A reader with a good memory tells us that apparently it's already been decided: A French Marketplace?! A little bit of Paris coming to bullet-torn Wilson & Broadway? Mais oui!
From Lake Effect News, reporting on what Ald. Shiller told them at their luncheon last March:
"The CTA is also negotiating an intergovernmental agreement with the city to redo the Wilson CTA Red Line station. About $3 million from the Wilson Yard TIF would go toward fixing the roof and upgrading the retail space so it can be viable. Other plans include moving the turnstiles to the ground floor to open up the second floor platform to improve security and the overall aesthetics and usability of the station as part of the CTA’s “Red Line Visioning Study.”
Also on tap for development is the Wilson Mall and possibly turning it into a mini-French market.
“They’re still working on the design,” Shiller said. “The design is still there at Wilson and that design was enough for [the CTA] to determine that they want to do a new station on the south side of the street and preserve the structure on the north side as a secondary entrance."
This is one way to tell it's an election year - Shiller actually pretends to do her job.
ReplyDeleteIf there’s a plan to implement some version of Metra Market (See: www.frenchmarketchicago.com) that would be great. Especially at that location. Not only would we have access to fresh, locally grown food, a retail business like this, one with a strong street presence, is very effective at deterring crime. Seems like a win-win to me.
ReplyDeleteRiiiiiight.... A french market in that dump? Dream on. If this was coming out of the mouth of a different alderman, I might beleive it. Unfortunately some people in the hood will buy Helen's pre-election lies hook, line and sinker.
ReplyDeleteJust like the lies about Maryville...and Wilson Yard...and her and her staff "working" with the police to stop crime...fish farms... blah, blah, blah...
Typo: I think you mean a "French Connection" market.
ReplyDeleteI, for one, would love a French Marketplace at the Wilson stop!!!
ReplyDeleteI'd shop there every day, for sure --
But, I'm still not going to vote for Shiller if she runs.
Does anyone actually believe this?
ReplyDeleteShiller can't be trusted.
HAHA..hahahahah.....oh, this gives me a good laugh on this tuesday morn. I feel comfortable enough after living in this neighborhood for 5 years, to say that this "French Market" is a pitch to get the evil snobby condo owners back into the Shiller fold--it will be a cold day in hell when the Wilson El Station gets anything resembling a quaint, stylish, new French Market--if we are talking about a convenience store called "The French Market" that sells 40s and Kools...then I think that's more on track with what the plan will actually entail.
ReplyDeleteGive me a break... Schiller is timing this perfectly. Still, the folks that continually seem to vote her in are the least likely to be visiting a French market. Quit wasting our time and tax dollars Helen.
ReplyDeleteHmmm. I just can't wait for Poulet Popeyes and pommes frites to return. Ahh with a bottle of fine wine from my paper bag. What a meal.
ReplyDeleteThese comments are hilarious (and only a tad snarky). I'll believe it when I see, Madame l'Échevine!
ReplyDeleteHelen's Ruse!
ReplyDeleteShiller has been alderman of this ward since 1987. 1987!!!!! She had plenty of time to make Uptown an awesome place, but instead, it's over run with gangs, drugs, and bullets zipping by the heads of the innocent.
The only French Shiller is going to bring in to this space is French fries.
Don't be fooled again. Just say NO to Shiller the neighborhood killer.
Zees is beyond belief. Sure, a French Market. More like a French hooker and some used condoms.
ReplyDeleteThis scene depicting ze French Revolution from Mel Brook's "History of the World Part One" comes to mind: "You're pissing on my shoe".
Yeah, between that and ze farm de pesce I'm convinced that whatever sense of sanity Shiller has left may be hanging by a teeny silken French thread....
"and zen I shall give zem ze fish farm and zey shall be so happy that I fart in their general direction".
Why do I suspect she is taunting us in French. Or at least with ideas of pesce and French markets.
Well if Shiller does run again, which I doubt, the only thing to say is:
VIVE LA RESISTANCE!
if by "french market," you mean a new "CA$H 4 GOLD" shop, I see that it is a likely possibility.
ReplyDeleteHelen can paint the Wilson El with gold and it still will not change my mind to throw her out when the time comes. Every election time it is the same old story and a lot more BS. She can put all the papers on her windows to block our views inside her office she wants but, we in Uptown all know the truth about what she stands for and it is not us residents.
ReplyDeleteShiller is so full of merde (French for sh*t)! I don't believe a word this woman says. She has no original ideas, does not want to see any true progress in Uptown, does not want real business in Uptown (that might bring more evil condo owners), and only wants to cater to the low income, very low income, poverty stricken, homeless, and criminals.
ReplyDeleteI would enjoy the kind of French Market linked to in an earlier post. And I would enjoy shopping there even more after seeing a movie at the movie theatre that was built at Wilson Yard. Oh, wait, the promise of a movie theatre at Wilson Yard was a lie. So why even act as if the promise of a French Market has any truth to it?
ReplyDeleteIf I can dust off an old chestnut from the classic film Home Alone..
ReplyDeleteYou know, Helen, you're what the French call les incompétents.
Let's focus on stopping the flow of bodily fluids at the station before we get ahead of ourselves, Helen.
ReplyDeleteA French market in Shillerville.. Maybe we can get an Apple store on Sheridan while we're at it.
Fool me once, shame on you.
ReplyDeleteFool me twice, shame on me.
Maybe the Gerber Building is where Helen will put the Crate & Barrel, the movie theatres, and the market rate housing that she said would be in Wilson Yard. When did she say it? Well, funny enough, right before the last election.
If by 'french market,' she means buying shampoo out of someone's suitcase, then voila.
ReplyDeletehahahahaha!!! French Market. She can't even produce a decent farmers market. Who does she think will go shopping there? Uptown is no Lincoln Park.
ReplyDeleteMaybe they will sell the fine fish from the highly anticipated Fish Farm she wants to put into the old Salvo Army depot / Section 8 housing compound.
Just wonder what the definition of "French Market" is.
ReplyDeleteIs it code for bazaar or flea market? Kinda right back to the Wilson Mall then.
Wouldn't a market like this compete with the "farmer's market" Shiller proposes for the former Salvation Army building down the street?
For that matter with the Jewel, Target, Aldi, the proposed farmers market and the proposed "gourmet grocery" in Maryville...that's a lot of grocery stores in a short span. Good for shopping variety but potentially canibalizing for business.
What that area need is one larger shop that garners a lot of positive traffic.But I doubt this will be it.
Speaking of traffic....where will said patrons park? I'm all for public trans, but the kinds of clientel that will want to shop at a farmers market will want a place to park and the garage is too far away.
In general, this seems like an unlikely option
Notice the nervous hair flip as she obfuscates and lies.
ReplyDeleteHilarious.
Come on guys. The Wilson El stop already smells like many of the Paris metro stations. This is just fitting!
ReplyDeleteWill I be able to buy French tube socks out of a French grocery cart?
ReplyDelete