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AUSTIN WEEKLY news ■
Vol. 31 No. 37
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Commissioner Boykin circulating petitions for board prez
, PAGE 4
September 13, 2017
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Meett Ki M Kim FFoxx, page 3
Historic Austin building’s future uncertain
Residents want the deteriorating Laramie State Bank to be redeveloped By XUEER ZHANG AustinTalks
A court hearing in Cook County Circuit Court last week put the long vacant and deteriorating Laramie State Bank building under the spotlight – and its future still uncertain. A city inspection done in late July following a 311 complaint determined the property was “insecure,” with deterioration found both inside and outside the nearly century-old building. The two-floor building, located at 5200 W. Chicago Ave., was designated a Chicago landmark in 1995 due to its iconic Art Deco style. “What we are trying to avoid is demolition,” the city employee Glenn Angel told Judge Lisa A. Marino. In attendance at last Wednesday’s hearing were the building’s owners, city officials, concerned residents and preservation advocacy groups – all there to hear about potential redevelopment of the site. The Laramie State Bank has been boarded up due to multiple violations of the See LARAMIE BUILDING on page 10
ALEXA ROGALS/Staff Photographer
OUTREACH: Gubernatorial candidate J.B. Pritzker shakes hands with attendees on Sept. 2, during the opening of his campaign office at 5847 W. Chicago Ave. in Austin.
Pritzker opens West Side office
Gubernatorial candidate opens campaign office in Austin By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor
During the opening of a campaign office in Austin on Sept. 2, Illinois gubernatorial
candidate and billionaire businessman J.B. Pritzker — who’s widely considered to be the frontrunner in the Democratic primary race — explained what he said is the key to lower property taxes in already heavily taxed municipalities like Oak Park. He also laid out a range of proposals that he promised to push if elected. The main reason for high property taxes, Pritzker said, was the state’s chronically underfunded public schools. “The biggest challenge is that the state
of Illinois only puts up about a quarter of the money for school funding all across the state,” Pritzker said. “So roughly threequarters of that comes from local property taxes. A little, tiny bit comes from the federal government. “In an average state in the country, about half of the money [for public education] comes from the state and half from local property taxes. Illinois has consistently
Austin Chamber of Commerce on the move... 773.854.5848 • www.austinchicagochamber.com
See PRITZKER on page 4