Mike and Judy Suffern<msuffern@xnet.com> Date: Tue, 6 May 97
Michael and Judith Suffern are a Software Engineer and Travel Counselor respectively. They operate SoundTravels, The Blues, Music, and Travel website. Featuring the Eric Clapton in London Concert Tour, American and European Blues Festival tours, Amsterdam Getaways, and Custom Vacation planning. Visit their Chicago/London/Amsterdam Blues Guides.
Subject: Turning the problem into an opportunity
Dear Chancellor Broski,
My wife Judith and I fully support the Maxwell Street Historic Preservation Coalition's efforts to persuade the University to retain and restore the last portion of Maxwell Street on either side of Halsted. The lack of Blues attractions in this, the city where electrified Blues was born and nurtured to success and the city that has earned the right to be called "Home of the Blues", is a serious problem for tourism and civic pride. There are so very few physical reminders of Chicago's Blues History (other than a few famous drinking establishments) and you hold the fate of one of the three best examples in your hands.
How can a University acquire such historic property and then ignore it's educational and cultural value? You are the trustees of not only Chicago's future, but also, of it's past.
Surely there is a need for retail space, meeting rooms and other facilities to serve the students and the immediate area. The addition of interpretive spaces (from a small museum to multiple, dispersed, memorial plaques and signs, some residing in the stores themselves) would validate the project. You could design space for the Blues community to provide education and musical training (I suspect that the Blues in the Schools program could immediately make use of such a resource). Provide some simple performance stages outdoors, between buildings or at each end of the street, and make them available to local Blues performers in the same manner that the park district manages picnic grounds.
The University would gain some much needed positive publicity, especially from the Blues community that currently despises it. You would not only gain our support, but, would find a valuable and energetic resource in our members. Our voices could be turned toward persuading Major Daley and the city, the State of Illinois, and the private Corporations that we work for into supporting and funding the project. This could become a model of how to turn sensitive property to private use while leaving a positive image in it's wake. I would love to write such an article for our Blues magazines and local newspapers. There would seem to be speaking and/or consulting opportunities in this, also.
Chancellor, this situation is not a problem to be fought. It is a great opportunity for the University, the City of Chicago, the Blues community, and current and future generations. We encourage you to contemplate the image of yourself as hero and to begin discussing this solution with the forces that you have to deal with.
Sincerely,
Michael and Judith Suffern
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