Ida B. Wells empties last tenants

¶ Public housing complex being razed to make room for mixed development

The last of the residents of Ida B. Wells are preparing to leave what has been their home for upwards of 50 years.

“I’m going to miss all this,” said Tommy Edwards, a 50-year resident of Ida B. Wells.

Several in the complex said that they had not moved because they were hesitant to leave the neighborhood they had lived in for years — that some had grown up in.

“It’s going to take some time for me to adjust to [a different] neighborhood,” said Maurice Grey, who has lived in our near Ida B. Wells for 31 years. “You can’t expect me to adjust overnight.”

Residents were given 30 days to vacate at the end of August.

“We’re giving the notice based on safety, and we’re moving them out,” Bryan Zises, a spokesman for the Chicago Housing Authority, said Thursday. “The buildings are 50 to 60 years old and suffering from maintenance problems that stem from a lack of HUD funding from the late ’60s to early ’70s.” Zises said.

The Ida B. Wells, Madden Park and Clarence Darrow homes are being demolished in preparation for the new mixed-income development Oakwood Shores. Zises estimated about 70 families were living in the Ida B. Wells project when the notice to vacate was served. Zises said about 20 families so far have taken Housing Choice Vouchers and sought homes in the private market or have moved to other public housing complexes.

“I think everyone’s going to be out by the end of the month,” Zises said.

CHA has secured housing for former-Wells residents in other public housing complexes — such as Lowden Homes, 9446 S. Wentworth Ave., and Trumbull Park Homes, 2437 E. 106th St. — and is paying all moving expenses and providing on-site assistants to help people relocate.

“They want to relocate us where they want us to go,” Johnson said. “They’re shipping us [to other public housing],” said Crystal Johnson, a 15-year resident of Ida B. Wells. “They’re going to tear that down soon, too.”

“Things are happening so fast,” Grey said.

“We’re definitely sympathetic with the burden moving is.” Zises said. “But, it’s just become too unsafe.”

There’s an older woman who is the last one in that building, Johnson said pointing to the neighboring complex. There are no lights in the hallway, so every night she comes home and walks into that dark building alone, she said.

“On one hand they’re upset we give them only 30 days notice,” Zises said. “On the other hand this woman needs to get out of this building. I think we all agree, that’s unsafe.”

The vast majority of Ida B. Wells 14 three-story brick buildings are now boarded up and cleared in preparation for demolition.

“If nine out of ten of your neighbors have moved and buildings are being torn down, you’re living in a vacant building essentially,” Zises said. “I have a hard time imagining people don’t think it’s time for them to move pretty soon.”

Former residents of the Ida B. Wells public housing development, 3831 S. Martin Luther King Drive, will be gathering Sept 29 for a barbecue to mark the end of the complex and dispersing of the community.

“This ain’t nothing but memories,” Tom Edwards, a 50-year resident of the development said Wednesday. “This ain’t going to be nothing but memories.”