A proposal to extend Chicago Avenue pedestrian zoning will be taken up during a 1st Ward hearing at 6:30pm Monday in the Commercial Park fieldhouse, 1845 W. Rice St. As described on this site, the plan would ban strip-mall parking lots along Chicago Avenue from Wood Street to Damen Avenue, including the vacant lot at 1834-50 W. Chicago Ave. adjoining the park. To allow more East Village Association members to participate, the group has moved its monthly meeting to the fieldhouse. The meeting will start at 7:30pm or at the conclusion of the 1st Ward hearing. Chuck Templeton, a founder of the community bulletin board OhSoWe.com , will walk members through the site's neighbor-to-neighbor features, including a forum for tool sharing and odd jobs. EVA is one of more than 80 Chicago area groups with forums on the site.

Chicago Public Schools administrators confirmed in a meeting Monday that magnet admissions at LaSalle Language Academy in Old Town will not be shifted this fall to LaSalle II Magnet School in East Village. Adding pupils at LaSalle II, 1148 N. Honore, likely would have claimed foreign-language classrooms. "The meeting yesterday was brief and to the point," said LaSalle II Principal Suzanne Velasquez-Sheehy in an e-mail. "There is no room for an expansion at LII given our current facilities. CPS is also aware of LaSalle I's concerns so they have decided to allow LaSalle I to remain a magnet school for the upcoming school year." CPS spokeswoman Becky Carroll announced last week that LaSalle's magnet program at 1734 N. Orleans would continue next year while the schools hash out long-term solutions to ease overcrowding at Abraham Lincoln Elementary School, 615 W. Kemper Pl. When the school district floated a plan to make nearby LaSalle a neighborhood sc...

East Village Association board minutes for Dec. 19, 2011 LaSalle II Magnet School Before a meeting with Chicago Public Schools administrators, Neal McKnight issued a board statement seeking commitments for 50% of at-large admissions to neighborhood students at LaSalle II, 1148 N. Honore, and for retention of the foreign-language curriculum. The neighborhood quota, negotiated by former Ald. Manny Flores at the school's opening, has yet to be implemented. Architect Jon Heinert shows designs for 1601 W. Division. PNC Bank/Pizza Hut site Four more floors of apartments have been added to plans for the former Pizza Hut property at 1601-15 W. Division St. The 11-story building would rise to 120 feet, compared to 80 feet for the CVS Pharmacy building at 1200 N. Ashland Ave.; rooftop mechanicals for two elevator shafts bring the height to 140 feet. Wicker Park's Coyote building, the Northwest Tower at 1608 N. Milwaukee Ave., is 12 stories tall; across the Polish Triangle, Nobl...

Neal McKnight outlined neighbor concerns at LaSalle II language academy in a Dec. 19 letter to 1st Ward Ald. Proco Joe Moreno: I am the vice president of the East Village Association and I am writing on behalf of the Board of Directors of the East Village Association. We applaud you for taking such a proactive stance in addressing community concerns regarding the proposed increase in enrollment at LaSalle II Magnet School at 1148 N. Honore. As you know, LaSalle II is squarely within our boundaries and of great concern to our members and the broader community. Many of our members' children are enrolled at LaSalle II. Two of our board members' children also attend LaSalle II. We were recently advised that the Chicago Public Schools is contemplating increasing enrollment at LaSalle II. The East Village Association is concerned with the impact that increasing enrollment will have on the quality of education at LaSalle II.

By Tom Tomek Chicago Public Schools has proposed adding additional students at LaSalle II Magnet School, 1148 N. Honore, and converting the original LaSalle Magnet School in Old Town to a neighborhood school. LaSalle II has experienced considerable change in each of its four years. This year, newly consolidated with Andersen Community Academy, LaSalle II seems to have finally started to seek a level of identity with a basic plan for the future. The new CPS proposal has thrown a large wrench in LaSalle II's gears. The school does not have the faculty or campus to sustain 30 more new students each year for nine years. If the proposed plan is realized, the quality of experience at LII would be severely compromised.

The Polish Triangle overlooks the Noble Square Cooperative high-rise at 1165 N. Milwaukee Ave.   Developers are raising their sights for the former Pizza Hut corner lot at 1601-15 W. Division. Current plans involve an apartment building rising stories higher than the CVS Pharmacy across the street, at the Polish Triangle intersection with Ashland and Milwuakee. Developer Robert Buono reviews plans with the East Village Association board at 6:30 pm Dec. 19 at Leona’s Restauraunt, 1936 W. Augusta.