Stewart Warner Company
Stewart Warner Corporation used to be located on 1826 W. Diversey. It once provided jobs for 2,500 people, many of who lived in the community. However, once a British company bought it, the employee numbers started decreasing until finally the new owners decided to take the company to Mexico, where they could pay employees less. This left many people in the community unemployed.
The Local 1154 of the United Worker Association United Electrical and Radio and Machine Workers Union tried to keep the company open. They offered proposals and ideas on what to do, but the company did not pay attention to any of their ideas. Christine Boardman was the union leader at the time of the closing of Stewart Warner. She fought to keep all union jobs but ended up losing that fight. The union gave the company a proposal that would have saved the company more than $20 million, but in the end they were turned away. Although she was not able to keep the company open, she was successful in bringing the community together to fight. Christine is now the President of the Service Employees International Union, Local 73. After the company was closed, there was a fire that destroyed the buildings. Community members tried to give their input on what the site should be used for, but once again, their voices were not heard. Now at the site of the Stewart Warner Factory, there is a gated community. The name of the community is Landmark Village and it consists of 214 units. On average the cost for living in Landmark Village is $250,000 to $650,000. It is like its own little community that is isolated from the rest of the community. There are gates surrounding the Village, and this makes it unwelcoming. At the entrances, the gates do not let people who do not live there inside, and we believe that this causes a major separation between the community and these residents. Another thing that makes it unwelcoming are the private property signs found at all the entrances. These send a message that the middle class who live around this property are not wanted and it seems like a warning for outsiders to stay away. When our class visited Landmark Village we got some input from our classmates about how they felt about the site. When asked to describe the site, many said that it was a “rich gated community,” “million dollar homes,” and “private property since you are not allowed to get in unless you have, or are a guest that has permission.” Another question our classmates were asked was if the Landmark Village fits in with the surrounding community. Many of their responses stated that Landmark did not fit in because, “it’s in the middle of a normal neighborhood,” “they are their own community,” and “it’s exclusive.” However, some students said that the site does fit into the community because “the community itself has become this type of housing”. It was unfair to displace people and close the company which provided wages of $9- $10 an hour. These jobs helped people provide for their families. The fact that there’s a gated community directly in the middle of another open community is unfortunate. There are houses in the open community that are getting torn down and are vacant, while there are half a million dollar house in the gated community, it does not fit in. We as students do not feel welcomed at Landmark Village, and while we may feel welcomed by the rest of the community, and feel connected to it, we feel like we are not wanted in part of the community. Instead of providing people with housing that they could afford, or quality jobs, people were displaced only to have wealthy people move in and isolate themselves. In our opinion, nothing is being gained by building a gated community and more expensive housing in this community. Due to this change this area is becoming unaffordable for many who have lived in the community for a long time. |
AuthorsBeto, Selma, Maria, Quentin
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