Neighborhood News

Owners Alejandro and Diana Guerra stand in front of new construction at their restaurant, La Palapa, at 2000 W. 34th Street.

: Published January 24, 2018

The iconic shark on the rooftop will return along with a fully refurbished and expanded restaurant at La Palapa, the bustling Mexican seafood eatery on Damen Avenue just north of Archer Avenue. The restaurant, which celebrates its 10th anniversary on February 14, is in the midst of a construction overhaul that will eventually grow the building to two stories while retaining its popular Nayarit-style recipes and beachy, casual vibe.

"It was always a struggle with the old facilities," said owner Alejandro "Alex" Guerra. "Now, our customers are going to be comfortable."

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Rep. Theresa Mah gets notice of her award from civic association leaders, including Sue and Roy Pletsch, Darlene Bania, and Agnes Bednarkiewicz, at the open house on Saturday, January 20.

: Published January 23, 2018

Illinois 2nd District State Representative Theresa Mah received a surprise on Saturday, January 20, at the open house for her new 2nd District office. Representatives from the McKinley Park Civic Association notified her she'd been honored with the William H. G. Toms Community Service Award, given each year to a leading community member.

: Published January 22, 2018

This week in the McKinley Park neighborhood, volunteer to become a literacy tutor at Aquinas Literacy Center's training session this coming weekend, Friday evening and Saturday, January 26-27. The center works to satisfy an ever-growing demand for English learning by adult immigrants, and this worthy effort is great way to make friends, gain a skill and give back to the local community.

STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) projects for kids 6 and up are the focus of Exploratorium at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 24, at the library. Family fun continues at the library on Saturday with the Drop-In Family Craft event, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The underused, city-owned properties along Pershing Road await proposals from buyers and developers for the international Reinventing Cities competition.

: Published January 19, 2018

The City of Chicago is soliciting the rehabilitation of a large area of the Central Manufacturing District with an outreach to developers via C40’s Reinventing Cities design competition. Three large city-owned lots are on the table for sale and innovative, environmentally friendly redevelopment, including over a million square feet of floor space in historically significant buildings.

The properties, stretching from 1717 to 1819 West Pershing Road, this week received the go-ahead from a city panel to offer them to developers. This process is tied to the international design competition, for which proposals are due May 4, 2018.

McKinley Park Development Council Member Tony Adams discusses creating a neighborhood development plan on Wednesday, January 17, at the council meeting at the National Latino Education Institute.

: Published January 18, 2018

The McKinley Park Development Council presented itself to the public at its inaugural meeting on Wednesday, January 17, launching a set of initiatives to benefit the McKinley Park neighborhood. Foremost among these is building a neighborhood development plan as part of the council's acceptance into the Local Technical Assistance program of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning.

Tony Adams, one of the founding members of the nascent non-profit group, outlined the neighborhood plan as focusing on the Central Manufacturing District, the commercial corridor on 35th Street and transit-oriented development around the 35th Street and Archer El stops. Getting input and feedback from the community will be an essential part of building the plan, Adams said, and the council has opened a steering committee to do so.

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