For those who never been there, the old library building was sure an
experience.  All the walls were circular, so a blind person supposedly
would not run into them, only graze them along the side.  The floors were
covered with  a rubber substance to prevent the blind from slipping and
to hold down noise if they were only tile or concrete.  All the counter
area was shoulder high except at the service areas, where the shoulder
high Formica sloped down to about waist high to allow blind people to
trail along and find where to stop.

Kelly





The Chicago Tribune

December 23, 2002


City eyes 2 proposals for ex-library building --------------------

By John McCormick
Tribune staff reporter

December 23, 2002

An organization interested in offering vocational training and a bank
have expressed interest in buying a vacant city-owned former library at
West Roosevelt Road and South Blue Island Avenue.

The former Illinois Regional Library for the Blind and Physically
Handicapped, believed to be one of the first barrier-free buildings in
Chicago, won local and national architecture awards after it opened in
1978.

But the 32,000-square-foot structure has sat vacant for three years after
books and tapes for the blind and an integrated neighborhood library were
moved elsewhere. The once bright red and yellow steel facade created by
Chicago architect Stanley Tigerman is now dull and rusting.

City officials made it known in August that they were looking for buyers
willing to maintain the library's architectural integrity. The two
parties submitted proposals before a recent deadline.

The city won't say how much Lakeside Bank and the Illinois Council for
College Attendance have offered for the former library. A $25,000 deposit
was required with each proposal.

The bank is interested in opening a retail office if it can determine
that it is economically viable to retrofit the structure for its
customers and bank operations.

The Illinois Council for College Attendance wants to provide food
sanitation, barbering, paralegal and other vocational training in the
building, taking advantage of its proximity to public housing and mass
transit.

Chicago Department of Planning and Development staff members are expected
to recommend one of the proposals for selection by the Community
Development Commission early next year.

"These are two solid proposals, and we are pretty happy with them," said
Peter Scales, a spokesman for the city.

Copyright (c) 2002, Chicago Tribune


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