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AUSTIN WEEKLY news ■
Vol. 31 No. 20
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The owner of Harris Ice shares his insights,
May 17, 2017
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austinweeklynews.com
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Also serving Garfield Park
@AustinWeeklyChi
PAGE 9
@AustinWeeklyNews
Fuqua to make film on Fred, page 3
Northwest Incinerator focus of deep reporting City Bureau reporters are seeking community participation as they explore neglected industrial site By Martha Bayne City Bureau
Our team of four City Bureau reporters — Martha Bayne, LaCreshia Birts, Darien Boyd, and Amber Nunez Colon — is focusing this spring on the site of the former Northwest Incinerator and the neighborhoods surrounding it. We are intrigued that, despite the great deal of attention focused on the incinerator while it was active between 1971 and 1986, and its proximity to residential neighborhoods, community knowledge about this industrial site on the border of West Humboldt Park and Austin is so fractured. What it was once, what it is now, and what it could be in the future is, to many we spoke with, a source of mystery, confusion, or simply ancient history. This spring we’re meeting with local groups and other stakeholders to explore not just the site itself, but what it means to shape future development, who gets that access, and how it might be expanded. To start off we’ll share five things we’ve learned so far.
World Series trophy, meet the West Side
A line of excited Cubs fans gathers inside of Garfield Park Conservatory on May 10 to get a glimpse of the team’s World Series trophy. More photos on page 4.
Residents vent frustrations with CTA over artist pick Some say Erin Curtis’ artwork is too abstract for Kedzie/Lake Green Line By IGOR STUDENKOV Contributing Reporter
1. The incinerator was a big deal at the time. Opened in 1971 at 740 N. Kilbourn, the Chicago Northwest Waste-to-Energy Facility, aka the Northwest Incinerator, only operated for 25 See NORTHWEST INCINERATOR on page 6
WILLIAM CAMARGO/Staff Photographer
After the Chicago Transit Authority introduced Erin Elizabeth Curtis at May 9 community meeting held at the Garfield Park Fieldhouse, 100 N. Central Park, the reaction from the audience was overwhelmingly skeptical.
Curtis is the artist who has been commissioned by the CTA to create new public art for the Kedzie/Lake Green Line ‘L’ Station. Born in Albany, New York, Curtis has an MFA from the University of Texas at Austin and has had numerous large shows in Texas. Much of her work is abstract and composed of bright acrylic patterns. Many of the residents who spoke at the
meeting felt that Curtis’ focus on abstract art wasn’t right for the community and that they wanted an artist whose depictions were more realistic. They also took issue with the CTA having selected an artist outside of Chicago and one who they felt hasn’t done enough to reach out to art-
Austin Chamber of Commerce on the move... 773.854.5848 • www.austinchicagochamber.com
See CTA ARTIST on page 5