Over the past few weeks key aides to Mayor Daley have been working behind the scenes to help turn the long-abandoned South Side Masonic Temple, at 64th and Green in Englewood, into a school. At the same time lawyers for the city have been in housing court demanding that the building be demolished.
In 1997 school officials began looking for a new site, which is how they found themselves in Englewood, visiting the Masonic Temple. The temple was old and dilapidated. “It hadn’t been used in about 12 years,” says Jackson, “but it also had great potential. It’s big and sturdy—six stories high with about 10,000 square feet of space.”
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It was also just a block from the Halsted-63rd Green Line stop and across the street from the new campus Kennedy-King College was building. “We thought, here’s a chance to be part of a big educational campus that could help revive Englewood,” says Jackson. “It was one of the most prominent buildings in the area, even if it hadn’t been used in years. It could be a beacon of hope to young people in Englewood, which has one of the highest levels of violence in the nation and could use the investment.”
At first the plan’s supporters hoped to raise the money by creating a joint venture with Edison, a corporation that runs schools for profit, but that deal crashed. Then they began looking for funds from private developers and enlightened celebrities, including Bill Cosby. “But every time we thought we had a deal,” says Jackson, “it fell through.”
By January 2002 the school’s frustrated staff had all but given up hope, and Prologue entered into a “demolition agreement” with the city. “Under that agreement they had 60 days to come up with a plan, including architectural drawings and financial support,” says Hoyle. “After the 60 days, the building would be demolished if they didn’t have their drawings and support.”
Jackson says the school has already invested about $500,000 in the temple “including back taxes, architectural work, various legal fees, construction, and maintenance work. Demolishing it—particularly making us pay to demolish it—would put us out of business.”
And so there was Bey using his clout to save the temple while Smith was fighting to have it destroyed. “I don’t really think the city has anything against us,” Jackson says. “In fact, I always thought we had a good relationship with the city. Why, Maggie Daley—Mayor Daley’s wife—came to our school last year with some executives from the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs to give us an award. Still, it’s strange to have one part of the city working against another. I can only think it’s a case where one part of the city doesn’t know what the other one’s doing.”
