When walking home the other day from school, I saw numerous signs planted in front of an apartment building telling citizens to send an email to local Alderman Timmy Knudsen to block a proposal permitting Parker to expand. This proposal will allow Parker to replace existing buildings on Belden with new, nearly identical buildings for the school. Since these buildings are in the original style for the neighborhood, it would be a very small change to the overall aesthetic. These buildings will be used for classrooms as well as numerous other educational facilities. The proposal also allows Parker to add lighting to the field for sports games. This lighting would not be used late at night. This expansion also includes a number of affordable housing units. These units would be where the current administration building is across the school and would be there for a minimum of 30 years.
Parker’s neighbors have arranged protests, email campaigns, and these signs around Parker. However, I don’t notice many signs or posters, even a few blocks away from Parker, just the neighbors directly around the school. This issue is mainly felt by a few neighbors who live very close to Parker. One of their principal concerns is an increase in traffic. Parker has consulted with a traffic consultant agency which has said that this won’t have a pronounced impact on neighborhood traffic.
Another concern is that the lights would be incredibly detrimental to their sleep. The Lincoln Park Zoo has studied the lights and has released that “[Leaders at the Lincoln Park Zoo] have reviewed and expressed support for the field lighting proposal because its responsible design protects local wildlife.”
An institute specializing in wildlife and behavior has said that this won’t have a drastic effect on the animals. Parker is doing an incredible job of dedicating themselves to really understanding the concerns of the community. Parker has dedicated one of the buildings that it owns to 100 percent private housing for the next 30 years. With the expansion, Parker is able to welcome more students to each grade, increasing the effects of a Parker education to more students. Parker also feels like a very small school at times, so evenly marginally increasing the number of students in each grade will help to alleviate some of that feeling.
Parker already owns the building that it is proposing to expand into. I believe that the expansion of a school into these buildings is one of the better things that could happen. Instead of a school, in its place could be a taller apartment building, among many other possible uses. These other ways to use this space will certainly not be as open to the community as Parker has been.
Parker has previously sent a request for field lighting to the former Alderman Michelle Smith. This request was denied, however, since that request, the technology behind the lighting has advanced significantly. With this advancement in technology, Parker has assured neighbors that there will be limited light spillage, impacting neighbors’ sleep very little.
As a life-long Parker student, I believe that the education received at Parker is unique. I also believe that now, more than ever, it is crucial to receive such a high quality education. The expansion of Parker is something that will benefit many students, teachers, and parents, so it is incredibly important to support it.
