Maxwell Street - The University of Illinois at Chicago's Expansion Into Maxwell Street

The University of Illinois At Chicago's Expansion Into Maxwell Street

The University of Illinois at Chicago was established at the Harrison/Halsted area in 1965, the location chosen by Mayor Richard J. Daley. This was especially unpopular with the locals, who had been promised more low-income housing by the city, and there were numerous protests, especially by the Italian-American and Mexican-American communities. The University had little interaction with the surrounding community and decided against keeping local businesses in its plans for expansion in the 1980s. The university slowly began buying land in the Maxwell area and demolishing the buildings . It had been rumored that the University never officially announced their plans in the '80s, but circulated speculation that they were going to exercise eminent domain, which was in fact backed by state legislation. This strategy may have saved the school millions of dollars, not only because people slowly moved out and did not have to be compensated, but also because real estate prices continued to drop in the area through the '80s and early '90s, because of the rumors. When the school finally made public its plans to move the Maxwell Street Market and demolish the buildings, the community tried to petition to list the Maxwell Street Market area on the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district, in 1994, and again in 2000. The proposal was eventually turned down due to the efforts of the University, backed by Mayor Richard M. Daley (son of Richard J.).