- Chicago Southwest Development Corporation (CSDC) hosted a virtual community meeting via Zoom, with simultaneous professional Spanish translation. There were roughly 60 people in attendance. CSDC posted notice on its social media pages, emailed notice to an extensive community stakeholder list, emailed notice to people who had attended prior community meetings, and went door-to-door in the community to flyer for the event. Alderman Rodriguez also disseminated notice of the meeting. This meeting was intended to be recorded, but unfortunately was not due to a technical issue.
- The meeting began promptly at 6 PM, with Alderman Rodriguez providing a brief statement. Guy A. Medaglia, President & CEO of CSDC, provided some remarks on the demolition project and CSDC’s commitment to be communicative, transparent, responsive, and open to suggestions from the community.
- Joe Caprile, Development Consultant for CSDC, presented on the critical reasons for demolition, the scope of work, and introduced the team undertaking the work (CSDC, Brandenburg, and True North). Mr. Caprile also spoke to the importance of MBE and WBE participation on this project, as well as engaging the local workforce. Mr. Caprile highlighted conversations already underway with the Little Village Chamber of Commerce and HACIA on this important issue.
- Mike Di Lorenzo, a Project Director for CSDC, presented on the specific dust control and air quality monitoring measures being used throughout the work. He also spoke to traffic control measures being used to keep vehicles and equipment off of W. 31st Street and preventing vehicles from idling when not in use.
- Mr. Medaglia and Mr. Di Lorenzo spoke to the communication tools set up for this project, including a website and a phone hotline.
- A question and answer session began where there was discussion on local hiring, apprenticeship opportunities, the future use of the development parcel, dust control measures being used during demolition, the importance of coordination with Cook County on their demolition project, and logistics regarding the phone hotline and turnaround response times. Guy Medaglia, Jim Sifuentes (Senior VP of Mission and Community Development at Saint Anthony Hospital), Joe Caprile, Mike Di Lorenzo, and Seth Snider (Brandenburg) participated. True North Environmental Consultants, who will be responsible for air quality monitoring, were available for any questions as well.
For any questions about this meeting, or if you have any questions or concerns about the demolition project, please contact us at 773-484-1049.