Chicago’s ‘Soul City’ is still waiting for its landmark
<p>Since 2020, residents of Chicago’s Austin neighborhood have been waiting for the city to erect a gateway arch at the entrance of its Soul City Corridor, the stretch of Chicago Avenue from Austin Boulevard to Cicero Avenue.</p><p>They were thrilled when an artist, Bernard Williams, was selected and renderings were drawn up. And last year, Illinois designated a larger segment of Austin as Soul City, <a class="Link" href="https://dceo.illinois.gov/oe3/il-state-designated-cultural-districts.html" target="_blank" ><u>one of 15 official cultural districts</u></a> in the state, paving the way for $200,000 in additional monies to boost the neighborhood.</p><p>But the gateway construction has stalled, leaving the burgeoning development of Black business, arts and culture unidentifiable to those driving from the west suburbs into the city.
Reported by 1 outlet — Chicago Sun-Times. See all sources ↓
<p>Since 2020, residents of Chicago’s Austin neighborhood have been waiting for the city to erect a gateway arch at the entrance of its Soul City Corridor, the stretch of Chicago Avenue from Austin Boulevard to Cicero Avenue.</p><p>They were thrilled when an artist, Bernard Williams, was selected and renderings were drawn up. And last year, Illinois designated a larger segment of Austin as Soul City, <a class="Link" href="https://dceo.illinois.gov/oe3/il-state-designated-cultural-districts.html" target="_blank" ><u>one of 15 official cultural districts</u></a> in the state, paving the way for $200,000 in additional monies to boost the neighborhood.</p><p>But the gateway construction has stalled, leaving the burgeoning development of Black business, arts and culture unidentifiable to those driving from the west suburbs into the city. The delay over a single symbol illustrates how bureaucratic the process to create a cultural district in Illinois can be.</p><div class="Enhancement" data-align-center> <div class="Enhancement-item" data-crop=""> <figure class="Figure"><a class="AnchorLink" id="image-220000" name="image-220000"></a> <picture data-crop="medium"> <source type="image/webp" width="490" height="275" data-srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/2c2a6e9/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2500x1403+0+132/resize/490x275!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F00%2F77%2Ff76ea3fa4487a6511c637cdea0fd%2Fquarterzip-120825-014.png 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/9b9e1a5/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2500x1403+0+132/resize/980x550!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F00%2F77%2Ff76ea3fa4487a6511c637cdea0fd%2Fquarterzip-120825-014.png 2x" data-lazy-load="true" srcset="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" /> <source width="490" height="275" data-srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/c4fe4d2/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2500x1403+0+132/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F00%2F77%2Ff76ea3fa4487a6511c637cdea0fd%2Fquarterzip-120825-014.png" data-lazy-load="true" srcset="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" /> <img class="Image" alt="Event co-organizer Corey DooleyJohnson smiles during the “Chicago Quarter Zip Link Up” at Shawn Michelle's Homemade Ice Cream in Bronzeville on the South Side, Sunday, Dec. " srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/c4fe4d2/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2500x1403+0+132/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F00%2F77%2Ff76ea3fa4487a6511c637cdea0fd%2Fquarterzip-120825-014.png 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/352716c/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2500x1403+0+132/resize/980x550!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F00%2F77%2Ff76ea3fa4487a6511c637cdea0fd%2Fquarterzip-120825-014.png 2x" width="490" height="275" data-src="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/c4fe4d2/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2500x1403+0+132/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F00%2F77%2Ff76ea3fa4487a6511c637cdea0fd%2Fquarterzip-120825-014.png" data-lazy-load="true" src="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" > </picture> <div class="Figure-content"><figcaption class="Figure-caption"><p>Years ago, as a college student living in Oak Park and working in neighboring Austin, Corey DooleyJohnson saw the stark difference between the affluent suburb and distressed city neighborhood, separated only by Austin Boulevard.
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- What's the story?
- <p>Since 2020, residents of Chicago’s Austin neighborhood have been waiting for the city to erect a gateway arch at the entrance of its Soul City Corridor, the stretch of Chicago Avenue from Austin Boulevard to Cicero Avenue.</p><p>They were thrilled when an artist, Bernard Williams, was selected and renderings were drawn up. And last year, Illinois designated a larger segment of Austin as Soul City, <a class="Link" href="https://dceo.illinois.gov/oe3/il-state-designated-cultural-districts.html" target="_blank" ><u>one of 15 official cultural districts</u></a> in the state, paving the way for $200,000 in additional monies to boost the neighborhood.</p><p>But the gateway construction has stalled, leaving the burgeoning development of Black business, arts and culture unidentifiable to those driving from the west suburbs into the city.
- How widely is it covered?
- 1 outlet, average source rating 6.0/10.
- When was it last updated?
- 2m ago.
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Chicago’s ‘Soul City’ is still waiting for its landmark
Sources1TypeCoverageChicago Sun-Times