor at 5946 W. Chicago Ave., near the Chicago/Oak Park border. Smaller signs will be mounted on light poles near the east end of the corridor, near the intersection of Chicago and Cicero avenues. This is something Malcolm Crawford, head of the Austin African American Business Networking Association (AAABNA) has long advocated as part of a broader vision of revitalizing Chicago Avenue as the “Soul City Corridor,” the commercial and cultural hub of Austin’s Black community. See GATEWAY ARCH on page 6
COLIN BOYLE/Block Club Chicago
West Side cop academy opens after years of activist pushback Campus will train first responders from police and fire departments
By TREY ARLINE Block Club Chicago
A controversial West Side police and fire training academy opened last Wednesday morning with a ribboncutting ceremony where Mayor Lori
Lightfoot and officials praised it despite years of pushback over the project. Activists held protests and fought the $128 million training campus at 4301 W. Chicago Ave. for years, saying they’d rather the city spend its money on hous-
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ing, social services and other resources to help residents. The city council approved plans for the academy in 2019. “We’re here for a celebration,” said Ald. Emma Mitts (37th). “I think this is See COP ACADEMY on page 5
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