MORGAN PARK — Following scrapped attempts to build a winterized tent site for hundreds of migrants in Brighton Park, the city remains tight-lipped about a second proposed tent encampment on the Far South Side.
City Council voted in November to buy a 6.5-acre site at 115th and Halsted streets and transform the vacant lot into an encampment site for migrants. The city agreed the lot wouldn’t be used as a tent camp beyond Nov. 1, 2024, to make way for Morgan Park Commons, a 12-acre affordable housing and retail development slated for the site.
The Morgan Park lot was the second location selected by the city for the tent camps — a solution first posed by Mayor Brandon Johnson in September to relocate hundreds of migrants sleeping in police stations and outdoors as frigid temperatures rolled in.
Construction on the Brighton Park tent base at 38th Street and California Avenue began in late November. But the state pulled the plug on the site Tuesday after the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) conducted a “thorough review” of an environmental report released by the city.
According to the city’s nearly 800-page environmental assessment, investigators found high levels of mercury, arsenic, lead and manganese at the Brighton Park lot, which was once a rail yard, zinc smelter and truck trailer parking. The city still deemed the lot safe for temporary housing after remediation efforts, Johnson’s office said at the time.
IEPA raised concerns about “insufficient soil sampling and remediation” after viewing the city’s report and called the project off, Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office said in a statement.
All construction and remediation work at 38th Street and California has stopped until the state does further assessment, a city spokesperson confirmed Monday.
More than a month after the City Council vote, it remains unclear how quickly the Morgan Park tent camp will be operational or how many migrants will be housed there.
Ald. Ronnie Mosley (21st), whose ward includes the Morgan Park site, released a joint statement with Johnson’s office more than a month ago saying a “final assessment” of the Morgan Park site was almost complete.
The city collected samples of “environmentals” from the Morgan Park site around that time, Mosley told Block Club. Mosley hasn’t seen the city’s findings yet, he said.
An assessment of the lot at 115th and Halsted streets “is ongoing but will be complete soon,” Ronnie Reese, Johnson’s spokesperson, said in a statement to Block Club.
“We will issue a report at that time,” Reese said.
“There are no immediate plans to erect a base camp at the site,” Reese said. “We are still in talks with Ald. Mosley and the State of Illinois around the possibility of using the site for temporary resident housing.”
State officials are “currently not involved with that site,” Jordan Abudayyeh, deputy chief of staff for communications at the governor’s office, said in a statement to Block Club. “…If we are asked by the city to fund and operate a shelter there, we will ensure IEPA signs off on environmental reporting,” Abudayyeh said.
The city first announced the possibility of a tent site at 115th and Halsted streets in September. Dozens of neighbors gathered for a community meeting hosted by Mosley days later to protest the plan.
Mosley raised concerns about delays the tent site might cause to the developing Morgan Park Commons. The 12-acre project will transform a closed Jewel-Osco grocery store and Halsted Mall into affordable housing and retail. The project’s developer, the Far South Community Development Corporation, expects to break ground in 2024.
Mosley said he wanted a commitment from the city that the development will still break ground as scheduled, along with support to complete the Beverly Ridge housing development, capital improvement to Julian High School and ward beautification efforts if plans for the tent site were to move forward.
Despite pushback, the city proceeded with efforts to buy the vacant Roseland lot for $1 from New Albertons LLC. Allies of Johnson delayed a vote on purchasing the 6.5-acre site at a November City Council meeting after many alderpeople said they would vote no in solidarity with Mosley.
Alderpeople, including Mosley, eventually united behind the proposal at a Nov. 7 meeting and agreed to the city deal after revisions were made to the plan. Only Ald. Ray Lopez (15th) voted against the $1 sale.
New language specifies the site can’t be used as a tent camp past Nov. 1, 2024, and the community will guide future development on the land.
Mosley is holding the city accountable to commitments made to his communities, he said.
Those commitments include renovations of the running track at Julian High School, 10330 S. Elizabeth St., which recently received key approval, Mosley said.
Mosley is also partnering with city departments and a local nonprofit to open a youth shelter at the former New Budget Motel, 8903 S. Ashland Ave., he said.
Before any construction begins at the Morgan Park site, the city has also committed to joining Mosley for a community meeting, he said. There, the city will share the results of the environmental assessment, a construction timeline and details of when the site will begin to house people, Mosley said.
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