Summer, 2019

The Builderhas been following the progress of the legislative effort to find a replacement for the Class 9 tax relief program that has fallen out of favor in recent years. Two previous articles outline how this new proposed legislation would work, and the bill introduced by Representative Sara Feigenholtz (HB 2168) to adopt this legislation into law.

By:

Mike Glasser, RPBG President
May, 2018

In the late ‘60s, before it was common for middle-income families to travel long distances for vacations, my parents and their friends would gather (often over their Saturday night Bridge Club dinners) and discuss their upcoming vacation plans.

RPBG and individual members giving Gale Academy Principal Augustine Emuwa $5000 to support their campaign for an on site health clinic - a project that should boost attendance and productivity of its students.

May, 2018

The Rogers Park Builders Group has given back to the Rogers Park community since its inception. But, in recent years, this giving has increased significantly. While we continue to support a broad range of organizations and events, we have created a dedicated funding stream for educational initiatives that focuses on giving to local Chicago Public Schools. This initiative sets aside approximately $7,500 per year for a three-year period, beginning in 2017. To the extent our budget will allow us to continue to make these funds available beyond this three-year period, we will make every effort to do so.

By:

Steve Cain
Spring 2018
 

If you look at a chart of the Dow Jones Industrial Average over the last ten years, you see an almost unbroken upward trajectory that started early in 2009 at the depth of the Great Recession, and continued until nearly the end of January of this year.

May, 2018

Although it’s been slow to arrive, spring is finally here. That means it’s also time for a new Newsletter, the quarterly Rogers Park Builder. For many years, the Builder was laid out, printed and physically mailed to our readers. As technology changed, we changed too, converting our physical delivery system to email-only.

May, 2018

RPBG members and guests discuss screening policies at the RPBGs first Best Practices Workshop at our March meeting

RPBG has started the year off with a bang. With Mike Glasser once again serving as President of the organization (this is his second time in the role), the organization has already presented two events that have been both well attended and well received.

May, 2018

It’s finally happening. After not a lot of activity for most of 2017, the new Morse Avenue apartment building is finally under construction. As I write this article, there’s not much to see at the southeast corner of Morse and Wayne other than a bunch of trucks and heavy equipment. But keep an eye on this site during the summer, and you will see a new apartment building start to rise out of the ground.

May, 2018

photo from USAToday

It was a Cinderella story that no one expected, but that everyone loved. While the Loyola Ramblers did not make it all the way to the National Championship, they got much further than anyone ever expected. Fans in Rogers Park and throughout the Chicago region were on the edge of their seats for most of the month of March as the playoffs progressed. It also put Sister Jean, the team chaplain, in the national spotlight. How can you not love a basketball-crazy, 96-year-old nun who both inspired and motivated the players? It was an amazing story from start to finish.

May, 2018

Rogers Park Film

Rogers Park is not just a neighborhood anymore; it is also a movie! Directed by Rogers Park residents Kyle Henry and written by Carlos Treviño, Rogers Park is about two couples who struggle with the challenges of modern life, and the complications of modern relationships as they approach middle age. As you would expect, given the name and the location, the characters in the movie represent a diverse group of people and backgrounds, just like the neighborhood in which the story takes place. The movie was filmed in and around the Rogers Park community, so it will look very familiar to anyone who has spent any time here.

May, 2018

Rogers Park Beach ranked in Trip Advisor's “Top 25 Beaches in the US”

Many of us were both surprised and excited to read that Jarvis Beach was ranked 12th best beach in Trip Advisor’s ranking of the top 25 best beaches in the United States. This article was given prominent billing in Mike Glasser’s recently relaunched rogerspark.com website (to see the April Fools posting, click here). Many of you know Mike better as the President of Rogers Park Builders Group.

May, 2018

Coaches Mike Glasser and Jack Hafferkamp with two Rohingya soccer players who they coached, Summer 2017

Through the efforts of RefugeeOne and other resettlement organizations, Chicago has quietly become one of the largest resettlement communities for refugees from Rohingya in the United States. There are currently 350 families living in the city and suburbs with 1,500 individuals. Not surprisingly, Rogers Park has become an important center of Rohingya life in the city. The Rohingya Cultural Center is located at 2740 W. Devon Avenue in West Ridge. The Cultural Center is a community-based social service agency that serves the needs of the Rohingya community. West Ridge is also the location of the city’s first and only Burmese restaurant at 2305 W. Devon. This restaurant was recently opened by a Rohingya family that has settled in Chicago. (See related restaurant review.)

By:

Steve Cain
May, 2018
 

The Family House - 2305 W Devon Ave, Chicago

The Family House
2305 W. Devon Avenue
(773) 856-0192

In researching Rohingya refugee resettlement in Rogers Park, I stumbled across a fun fact. One enterprising family of Rohingya refugees has pursued their version of the American Dream by opening a restaurant on Devon Avenue. This restaurant – aptly named The Family House – enjoys the distinction of being the first and, so far, only restaurant in Chicago to feature Burmese cuisine.

May, 2018

After years of inactivity, Howard Street is about to be the location of a new construction apartment building. Jay Johnson, a founding member of RPBG, announced that his development group has received the necessary permits for construction in March and now has a construction trailer on the site. Excavation and site preparation work is set to begin in April or May, and construction should begin soon thereafter.

May, 2018

Al Goldberg, a developer of artist studios and apartments in the Glenwood Avenue Arts District, talks with Dorothy Milne, artistic director of Lifeline Theatre, during a walk on Tuesday morning. When Lifeline moved to Glenwood Avenue in 1985, taking over an old Commonwealth Edison substation, the struggling neighborhood began to form a new identity as an arts hub. / Sun-Times Photo by Elizabeth Davidson

An editorial in the Chicago Sun-Times, “Lifeline Theatre in Rogers Park Shows How the Arts Can Transform a City” (April 13, 2018) starts with the story of Glenwood Avenue and its amazing transformation from scary and lifeless back-alley, to the popular neighborhood gathering point it has become today. The editorial says “successful cities make their luck.” If this is true, then one of the people most responsible for “making the luck” of Glenwood Avenue is our own Al Goldberg. Al is a long-time Rogers Park Builders Group member and has served as Arts Chair on the Board of Directors for many years.

Verella Osborne, President, Legal Document Management, Inc.

May, 2018

Because U.S. criminal and civil laws are separate, a criminal act does not affect a tenant’s civil right to possession of his residence. The first order of business is to confirm the location of the tenant’s incarceration and obtain his inmate number by searching the databases listed below.