Free At Last!

(Photo from DePaul's Hillel website)

As I am sure everyone is aware, spring break is coming up. (Anyone else counting down the days?) What are your plans? I think some people may be surprised to know a group of DePaul students will be lending a helping hand in the South.

While some of us will be laying on the beach somewhere warm trying to soak up the sun, DePaul's Hillel will be bringing a group of students to the Gulf Coast for Hillel Builds: Alternative Spring Break. Through this students will be dealing with hands on service, community interaction, social justice as well as Judaism.

Hundreds of other Hillel students from across the country will also be volunteering in the Gulf Coast to rebuild some of what was lost during Hurricane Katrina from March 23-30.

What a great way to spend spring break, right?

Community Forum at DePaul for the Redevelopment of Children's Memorial

Lincoln Park community members piled into the St. Vincent DePaul Center, 2145 N. Halsted Street on February 18, 2009 to discuss the future redevelopment of Children's Memorial Hospital.

The room was packed to the brim, with people sitting on window ledges in order to participate. 

The forum, organized by Ald. Vi Daley and the Chicago Department on Planning and Development (DPD) was the third public meeting on the subject. 

During the forum, representatives from the DPD presented potential ideas for what could take the place of the historic hospital come 2012, when Children's Memorial will make its move down to Northwestern Hospital in Streeterville.

Among the proposed ideas are plans for residential condominiums, a hotel, a parking garage, retail, and "mixed-use". 

After the presentation by DPD, the community members attending the forum broke into "Breakout Sessions" to further discuss their concerns about the redevelopment process. Included in their concerns were issues of noise pollution, traffic, and zoning. 

DPD announced at the end of the forum that there will be future forums, with the next one sometime in March. If viewers are interested in more information, they can visit the blog set up by DPD www.cmhplanning.blogspot.com