Lincoln Square Community Resists CPS Plans To Destroy Urban Garden
CHICAGO (CBS)--Plans to expand a Chicago Public School in the Lincoln Square neighborhood have hit a roadblock after some neighbors are fighting to keep a piece of the community threatened by the project at Waters School.
The school houses one of the oldest urban gardens in the city, and neighbors are at odds with CPS's plans to build an addition to the school right in the middle of the garden.
Restored and cultivated by staff, students and nearby residents for decades, the garden is home to four 300-year-old trees towering above the sprawling city space.
Rose Bachi lives near the school and has been gardening in the space for more than 30 years, she said.
"It's a neighborhood treasure and it's glorious," Bachi said.
Waters School's student body has overgrown its space in recent years, however.
Plans for an addition are part of CPS's capital project, but the school community is now working to stop those plans by distributing petitions.
47th Ward Alderman Ameya Pawar insists he's not going to let CPS move forward with the addition as planned.
