Pastor Corey Brooks leaves Woodlawn rooftop after 11-month stay, raising $20 million for community center
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Nearly a year on a Woodlawn rooftop just about over for Chicago pastor Corey Brooks, who has been raising money to build a community center on the site.
After raising $20 million, Brooks has enough money to begin building his Leadership & Economic Opportunity Center at 66th and King Drive.
So, on Saturday, he will leave the roof for good for a ceremonial ground-breaking on the new center, after spending 11 months living in tents on the rooftop.
"I've missed some things, but I will also gain some things, built up relationships; but most of all, we've garnered enough support to get this center up and going," Brooks said.
The center will cost $35 million, and Brooks plans to keep raising money so he can build the center without any debt.
Brooks has said the 89,000-square foot facility will be a hub for entrepreneurs and artists in the Woodlawn community. He also hopes it will be a place for children to learn and play in peace.
It will be built on the grounds of the infamous Super Motel, where Brooks spent 94 days on the roof in 2011 and 2012 to raise the money needed to demolish the shuttered hotel, which had become a haven for gang and drug activity and sex trafficking.