A small yet passionate crowd of neighbors gathered in Oz Park in Lincoln Park Saturday with signs and “Stop Parker” buttons, rallying to intercept Francis W. Parker School’s expansion onto Belden Avenue.
The afternoon protest was the latest sign of friction in the years-long tension between the 125-year-old private school and the surrounding community. Parker looks to add athletic field lighting, a pedestrian overpass and a new building to the campus. Neighbors rallied against the “School and Neighborhood Improvement Proposal” before it becomes a permanent reality for East Lincoln Park.
While fewer than 100 people showed up to the North Side protest, around 1,900 neighbors have signed the StopParker.com petition saying otherwise, according to Kelsey Burr, 54, of the East Lincoln Park Neighbors.
“I think this is a good way of showing that the neighborhood generally does not approve,” said Arden Austin, 43, of East Lincoln Park. She brought along her kindergarten-aged son, who held a handmade sign.
Francis Parker’s expansion plans draw support and ire from neighbors
“The support we’ve received from 43rd Ward residents is encouraging, and we’re excited for the possibilities to expand educational opportunities, affordable housing, investments in our local public schools and deliver real lasting benefits for both our students and neighbors,” a Parker spokesperson wrote to the Tribune.
Austin said there are other plausible expansion paths for Parker, including finding another less-residential site for a school stadium. A point of protest for locals would be the new stadium lights in Parker’s current proposal.
“For them, a six-acre campus in this densely packed residential neighborhood is not enough,” Michelle Hoppe Villegas, a Mid-North Association board member, said into the microphone. “They want more, more, more.”
Among the biggest issues of the expansion plans for Austin would be the displacement of families from the conversion of 327–335 W. Belden Ave. from residential to classroom space.
The new building is a historical structure with affordable housing units. The school promises that, as part of its expansion, it will donate $25,000 per year for the next 20 years to Lincoln Park High School and Lincoln Elementary School, and that the current administrative building will be converted into seven new affordable housing units. Some neighbors say it’s not enough.
Wendy Foster, 72, and her partner David Merriman, 71, who moved to East Lincoln Park about three years ago, have gathered petition signatures against Parker’s expansion. “They’re taking away a lot more housing than they’re providing,” Foster said. And, it only lasts for 30 years.”
Beyond the expansion plan itself, neighbors protested what they perceive as dishonesty by Ald. Timmy Knudsen, 43rd, who backs the expansion. The plan must be approved by Knudsen and the City Council zoning committee before any expansion is finalized.
Earlier this year, Knudsen’s office surveyed constituents regarding the Parker expansion. The published results, shared with the Tribune, show that of 470 residents in the 43rd Ward, around 60% support both the expansion and the field light additions. Burr, however, suggests her 1,200 petition signatures from within the ward show opposition may be stronger.
Samvith Srinivas, 45, who came to the protest with his daughter, questioned the alderman’s support on the issue.
“I don’t think our local officials are standing up for the community and they seem to be standing up for a very, very wealthy minority,” Srinivas said.
