On Oct. 30, 1998, dozens of residents in a Flannery Homes high-rise lost all their belongings in a raging fire.

“Age is a question of mind over matter! If you don’t mind it really doesn’t matter” – Legendary baseball pitcher Satchel Paige.

Changes at Orchard Park, the for-sale, market-rate town homes built around the Flannery Homes Senior Towers continued at an accelerated pace over the summer.

Cement foundations for new town houses are all completed and building is now in progress. The cement foundations are water barrier-sealed, under the guidance of a new town-house contractor/ developer Tropic Construction. Superintendents David Graf and Mark Hawkins as well as foreman Carey Overstreet are showing they definitely know what building is all about.

Anita Scheer, sales manager for Garrison Partners, is handling the marketing of the new town homes. Read more »

As soon as the last issue of RJ came off the press, Flannery had another change of managers. David Kane was removed Sept. 26 and the new Flannery Manager is Donna Jones. She began management duties Oct. 1, 1997.

Marie Colon continues as assistant manager. The maintenance department is headed by maintenance superintendent Larry Calvin; Janitor A is Selvyn Stanicine and Janitor C is Vincent Moore.

Jones introduced herself to building residents at a leaseholders meeting Oct. 1. She discussed continuing building problems. Residents said the elevators in both buildings are consistent problems. On many days, both elevators in one or the other building have been down. Jones said tenants should report elevator problems to the management office immediately. Read more »

A tenants meeting of both high-rise buildings, 1507 and 1531 N. Clybourn Ave., took place Aug. 9th at 2 p.m. The meeting was held by the site manager, Maria Reyes, and she discussed a number of topics.

Recertification of all tenants is scheduled for November 1997 for the new leases for 1998.

She mentioned that 10 people were arrested at 1531 N. Clybourn over the summer. The ten persons were guests of one of the tenants and that tenant has been charged with violating the One Strike rule and will be evicted, Reyes said. All 10 persons are permanently barred from the building and CHA has placed all their names on the exclusion list. One Strike is in force!

Fourteen day notices also are being enforced, Reyes said. A two-month rent arrears automatically brings a 14-day eviction notice. A tenant is served a 10-day notice to appear in court with all rents plus $265 legal fees. CHA asks the court for money and possession of the apartment. Read more »

The residents of the Senior Twin-Towers Flannery Apartments and the surrounding single-family Town Houses of Orchard Park send out warm greetings to the closely neighboring CHA Cabrini Complex and all CHA communities throughout Chicago. We are still very much in here; alive and kicking, growing our veggies, Bar-B-Queing our slabs and living it up in our Golden Years as we have all our lives, as we have taught all you young ones to follow in our footsteps. Just as the CHA is attempting to bring rapid improvement and change in our important environment, so are we too caught up in striving to upgrade and improve. The Golden Years past retirement are supposedly guaranteed and insured to be forthcoming to us since the New Deal of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s administration in the 1930s. In reality, we residents of Flannery are not turning the magic page at age 62 into a splendid time of comfort and ease. To the contrary, we are still finding we still have to scrap HARD to get and hold onto what we manage to get. We do indeed welcome the help along the way. The CHA help toward the improvement started with private management in February 1997. Our last quarterly issue of the Residents’ Journal detailed the positive steps which private management began here at Flannery. The phases of improvement are continuing in somewhat dramatic circumstances. On Thursday morning, April 24, a general meeting of all Flannery residents was announced. Those interested residents of both buildings gathered in the community day room of 1507 N. Clybourn where representatives of the CHA announced, “The only people who need to stay for this meeting are the people below the age of 62. All others above age 62 may leave.” The representatives then announced, “You will be moved (all S.S.I. recipients) out of Flannery. You S.S.I. recipients have the option of: 1.) Taking a Section 8 and moving to other residences or 2.) You will be moved to Cabrini Green within 1 month.”

The representatives continued, “Make your decision NOW because you will be out of the two Flannery buildings within 1 month.” Read more »

Like many of the CHA developments, the Flannery Homes senior development, home of Residents’ Journal, is undergoing a significant redevelopment. The mixed-income development of Orchard Park continues and the construction of a new community center is underway. Writer Alan Minerbrook surveyed his neighbors to determine their opinions of these changes.

The tenant garden of the Flannery Homes was taken down August 15 to make room for a new community center as well as a garden that will feature underground sprinklers and private garden spaces. Several tenants, if the project comes off the way the management has planned, say they will be happy about it. Here are the viewpoints of a few tenants and a clerk of the building at 1507 N. Clybourn.
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