Pilsen Sit-In: CPS Turns Off Heat At Whittier Elementary Field House

A battle between parents and the Chicago Public Schools has taken a dramatic turn, as the district moves to literally freeze protesters out.

At the behest of schools officials, People's Gas shut off the gas line to the field house at Whittier Elementary, where a group of parents has been staging a 19-day sit-in.

The district hopes to raze the field house to put in a green space for kids. Parents want the building to be converted into a library, and see converting the field house as the only chance their kids have for a library at Whittier.

This simple dispute has escalated into a guerilla protest by the parents at the Pilsen school, who have holed up in the building in shifts for the last three weeks. Thanks to donations of nearly 1,000 books by supporters of their cause, the parents were recently able to open a functioning (if unsanctioned) library in the building, which they keep open five afternoons a week.

Now, with overnight temperatures dropping into the 40s, the district is adopting siege tactics to force the parents out.

Apparently, the building is viewed as structurally unsound, which was the department's original reason for attempting to level it. The Tribune reports:

CPS said it continues to urge parents "to vacate the premises to work with District officials on a reasonable solution."

"We are deeply concerned about the increased number of children, adults and combustible materials inside a structure with lack of code compliant ventilation, suppression and detection," said CPS spokeswoman Monique Bond in a written statement. She declined to comment further.

But an engineering firm hired by parents said the building just needs a few repairs and a new roof, according to the Sun-Times.

Meanwhile, protesters are staying warm with electric heaters. And though they worry that CPS might shut off their electricity as well, parents don't plan on budging.

"They want us to run away but we are not going to,'' Whittier parent Manuel Beltran told the Sun-Times. "We are not going anywhere.''

Comments

[nick burton]

04:29 PM on 10/05/2010

I'm a Chicago resident. We do have a lot of libraries. Is there anything wrong with another one? Isn't this a country of the people and what they want; and aren't there people literally staked out in hopes of getting what they want? Couldn't the $350,000 dollars that it's gonna take to level it be put to better use in say: renovations/book drives? Somebody mentioned common sense should win over obstinacy, i just wanted to lay out the common sense.

[supportamerica]

01:36 PM on 10/05/2010

So the school's public officials want to put in a green space instead of a library. Is that correct? I am sure there is more to it than what is stated. Follow the money and you will find the culprits. I have been noticing lately that Chicago seems to be doing away with their libraries, public and school related. Is this building located near the school? and does it already have a library? I am an avid reader and have a huge personal library in my home. My grandkids use it like the public library and are always finding something interesting to read. I would support a library any day over a green space, which is what, another playground? I am a little confused, I would appreciate it if someone from that area of Chicago could enlighten me a little more. Thank you in advance.

[Michael A Hill]

02:52 PM on 10/05/2010

As a Chicago resident, I can say that Chicago is certainly not "doing away with its libraries." Quite the opposite actually. The City has opened or renovated over fifty branch libraries since 1989. Chicago has more branch libraries now than at any time in its history. Four new library branches are currently under construction. Nearly every neighborhood has a branch library to call its own, many of them in new or substantially renovated buildings. This ambitious construction program has resulted in one of the best and most extensive library systems in the United States, if not the world.

That said, I do not have much insight to provide regarding the situation at Whittier Elementary School. I am sympathetic to the desire of the parents and children for preservation of the fieldhouse structure and its use as a library, but I do not know what facts are driving the actions of the school district. This may be a case of simple obstinacy prevailing where common sense should.

[rabbity]

03:04 PM on 10/05/2010

I believe CPS wants to lease the land to the nearby Jesuit school as a playing field with Whittier students also, ostensibly, having access to it. The parents question whether $350,000 to demolish the fieldhouse to suit the purposes of a private school is a good use of funds when teachers are being laid off and the school is overcrowded.

[supportamerica]

03:23 PM on 10/05/2010

Well, now that makes more sense, maybe money is behind the whole issue. A private school versus a more poorly funded, of mostly Latino students. Obviously the parents of this school are very involved. I give them kudos for doing what they are doing. Wow, that seems like a lot of money to demolish a field house. More to this than meets the eye me thinks.