$18M Youth Center On Way to Grand Crossing

CHICAGO-An $18-million youth center is the next piece in the redevelopment puzzle in the Grand Crossing neighborhood. The three-story, 74,000-sf gymnasium and theater at 7155-59 S. South Chicago Ave. will be home to the South Shore Drill Team.

After getting 21 parcels worth $54,000 from the city for $1, the Gary Comer Science and Education Foundation is paying for the project, the fourth in the 73rd and University redevelopment area it has helped finance. That includes building 90 single-family homes over the next three years and renovations to Paul Revere Elementary School, which counts Land’s End catalog company founder Gary Comer as an alumnus.

Plans are in the works for additional improvements to the neighborhood, says Lisa Hope-Washington of the Department of Planning and Development.