Stateway Gardens
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Stateway Gardens | |
 |
|
| Location | Chicago |
| Status | Demolished |
| Constructed | 1955-1958 |
| Demolished | 1996-2007 |
| Governing Body |
Chicago Housing Authority |
Stateway Gardens was a Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) public housing project in the Bronzeville neighborhood of the South Side of Chicago, alongside the Dan Ryan Expressway, adjacent to the former Robert Taylor Homes.Stateway Gardens was home to people living in mid- and high-rise apartment buildings. Over the years, gang violence and neglect created terrible conditions for the residents in Stateway.
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[edit] Construction
In 1955, Construction at Stateway Gardens began, with 1,644 units planned in eight high-rise buildings. Total cost for the project was $22 million. Three years later, construction was complete and approximately 3,000 people moved in. In 1978, a major CHA renovation plan costing $106.2 million was undertaken. This project rehabilitated Stateway Gardens, Robert Taylor Homes and most of the ABLA Homes on Chicago's West Side.
[edit] Problems
In 1984, Stateway Gardens was within the sixth poorest U.S. census tracts, according to a Roosevelt University study. Cabrini-Green on the North Side ranked seventh in the same study. Amid rising crime in CHA developments in the early 1980s, the Chicago Police Department launched a Public Housing Crime Unit to replace private security guards at those sites. In 1988, the South Side's Wentworth Police District (which included Stateway Gardens and the Robert Taylor Homes) had 67 homicides, the highest of any district in the city.
[edit] Reorganization
The Federal Government created Housing Opportunities for People Everywhere (known as HOPE VI) in 1993 as a way to provide funds for cities to demolish dilapidated public-housing units and replace them with mixed-income communities. In 1995, Federal officials seized control of all Chicago Housing Authority holdings and property amid allegations of corruption and graft. Four years later, the CHA successfully left federal receivership.
[edit] Demolition
In 1996, demolition of Cabrini-Green began. This marked the start of eventually came to be known as the Chicago Housing Authority's Plan for Transformation. One year later, demolition began at the Robert Taylor Homes. In 2000, the CHA formally approved the 10-year Plan for Transformation to remake public housing and demolition began at Stateway Gardens.
In October of 2006, families living in the last remaining building (3651-53 S. Federal St.) at Stateway Gardens were scheduled to leave. The building was finally demolished in June of 2007, making way for Phase 1 of the mixed income development Park Boulevard, of which half was already completed.
