Thursday, January 15, 2009

Former Immaculata School In Foreclosure


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From Chicago Real Estate Daily:
North Community Bank has sued to collect nearly $1.3 million allegedly owed on the landmark former Immaculata High School, 600-40 W. Irving Park Road. Built about 1922 and designed by Barry Byrne, a disciple of Frank Lloyd Wright, the building is now owned by the American Islamic College. A college employee who declined to identify himself says there is a dispute over who obtained the loan, but declined further comment. The school is not holding classes this semester.

23 comments:

  1. Aren't the Lycee Francais and a Montessori school also housed in this building? Are they effected by this as well?

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  2. Its alway horrible when a urban school closes down. We should start some type of fundraising event. I believe it would be beneficial and move uptown up in the ranks. Along with studying islam it would be sad to c the students miss another semester

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  3. Being an uptown resident for 15 years i have never seen one person enter this facility. Does anyone have information on immaculata school? Just a little curious about what actually goes on inside.

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  4. I also think it houses Lycee Francais. This is a wonderful building! I love the entrance on Irving Park Road...great design. If only it (like many other buildings in our neighborhood) got the attention and maintenance it deserves...

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  5. My Child attends school in this building. I can attest to many people coming in and out. Traffic is a nightmare around this building.

    This location houses Lycee Francais & Parkview Montessori. It did have a Muslim college (They own it) but I think it left last year.

    If the building is in foreclosure is because of mismanagement of funds. The tuition for both schools hovers around $1000. Most of the "evil condo" owners like myself have to hustle or work second jobs just to pay for the investment in our child's future.

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  6. Funny - this used to be a convent and Catholic girls' high school run by the nuns. How did it end up as a triple-use complex with no Catholic affiliation?

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  7. I hear it's haunted.....

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  8. oh I know. Lets split the building into multi-use: homeless shelter, section 8 housing, and a methadone clinic. I say allow peddlers to sell random junk along the sidewalk without a permit. Hell, add a new salvation army donation bin right in front so patrons of the building can rummage through the donations without leaving the property!

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  9. r we goin to have a fundraiser for the building?

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  10. This could be a second addition to the fred woods home. Which is not a bad idea especially which the number of hiv+ patients on the rise.

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  11. Checked the link, can't find the article

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  12. Wow CD you're a true american, working two jobs to send your child to a private school. I'm glad you still have plenty of time to post on every single thread on UU.

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  13. Can't we just all get along?

    After all it is too cold today to be outside and I'm stuck inside with nary an Uptown hooker in sight.

    Oh well. With the exception of one part of his comments I think the Chipperooadingdong has won the rounds so far.

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  14. That would be awesome if explosive top actually was carrot top. In fact, community meetings would be alot more fun if the COURAJ peeps brought props.

    I can see it now. Denise Davis sticks a giant Ford logo on her head and says "People, we need A-Ford-able housing."

    Man, that would be sweet. I suppose we can only dream.

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  15. Immaculatta High School closed in 1981. There's an alumni page with more information.

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  16. ohh...I love this building. I actually went to classes here when I was kid. The private school I attended rented out the top floor for a couple of years.

    Chip! Your kid and I have something in common.

    Let me know if there is a fundraiser!

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  17. WindyCityEagle - LMFAO! That is the most hilarious thing I have heard in awhile! Just to picture DD doing that is hysterical.

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  18. A lot of the girls I went to grade school with graduated from Immaculata in 1976. I actually went to a dance there in 1973. The building was at one point very functional and the school was well thought of. Catholic girls from that neck of the woods had 2 choices, Immaculata or Scholastica(it is still open)for all girl schools. Those poor innocent Catholic girls:)

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  19. This whole discussion reminds me of one scene in the "Kentucky Fried Movie".

    It was called "Catholic High School Girls in Trouble"

    Be warned you can almost see some partial nudity.

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  20. Helen will be licking her chops over this property.

    How many low income units can be built here using the new model she and Peter developed for Wilson Yard?

    Throw a Walgreens in there, even if it means throwing her other political contributor, Sutcliffe Pharmacy under the bus. After all, Walgreens has a lot more money.

    Add in some non-descript "other retail", then jam maybe 150 units of low, very low, and extremely low income housing into a high rise managed by Holsten.

    I think we should push for this, and drive the NIMBY SOIP (south of Irving Park) 46th ward lakefront liberals into a tizz.

    Drum up a 3rd candidate for alderman in 2011 who supports the idea, then watch Helen's head spin as she tries to say Wilson Yard is OK, but this project isn't in order to salvage that SOIP vote that narrowly put her over the top in 2007.

    The possibilities are endless.

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  21. I believe this building is an Orange on the city's historical resources survey. Harder to tear down than you think.

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  22. Here are some facts for the rumour mill.
    Until 2 years ago, the AIC college was run with a high level of integrity, community orientated, secular, and professional management company, whom the local Alderwoman Helen Schiller appreciated and supported. Under that team, the college provided neighborhood parking for those neighbors that had none, and threw open its doors to a multi-cultural mix of educational establishments, from the French, to the Montessori, to the moderate and intellectual Islamic course of study, and without publicity, to the Chicago public school system, specifically for kids that noone else would take; out of compassion for the not-so-fortunate community, it also discreetly gave shelter for people who could not afford to rent even in the tenements, people who were caught in the catch 22 situation of wanting to work, but could not afford a place to get washed and changed and have a place to sleep. That administration, previous to the new lot in now, came in and rescued the building from being in the red, and brought it back to the black. However, the new administration, which gets its orders from the Middle-East, through politics with insidious agenda, depleting the college funds, wrangled the managment of the property out of the former management's hands, and now are running it into the ground, and without integrity or honesty, are alleging improprieties from the former administration, and anything else they can come up with to cover up the fac that they cannot manage it properly. They all pay themselves high salaries, throw much needed building funds at lawyers to fund their personal vendettas against the last administration. Ask any of the current tenants, unaffiliated with the new Board of managers, about the previous management, you will get nothing but praise for them and a sincere feeling of loss since they have been gone. I am in a position to provide these facts because I was hired and fired by this new administration when they determined that I was the Whistle-blower on their activities. I hope this explains the facts to those few of you that seem to be genuinely interested in the truth.

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