The developer that has taken over the ‘Casa Aztlan‘ building at 1831 S. Racine, Andrew Ahitow of City Pads, called for a meeting with members of the Pilsen Alliance organization, following a weeks-long public outcry due to the unceremonious removal of historical murals on the front wall of the building located in the Pilsen neighborhood.
Members of the Alliance said they want to collaborate with the developer in the creation of new community-approved murals on the ‘Casa Aztlan’ main wall, but also demand the construction of affordable housing in the area.
The new apartment complex, which is eighty percent complete, will entail 10 rental apartments in September 2017 leasing for up to $4,000 for a 4-bedroom apartment, said Moises Moreno, an organizer who attended the meeting and urged Ahitow to lower his rents.
The group asks that sixty percent of the new construction is designated as affordable housing for low-income residents. However, during the meeting, Ahitow explained that City Pads was not legally required to designate any affordable housing units in the building, according to people who sat in the meeting.
“There’s a problem with affordable housing; it’s not affordable to us. That’s what I learned from the meeting today, we are stuck. The formula is not working,” said Marta Ayala, a Pilsen resident who added that the affordable housing system is flawed because it’s not designed for the working poor.
Pilsen Alliance held Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Alderman Daniel Solis accountable for what they say is a citywide problem of housing inflation that is encouraged by development rippling out from downtown.
Community members found it ironic that Pilsen, the hub of murals in the Midwest, has seen the destruction of its street art when the city just declared the “Year of Public Art.”
The developer has not yet hired any muralists, as was previously reported on Chicago Tonight, but Ahitow has had conversations about what the logistics might look like. In today’s meeting, the parties agreed to form a committee that would decide the creative direction of a mural and, potentially, art programs for youth onsite, said Magda Castañeda of the Pilsen Alliance.
However, the artists of the ‘Casa Aztlan’ murals have diverging opinions about the future of the lost murals on the new apartment complex taking over the property.
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“Nothing [should] be painted here because that building does not belong to the community anymore, and painting something there will just be a facade,” said Marcos Raya, who in the mid ’70’s reworked the original mural by Ray Patlan and designed the signature circular portraits that adorned the entrance of the building.
Hector Duarte, a known Pilsen muralist, supports repainting the ‘Casa Aztlan’ murals and considered that returning the artwork would be “a preservation of memory, a footprint, and a symbol for us who are still here.”
At the moment of publication, Ahitow and Solis did not respond to requests for comment.
Members of the Alliance call on Chicago residents to gather at Plaza Tenochtitlan on 18th St., and Blue Island Ave on July 29 at noon, to “March Against Displacement”.