Mission
Why these three blocks?
The three blocks of Milwaukee Avenue between Kimball and Central Park are a typical Chicago neighborhood main street. That’s what makes it special.
These dormant 100-year old buildings were once full of the aspirations of the immigrant, working-class merchants and laborers who built Chicago. The scale of the storefronts were designed when streets were made for walking, before cars were given priority. Underneath the asphalt are still the trolley tracks and hand-hewn granite cobble stones. Bricks were made from the clay excavated when the foundations were dug, giving Avondale its nickname, Bricktown.
It’s all still here
Then as now, these buildings still stand. Most of them independently owned, many by second-generation family members who grew up as children on this street. It’s primed for a new generation of mom-and-pop entrepreneurs who understand the value of a walkable, human-scaled main street, who appreciate that this is still a “real Chicago” immigrant, working-class neighborhood.
Our mission is to reawaken the
potential of these three blocks.
Background
It began with a corner
Corner, 2912 N. Milwaukee, Chicago. Mural by James Jankowiak.
When artist Lynn Basa moved her studio from the basement of her home in 2011 to the storefront of this old building, she thought it would change her paintings. She didn’t expect that it would change her life.