The City Council on November 10, 1999 has approved Mayor Daley's and UIC's joint plan for Maxwell Street facadism. Janelle Walker, an Indiana University folklorist and member of the Maxwell Street Historic Preservation Coalition says, "This is not preservation. It is an insult to the German, Irish, Jewish, Polish, Italian, Greek, Bohemian, African-American, and Mexican immigrant/migrant groups that came through Maxwell Street. It is especially an insult to blues fans around the world who worship Chicago as the birthplace of urban electrified Blues. The Mayor and First Lady Hillary Clinton make a big deal about the preservation of the old Chess Records building. That is good. But Blues was not created in a recording studio. It came from the folk, from the community where the folk lived. For Chicago Blues that was Maxwell Street. It is like New Orleans trying to destroy the French Quarter. You know, New Orleans tried to do that in 1941 but was stopped by a Louisiana Supreme Court Case and the preservation movement in America was born. What Daley is doing is against urban best practices. He is destroying something precious and authentic. He is clueless about what culture really is."

Steve Balkin, a professor of economics at Roosevelt University and Vice President of the Coalition comments, "Mayor Daley says it is OK to destroy the old buildings because there is nothing inside. We question what's inside the Mayor's head. This plan is not a compromise because facadism is not preservation. There are no buildings saved on Maxwell Street itself, and for the eight buildings on Halsted, those have not been given landmark status so UIC can tear them down at any time. Last week UIC tore down three historic wooden Maxwell Street peddler sheds that it agreed to save for a museum exhibit. UIC regularly makes promises and reneges on them when it is opportune for them to do so."

Bill Lavicka, a structural engineer and Coalition member says, "What is inside those buildings on Maxwell Street, beside a lot of irreplaceable historical architectural detail, are 30 businesses and a continuity of culture over 150 years old. To be sure those buildings are simple and humble but preservation is not just about saving the artifacts of rich men. Daley does favors for his friends and uncritically accepts what is told by UIC and UIC's real estate developer partners who personally will be making millions in this real estate deal, Mike Marchese, Richard Stein, Bill Cellini, and former First ward Alderman Ted Mazzola. This is old fashioned 1960's urban renewal equals people removal. It is rape of our heritage. It is ethnic cleansing Chicago style. Jobs are being destroyed too, in the neighborhood and at UPS."

Balkin says, "this deal was rigged from the start by the developers. Julie Cellini and Carol Stein are on the Board of Directors of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. They reject putting Maxwell Street on the National Register of Historic Sites and then their husbands, Bill Cellini and Richard Stein, come along and make millions from tearing it down. That is a conflict of interest."

The Coalition's main strategy now is to initiate a court case to invalidate the Roosevelt -Union TIF, where Maxwell Street sits. Says, sociologist Brian Mier and a member of the Coalition, "The City left a gaping hole in the border of the Roosevelt Union TIF, which would have allowed money to be funneled into the District from any TIF in the State of Illinois. The City then admitted their errors in court and proceeded to break Illinois State Law when they attempted to close the borders without holding public hearings."

Another approach the Coalition is taking is to seek the intervention of Hillary Clinton. Says Balkin, "Mrs. Clinton came to Chicago last week and fussed over historic preservation projects including the old Chess Recording Studios. She initiated the White House's Save America's Treasures Program. She is from Chicago but also lived in the deep South, and says it is important to save the legacy of Chicago Blues. From all over the world, Blues fans are sending her mail to save Maxwell Street, especially from Blues societies in New York. Our Blues spokesperson, 78 year old wheel chair bound Johnnie Mae Dunson, is pleading to Mrs. Clinton. We put it on the Internet. Maybe this will touch her heart."

You can hear Johnnie Mae's plea to Mrs. Clinton at <www.openair.org/maxwell/hillplea.html>

For more information visit the Coalition website at <www.openair.org/maxwell/preserve.html>. Janelle Walker, Bill Lavicka, Brian Mier, Johnnie Mae Dunson, and Steve Balkin are available for interviews.

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