But the mall's last heyday was in the late '80s and early '90s. Its decline, along with an aging infrastructure, has sparked a debate over the question of whether to tear it down or renovate it -- pitting Hyde Park traditionalists against its young blood.
To understand the fuss, you must know what makes the neighborhood distinctive: It's home to the University of Chicago, the Museum of Science and Industry, vintage housing stock, new residential development and a well-educated, racially integrated and socially aware population.
"For the same reasons it's not a good idea to tear down Williamsburg [the historic settlement in Virginia] because it's an old city ... it's part of our heritage," says Charlotte Des Jardins, one of the original investors in Harper Court and a proponent of saving it.
David Hoyt, 38, a lecturer at the University of Chicago's Graham School of General Studies, counters that the structure of the mall, which occupies Harper Avenue between 52nd and 53rd Streets, needs to be changed because it's too 1960s -- too closed in and isolated from the street.
Hoyt and a handful of others have become increasingly upset with what they see as anti-development sentiment in the area, which is why he started a blog called Hyde Park Progress, a forum with the stated purpose of "promoting reasonable economic improvement in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood."
As such, it includes debate over a broad range of possible changes in Hyde Park, including the chance that big-box stores like Target may move in.
The Harper Court debate has been going on for nearly two years, since a community newspaper reported that the Harper Court Arts Council was trying to sell the property it "acquired" in an agreement with the Harper Court Foundation without community input.
Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th) has stepped in, asking the city's Department of Planning and Development to invite developers to submit development proposals for the mall, plans that are expected to be released soon.
The next step is a Request for Qualifications, which could be completed to be made public at a Nov. 19 tax-increment financing Advisory Council meeting. Three to five developers will be chosen to prevent plans to Preckwinkle, the Harper Court Arts Council and Department of Planning officials.
Preckwinkle would not predict how long the process could take. Irene Sherr, a consultant on the 53rd Street TIF district, said a community meeting will be held in early December.
That leaves residents with little to do now but argue about what should be done.
"People are attached to a certain vision that might have been appropriate 50 years ago, but the circumstances have changed and they haven't changed their vision," said Hoyt, who would like to see storefronts extend to the streets. "It is a product of '60s-era urban design, which is very much outdated."
Harper Court was the vision of Muriel Beadle, wife of former University of Chicago President George Beadle, and other residents. To fund its construction, they sold about $120,000 worth of bonds to the community, including the University of Chicago, and secured a loan of $480,000 from the federal Small Business Administration. John T. Black was the architect, and a group of community residents and activists, including Beadle, oversaw the plan.
When Harper Court opened in 1965, commercial enterprises at street level paid market rent while rent for the art shops in the basement was subsidized.
Today it has about 23 stores -- including small shops such as Alise's Designer Shoes and Dr. Wax Records -- as well as restaurants including the Calypso Cafe, Maravillas and the Dixie Kitchen & Bait Shop, offices, a veterinarian and the Checkerboard Lounge, a storied jazz and blues club that moved from Bronzeville in late 2005. It also has several vacancies, and the only art concern left is Artisans 21, part co-op/part gallery.
The property, which is part of a TIF district, also includes a parking lot.
"I would say Harper Court, at least in terms of its physical layout, design and appeal for people walking through it, is one of the most successful spaces to come out of urban renewal," said Max Grinnell, a lecturer on urban studies at the University of Chicago's Division of Social Sciences and author of "Images of America: Hyde Park, Illinois."
"There are not many other places I can think of in the city or United States where they tried on a small scale to maintain sort of an artist's colony," he added.
But that has made even several tenants skeptical of its sustainability, saying artists often are more interested in their craft or product than profit.
And there are issues beyond the philosophical. Take the 42-year-old infrastructure.
"I've had to tell people, 'No you can't come here, this place is flooded today,'" said Dr. Thomas Wake, a Harper Court tenant since 1981 who has built a thriving veterinary practice in one of the basement spaces, which he said floods frequently. Wake and other tenants attribute the flooding and other problems to the Harper Court Foundation's failure to keep up the property. They say it has mismanaged the mall and remained answerable only to itself. The latter charge arises not only from the foundation's remaining mum about its intention to sell the property, but also from its shift in mall assets to the Harper Court Arts Council, a tax-exempt non-profit, in 2005.
"The people on this board are bank presidents, lawyers," board member Nancy Rosenbacher said, in response to the charges of mismanagement, adding that all eight board members live in Hyde Park.
"We're not saying tear it down and build a strip mall. We would like to see something really nice for the community. Small businesses are extremely important," added Paula Jones, president of the foundation and council.
She said part of the foundation's original mission was to be a "leading organization in supporting the arts, in addition to retail development," but had become more of a "property manager."
"We're trying to balance it ... by still supporting small businesses in one form or another but not through ownership of the court ... we're looking for someone who can do it bigger and better than we can," Jones said.
Henry Webber, vice president of community and government affairs at U. of C., said the university would like to see "a high-quality, mixed-use development ... a vibrant, 24-hour, seven-day-a-week contributor to the town center of Hyde Park."
The university looked into buying the property several years ago, but backed out when it could not agree on a price with the council. Webber declined to comment on whether the university is still interested in the property.
Whatever the future of the mall, residents and community leaders want a say in it.
"I think it belongs to the community; it was paid for by community assets, it should be answerable to the community," said George Rumsey, president of the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference.
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source: chicagotribune.com
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