Mary Sistruck is a young single mother of 6 who moved out of the Robert Taylor development over 4 years ago and now lives in an apartment at 90th Street and Exchange Avenue with a Housing Choice (Section 8) voucher. Sistruck used to reside in what most of the residents called the “Hole,” a cluster of Chicago Housing Authority buildings in the 5300 block of the State Street corridors that have since been demolished.

Some 2,000 families of the Chicago Housing Authoritys Stateway Gardens, Rockwell Gardens and Robert Taylor Homes may have to wait for the funds for new housing at their developments, according to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) officials.

By the end of summer, three more high rises in the Robert Taylor Homes will be just a thing of the past. 3919 S. Federal Street was number one to make demolition history. Next is the infamous “Hole,” 5326 and 5322 S. State streets and 5323 S. Federal.

Based at the Robert Taylor Boys and Girls Club, 5120 S. Federal, the Local Advisory Council (LAC) is responsible for assisting residents with various activities.

CHA and U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) officials worked with the LAC to create a strategic plan for the redevelopment of the Robert Taylor Homes. The plan is posted above the Xerox machine for public information. Also, there’s a CHA Executive Summary released by Wendell Campbell Associates Inc. that goes into further detail about the redevelopment project.

CHA and HUD’s plan is to demolish all the buildings in Robert Taylor within a 5-year period. The overall plan is to redevelop all the high-rise projects for the new millennium: Cabrini Green, Robert Taylor and Stateway Gardens. The dates are not etched in stone, however. The goal is to have mixed-income communities in all these areas. Read more »