May 05--Members of the city's only American Indian community center will get their first look this week at the new building that could replace the crumbling 50-year-old facility in the Uptown neighborhood.
Active members and supporters of the American Indian Center will be given a tour Thursday of the Albany Park Community Center building on West Ainslie Street -- nearly 3 miles west of the current building at Wilson Avenue and Paulina Street -- that could become the center's new home.
Afterward the group will gather for a town hall meeting at the 1630 W. Wilson building so members can discuss the sale of that property and the possible purchase of the Albany Park building.
"There's no commitment," said the center's acting executive director, Vincent Romero. "We wanted to make sure we had the community's input as to whether or not to take the last step and to actually sign a formal offer."
The move, which the center's leadership said will happen by the end of summer, comes at a time when American Indian Center members are trying to double the center's 1,000-strong active membership and increase programming. The center's leadership hopes a modern facility could help boost membership and save money.
The center was founded in 1953 as Native Americans left their reservations for big cities, and it moved into its permanent home on Wilson in 1966. Chicago was one of five cities that took in large numbers of American Indians from around the country.
Funded by donations and grants, the center has offered a mix of educational and social programs to the city's American Indian population and has served as a major cultural focal point and meeting place for young and old. The building itself, a renovated Masonic temple, has hosted an untold number of special celebrations, parties and official gatherings.
But age has caught up with the building, and the cost of repairs and utilities have skyrocketed, center leaders say.
The cost of fully renovating all four floors of the structure and its basement, with its faulty boiler and decades-old wiring and pipes, could run up to $5 million, Romero said. The money could be better spent on programs, he added.
"We want to be able to have a cheerful, newer property, one that's going to work, that won't be a money pit," Romero said.
But a possible move has triggered concerns among some of the older Native Americans who use the center.
"We've been here since 1966, so there's a very strong attachment that goes back several generations in our community from the founders who helped found our establishment in 1953," said David Bender, a community organizer with the American Indian Center who has heard the concern of elder members.
"As native people we're constantly asked to relocate for one reason or another, so the fact that we're relocating to a new facility is really heartbreaking in a lot of ways," he said, adding: "It seems like history repeating itself, Indians having to relocate once again."
Romero said he understands the concerns of older members, many of whom were part of the move into the Wilson building, but added, "They understand it's time for a change. Buildings come and go, but communities are the people.
"It's a really exciting time, and we're looking forward to turning a page in our chapter," Romero said. "No matter where we go, we will remain a community, strong, culturally intact community."
wlee@tribpub.com
