Report: Loyola May Close A Block Of Kenmore Avenue Permanently
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Loyola University may permanently close a block-long stretch of Kenmore Avenue just south of campus, and some students are not happy about it.
Loyola vice president of campus and community planning told the Loyola Student Dispatch that the university hopes close Kenmore Avenue permanently. The street would close between Rosemont Avenue and West Sheridan Road, according to the Edgewater/Andersonville Faecbook page.
Clark tells the Student Dispatch that the affected block of Kenmore Avenue would be replaced with a south campus residential village, which would be landscaped with trees, flowers and benches, as well as pedestrian walkways.
The affected block of Kenmore Avenue is already closed, in a recent move to accommodate construction on campus. Since the block shut down, students have been complaining about the inconvenience.
In addition to constant construction noise, students have had to walk through alleys to get to their dorms from the quadrangle just to the north, the Student Dispatch said.
But Clark told the publication as it is, there is a pedestrian path delineated on the construction Web site. She also told the Student Dispatch that the university predicted the students would cut through the alley instead of heading a block west to Winthrop Avenue, and thus, Loyola has improved lighting in the alley for safety purposes.
Neighbors in Rogers Park and Edgewater are not happy about the plan either.
"This is a phenomenally stupid idea," one man wrote on the Rogers Park neighborhood Facebook page. "Kenmore is the only way besides Sheridan to go north between the area bounded by Sheridan and Broadway and Granville. It's also a big bike route into the area since bicyclists don't want to die on Sheridan, nor go against the traffic on Winthrop. The needs of everyone in a crowded area, and not just the university need to be taken into account."
Another Rogers Park neighbor said Loyola has too much power in the neighborhood.
"Loyola continues its takeover of the neighborhood, something that becomes more apparent as the years go by," he wrote on the Facebook page. "Will they have to pay the city for this?"
The plan to close Kenmore Avenue got an equally icy reception on the Edgewater/Andersonville neighborhood Facebook page.
"Dislike!!!! How do we stop this? Parking is already tough enough, without losing an entire block," one man wrote.
The Facebook page administrators advised contacting both Ald. Joe Moore (49th) and Ald. Harry Osterman (48th) to protest the plan.
