Residents Criticize DePaul's 'Bucolic' Kenmore Vision

While tempers during the Vice Presidential Debates were flaring Thursday night, so, too, were those in a room at DePaul University's Arts and Letters Hall.

There, neighborhood residents scrutinized a plan to close 1 block of Kenmore Avenue in a move that the school's officials say will increase pedestrian safety around campus. About 75 people attended the Kenmore Closing meeting, during which an architect shared his vision for the street and a representative for a company that conducted a May traffic study presented his findings.

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Many in the room muttered under their breath or began snickering during the traffic study slide show, citing elementary schools in the area that were not taken into consideration and winter snow storms, which they said diminish the use of thoroughfares and number of available parking spots.

"(The street closure) will improve existing traffic flow and overall existing operational problems," said Eric Russell, of Kenig, Lindgren, O’Hara, Aboona, Inc., or KLOA, who conducted the traffic study. "It will mitigate impacts from the Kenmore closure and create a condition that's better than exists today."

School officials want to make way for "Kenmore Green," a park-like area outlined in DePaul's 10-year master plan which would require taking over North Kenmore between Fullerton and Belden avenues. The master plan encompasses the years from 2009 to 2019, according to the university's website. The strip currently includes 47 free street parking spaces.

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Lincoln Park resident Katherine Hamen suggested alternatives to relieve traffic congestion and increase pedestrian safety. Crossing guards at key intersections during peak times and offering students free or substantially reduced parking to keep them from leaving cars on neighborhood streets were among the ideas on her list.

"Are a few trees, some flowers and lots of bark chips worth it to make the currently very difficult situation worse for the tax paying, voting community?" She said. " … Is it worth it, DePaul? It's about time you be as good of a neighbor to us as we have been to you."

Russell said the traffic study revealed the Kenmore carries "a fairly low volume" of cars—nothing that Sheffield and Clifton can't absorb. Between 80 and 115 vehicles use the street during a studied one-hour peak traffic time frame in the mornings, he said. The analysis included 32 blocks and 23 intersections in the area.

Chicago Department of Transportation official Steve Bautsch said his department has reviewed the study and "didn't have any objections to closing Kenmore to that traffic."

Wrightwood Neighbors Association representative Allan Mellis used the same data to emphasize the detrimental effects of closing the street.

"The current proposed closing of Kenmore has substantial negative impact on the community and a minimal benefit to DePaul, " he said, going on to share a laundry list of concerns. "This would leave Sheffield as the only north-south street for seven blocks from Halsted, at 800 West, to Racine, at 1200 West, when Oscar Meyer Elementary School closes Clifton for school bus drop off and pick up."

Several mothers of schoolchildren also spoke, one saying that while Kenmore was closed for May's traffic study, eight minutes were added to her morning trip with the kids.

"When it was closed, we had people racing through our neighborhood," she said. "Your test didn't include the speed through the alleys that people were using to avoid these streets, an increased commute time … As you said, this is designed to keep the university vibrant and successful, but what about the surrounding community?"

Joseph Antunovich, of Antunovich Associates architectural firm, said that if given the go-ahead, Kenmore Green construction could start as early as next year. The 1-block "bucolic" area would be enjoyed by all members of the community, not just DePaul students, he said.

"We've developed an architecture style here that is very traditional and very much in keeping with the surrounding area," he said, showing a pedestrian area with a wide walkway winding through it and a north corner flanked by a new building to replace dated townhouses.

Martin Oberman, who served as alderman of Chicago's 43rd Ward from 1975 until 1987, championed the plan. 

"We live, surrounded in the middle of this very significant institution," he said. "The vast majority of us have chosen to live here while DePaul was here. … There's been a tremendous investment that DePaul has made in this neighborhood. Is it perfect? No, it's not perfect. We live in a very dense city. … But I think we ought to put this all in perspective. This is a very small trade-off."

Residents argued that the student population has swelled since they moved in, growing to the 25,000 that it is today. Bob Kozoman, executive vice president of DePaul, noted that 12,000 of those students attend classes at the Lincoln Park campus, while the rest are either downtown or on a suburban site.

"The university got its start in 1898 … and opened with a handful of buildings and 70 students," he said. "Improvements continue and we believe they're part of our continued ability to serve students (and) the community."

Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd) was present to listen to each and every opinion, he said. His office has been fielding phone calls for about a year regarding the project.

"We're not ignoring any of those concerns," he said. "We have to listen to each one of those, we have to plot them out on our own maps in our minds, sit in the office and say, 'How is this 1 block going to affect this entire area?' There's things I've heard here tonight that I hadn't considered, so it's good that everybody showed up …"

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