Loyola University Chicago is proposing a redevelopment of the St. Ignatius campus that would include housing for over 200 students and a social services center. The campus includes a church and rectory that have been empty since 2021, after the Archdiocese of Chicago announced it would merge with nearby parishes, and a school building that has been vacant for nearly 10 years.

Proposal Details

The Ignatian Mission Center, a layperson-led Catholic nonprofit, is proposing to turn the church and rectory part of the campus into a social services center with a shelter for Spanish-speaking women facing domestic violence, a day care for the children of the women at the shelter and potentially neighborhood kids, a space for religious gatherings and the group’s food pantry.

Loyola is proposing to demolish the adjacent school and construct a 64-unit building that would house upperclassmen and graduate students who typically live off campus, which could free up more of the neighborhood’s privately owned apartments that are rented by students.

Ald. Maria Hadden (49th), whose ward includes the shuttered St. Ignatius campus site, will be accepting feedback from neighbors on the proposal for about two weeks. There will be an online survey available soon, or people can contact her office directly.

Community Impact

The social services the Ignatian Mission Center would bring to the campus would complement the food pantry the center already runs in Rogers Park, which serves about 240-250 families a week. The women’s shelter component of the proposal would be modeled after an existing successful shelter system called House of Peace, which works with Catholic Charities.

The proposed development would house about 220 students in a mix of two- and four-bedroom apartments, and would have 1,500 square feet of rent-free space for the Ignatian Mission Center with their own private entrance.

Original reporting: Block Club Chicago — read the source article.