Excerpts from dnainfo.com
Plans for a state-of-the-art $95 million training facility for Chicago police and fire recruits advanced Wednesday after winning the endorsement of a key city panel.
While the Chicago Plan Commission unanimously approved the plan to buy the 30-acre site at 4301 W. Chicago Ave. in Garfield Park for $9.6 million, a coalition of groups rallied outside the mayor’s office urging that the plan be shelved and the money spent on schools and community redevelopment efforts.
The People’s Response Team, which is part of the No Cop Academy effort, said the money would be better spent on restoring cuts made to Chicago Public Schools’ budgets or reopening mental health clinics closed by Emanuel.
About $20 million from the sale of the Goose Island Fleet and Facilities operations center will be used to buy the long-vacant land in the 37th Ward and start construction on the state-of-the-art facility. With the backing of Emanuel, the City Council is expected in October to finalize the sale of the North Branch property for $104.7 million to Sterling Bay.
The facility will replace the police training academy at 1300 W. Jackson Blvd., built in 1976; the fire prevention training facility at 1010 S. Clinton St., built in 1950; and the Fire Academy South at 1338 S. Clinton St., built in 1965, officials said.
In the next two years, Emanuel has promised to add 970 positions to the police department: 516 police officers, 200 detectives, 112 sergeants, 50 lieutenants and 92 field training officers. The department also plans to fill 500 vacant positions.
thanks Dennis
#1 by Austin on September 26, 2017 - 5:42 PM
The land where the academy is, is worth a lot today as development has started to surround that area. It is also very close to Sterling Bays riverfront parcel starting at Roosevelt and going south. A fire museum would be fantastic to have for the CFD. With some of the iconic apparatus throughout the years, it needs a permanent, public home. On a side note I hope the CFD or collector will keep a Luverne. I have always liked the style, or keep a HME/Luverne. Another interesting design.
#2 by David on September 26, 2017 - 2:31 PM
Nice idea with turning the future “former” Fire Academy to the Fire Museum of Greater Chicago Bill. Shame that it’s probably never gonna happen. Chicago definitely deserves a proper big fire museum on the level some other large cities like NYC or London have with all the space for the rigs like the original Pitman Snorkel, the horse drawn hose wagons from the “Hall of Flame” museum and some others which won’t even fit in the current building.
#3 by Bill Post on September 26, 2017 - 10:42 AM
There was misinformation printed in the “DNA article. It says that the Fire Academy at 1010 s Clinton was built in 1950. That was wrong by 11 years. It was opened in 1961.
That’s beside the point however I was wondering what the city intends to do with the current Robert J Quinn Fire Academy on Clinton? I would suggest that the current Fire Academy be given to the Greater Chicagoland FIre Museum as the site of the Fire Academy is a historic Chicago Landmark which is on the site where the Chicago Fire started.
#4 by Mike on September 26, 2017 - 9:10 AM
Because the someone’s buddy can’t make money off of selling that land.
#5 by Mel Marcus on September 26, 2017 - 12:51 AM
Why dont they use the land they have on goose island?