MAYOR BREAKS GROUND ON PROJECT TO TURN ‘MOUNT HENRY’ DUMP INTO BUSINESS HUB
During her days as a federal prosecutor, Lori Lightfoot heard a lot about the pile of debris at Roosevelt and Kostner that came to be known as “Mount Henry” for the West Side alderman who allowed the environmental disaster to happen, allegedly in exchange for bribes from an FBI mole.
“I marveled at the time, ‘How is it possible that this could have been happening?’ And this just grew and grew and grew. And with it, the corruption that followed,” Lightfoot said, without mentioning indicted Ald. William C. Henry (24th), who died before his federal corruption trail could be completed.
“We should not live in or tolerate a city that allows a six-story trash dump to grow and grow and grow and not only be a blight in the way that it looked, but a blight in the way that it’s impacted the health and well-being and the outlook and the hope and opportunity of people in any community, let alone the West Side.”
On Friday, Lightfoot took the first step toward turning a symbol of corruption and neglect during Operation Silver Shovel into what she hopes will be a “beacon of hope” for North Lawndale and the entire West Side.
With less than two weeks to go until the mayoral election, Lightfoot broke ground on a $68 million project that will transform the notorious, 21-acre dump site at Roosevelt and Kostner made possible by the bribes doled out by FBI mole John Christopher into a solar-powered hub for light manufacturing with two “innovation” centers for workforce training, a park and retail space.
Together, the Chicago-based team
of 548 Development and Related Midwest plan four new buildings, including a pair of industrial warehouses, each with 181,760 square feet of space. They hope to build on the neighborhood’s “strengths in freight and logistics,” creating 250 temporary jobs and 250 permanent jobs in the process.
The project that is part of Lightfoot’s signature Invest South/West initiative was helped along by an $8 million tax-increment-financing (TIF) subsidy and 21 acres of cityowned land sold for the bargain price of $1-per-lot.
For Lightfoot, the timing of the groundbreaking was no accident, and it couldn’t have been better.
The mayor is fighting for her political life as one of four candidates vying for two spots in the April 4 runoff. One of seven Black candidates, she’s counting on strong support from West Side resident to carry her over the finish line.
“This development will be a beacon of light for everyone on the West Side. For far too long, people left this community because they lost hope. They left this community because they got tired of waiting for things to turn,” Lightfoot said.