Update: There will be a vigil today at 4 pm at the site of the demolition.
Parents, Community Members Hold Vigil to Demand New Fieldhouse at Whittier Elementary La Casita Community Center Destroyed by Chicago Public Schools Early This Morning
Chicago 8/17 — Saturday 8/17, at 4pm, parents, teachers, community members, and supporters from around the city will hold a vigil at Whittier Elementary, at 23rd Street and Damen, to demand a new fieldhouse be built after the La Casita community center at Whittier was destroyed early this morning by Chicago Public Schools.
Supporters of La Casita began gathering last night when a demolition crew arrived unannounced at Whittier with orders to demolish the fieldhouse. They staged an overnight protest, attempting to stop the destruction of La Casita. In 2010, parents held a 43-day sit-in to turn the unused fieldhouse at Whittier Elementary into the La Casita community center and library.
“Alderman Solis and Chicago Public Schools have broken every commitment they have ever made to this community,” says Gema Gaete, a Whittier community member. “We demand a new fieldhouse. The community will not stand by and let them turn Whittier’s land into a playground for private school kids. The Mayor and Alderman Solis are engaged in ethnic cleansing, trying to push low-income Latino students out of this neighborhood.”
Alderman Solis and Chicago Public Schools officials promised to meet with Whittier parents this morning, but later refused to meet with parents at the school. At least 8 people were arrested today attempting to defend La Casita. They are being held at the District 10 police station, at 3315 W Ogden Ave. Supporters have set up a We Pay fund for their legal support, which has raised nearly $1,000 in just a few hours: https://www.wepay.com/donations/la-casita-the-struggle-continues
Report from Alex Parker and Erica Demarest for DNAinfo Chicago
PILSEN — The Whittier Elementary School fieldhouse, the scene of a much publicized sit-in in 2010, was demolished Saturday after crews surprised a class of dance students and ordered them out of the building Friday night.
Activists, some of whom participated in the sit-in that kept the building from being turned into a soccer field for a private school, kept a vigil in front of the building from 6 p.m. until it was torn down. The marched around the neighborhood before returning to the site of the building.
They complained Chicago Public Schools, which owns the building, gave no prior notice of the plans to raze it. Activists thought they had won a reprieve last night, when CPS agreed to meet with them this morning. Ald. Danny Solis (25th) said last night on his Facebook page he would attend the meeting, as well.
But that meeting never happened. A CPS spokeswoman said the Whittier Parents Committee declined the district’s offer to meet. Parents said CPS said the meeting would take place away from La Casita, a condition that was not met favorably.
Solis, meanwhile, did not appear at a planned event at Benito Juarez Academy. No one answered the phone at his ward office. An ABC7 reporter tweeted she was told Solis was out of town and would not be commenting.
“He just destroyed a public library. He could have stepped up like he did last time and stopped it if he really wanted to,” said Gema Gaete, a Whittier parent who participated in the 2010 sit in, and attempted to set up a meeting with CPS.
“I think they’re going to move ahead and get all of this accomplished today,” said former Whittier teacher Noreen Guetkanst before crews razed the building. “It’s so sneaky and underhanded and dishonest.”
Activists asked construction workers for work permits, forcing them to leave to retrieve them this morning. They blocked an alley and the main entrance so construction vehicles could not access the site, but a bulldozer drove through the fence surrounding it, allowing workers and equipment to enter.
Activists then rushed the building, linking arms trying to prevent the demolition. Witnesses said at least 15 people were arrested, including one woman who was carried about by four police officers.
The fieldhouse, now a community center called La Casita, was occupied with students learning Aztec dance Friday evening, when CPS representatives arrived, explaining the building was due to be razed and telling them to leave, people on the scene said. At least three people were arrested, they said.
At its peak, as many as 200 people stood outside the property, which was fenced off and guarded by Chicago police officers. Protestors questioned said CPS staff arrived with no prior notice. One said it reminded him of Mayor Richard M. Daley’s demolition of Meigs Field.
“Why would they do that on a Friday evening?” asked Susana Findley, who teaches classes at La Casita. “It’s underhanded stuff.”
Roxana Licona, 34, a community member who teaches Aztec dance at La Casita was there when unidentified men came into the building and told them it was being torn down.
“They were aggressive with the kids and parents,” she said. She saw donated book and computers being removed from the building, and stayed the night in front of it.
“I’m more than tired,” she said. “I’m mad.”
A CPS spokeswoman said the building was unsafe and its condition had been a point of discussion with a parents council for years, and would be turned into a turf field, playground and two basketball courts for the community.
“The Field House at Whittier Elementary School has been deemed unsafe for occupancy over the last three years due to its advance state of deterioration and threat of the roof caving in. To protect the health and safety of our school community, CPS must take immediate action before students and staff return for the start of the school year on August 26,” said CPS spokeswoman Becky Carroll.
A report from a structural engineering firm prepared earlier this month for CPS noted the building “is in a very advanced state of deterioration.”
Community members denied those charges, however, and said their own structural engineering firm’s report backed their claims.
Photos of the demolition and protest:
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Here is a News RoundUp from the Chicago Teachers Union (They will continue to update their website):
Updates from confrontation between parents, CPS crews at Whittier Elementary (Sun-Times)
http://voices.suntimes.com/news/breaking-news/updates-from-attempted-demolition-at-whittier-elementary/
Demolition of Whittier Field House Underway (WMAQ TV)
http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Pilsen-Parents-Protest-Demolition-of-Dilapidated-Field-House-220040171.html
Near West Side fieldhouse torn down despite community protests (Tribune)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-whittier-school-chicago-fieldhouse-protest,0,6797643.story
Whittier School demolition protest as building comes down; parents arrested (WLS TV)
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=9209661
Pilsen residents sit-in, protest demolition at Whittier Elementary (Sun-Times)
http://wgntv.com/2013/08/17/pilsen-residents-sit-in-protest-demolition-at-whittier-elementary/
Pilsen parents call fieldhouse demolition a ‘betrayal’ — CPS cites safety concerns (WGN TV)
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/21984396-418/pilsen-parents-call-fieldhouse-demolition-a-betryal-cps-cites-safety-concerns.html
BREAKING: Rahm Sends in Police to Demolish La Casita (Daily Kos)
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/08/17/1231807/-BREAKING-Rahm-Sends-in-Police-to-Demolish-La-Casita#
Whittier: What Fanned the Flames (Chicago Reader)
http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/whittier-elementary-pilsen-library-field-house/Content?oid=2699244
Extensive coverage at Substance News
http://www.substancenews.net/
CPS Begins Demolition of Whittier Elementary Fieldhouse Overnight [UPDATE] (Chicagoist)
http://chicagoist.com/2013/08/17/cps_begins_demolition_of_whittier_e.php
