■ Student stylist sets up salon in a school bathroom PAGE 8
FREE Vol. 39 No. 13
April 2, 2025 ■ Also serving Garfield Park ■ austinweeklynews.com
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‘The kindest k d soul’l’ page 7
Children’s museum is in the works for North Lawndale
Habilitative Systems opens renovated main facility
Expected opening in 2027 for facility catering to those 5 and under By MICHAEL LIPTROT Block Club Chicago
Elected and local officials cut the ribbon for the grand opening of Habilitative Systems’ newly renovated Larry T. Byrd Administrative Building on March 28. JESSICA MORDACQ
The Larry T. Byrd Administrative Building includes IT technology, mindfulness, and occupational and physical therapy By JESSICA MORDACQ Staff Reporter
Influential social services nonprofit Habilitative Systems, Inc. completed $1.25 million in updates to its main facility at 415 S. Kilpatrick Ave., marking the building’s first major renovations in the organization’s nearly 50 years on Chicago’s West Side. Habilitative Systems offers support services for crisis intervention, employment, housing, mental and behavioral See HABILITATIVE SYSTEMS on page 4 Growing Community Media’s
Construction is expected to begin later this year for a 25,000-square-foot children’s museum in North Lawndale’s Ogden Avenue corridor, with an anticipated 2027 opening date. The One Lawndale Children’s Discovery Center, to be located at 3140 W. Ogden Ave. across from Douglass Park, will be a space for children to explore, play and learn through interactive indoor and outdoor exhibits. It will cater to children five and under, -, but will have other activities for older children. The intention is to promote STEAM subjects (science, technology, engineering, art and math) alongside social-emotional learning, environmental awareness and healthcare topics. “If you look at where the children’s museums are, there’s not one on the West Side,” said Lauren See CHILDREN’S MUSEUM on page 9
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