City Council Approves $24 Million Overhaul of Altgeld Gardens Community Center, Adds New Gym

City Council approved a $24 million plan Wednesday to renovate a long-neglected building in Altgeld Gardens and add a gymnasium. The vote lets a nonprofit youth organization expand its programs on the Far South Side.

The project centers on the Up-Top Building at 13100-13130 S. Ellis Ave., a modernist structure that has sat in disrepair for years. By The Hand Club For Kids, which runs after-school programs, mentoring, meals and transportation for children from kindergarten through college, bought the building this spring and plans to renovate it with new classrooms and a community meeting space. The nonprofit will also build a 9,200-square-foot addition containing more classrooms and a gymnasium.

The City Council's zoning committee reviewed the plan Tuesday before the full council gave its approval Wednesday. Sylvia Michas, the attorney representing By The Hand, told the zoning committee the nonprofit closed on the building this spring and intends to move quickly once construction financing and permits are in place.

Inside the Up-Top Building, a memorial wall lists the names of community members who have died. By The Hand has committed to preserving the wall during construction, according to plans presented to the city's Plan Commission in June.

Once the renovation is finished, By The Hand plans to expand its programming and open the space for the broader community to gather, according to the Plan Commission presentation. The organization already operates in Altgeld Gardens and describes its mission as providing what it calls "holistic care" for children, covering academics, meals and mentorship alongside recreation.

Ald. Peter Chico, whose 10th Ward includes the property, told the Plan Commission in June that the project fits into a larger push to bring investment back to Altgeld Gardens and the surrounding Riverdale community. He pointed to the CTA's Red Line Extension, which broke ground this spring and will terminate near 130th Street within a few years, as another piece of that effort.

"The Red Line's going to be ending here in a couple years down the line," Chico said. "This adds the momentum here in Altgeld Gardens and the greater Riverdale community."

Altgeld Gardens, built in the 1940s as public housing for Black World War II veterans and their families, has for decades dealt with industrial pollution, isolation from the rest of the city and a shrinking base of retail and public amenities. The neighborhood sits near several current and former industrial sites and landfills, a legacy that earned it the nickname "the toxic doughnut" among longtime residents and environmental advocates. City officials have flagged the Up-Top Building itself as a site requiring environmental remediation work as part of any renovation.

The $24 million price tag covers both the rehab of the existing structure and the new gym addition, though the project has not yet set a construction timeline or opening date. Renderings presented to the Plan Commission show an overhead view of the completed campus, with the gymnasium addition positioned alongside the retrofitted Up-Top Building.

According to the Plan Commission presentation, the new gym and meeting space will give families in Altgeld Gardens a recreation facility they have lacked. The project adds to a short list of major capital investments in the neighborhood in recent years, alongside the Red Line Extension now under construction to the north.

With council approval secured, the next steps fall to By The Hand and its contractors to finalize permitting and begin construction. Neither the nonprofit nor the city has released a projected completion date, and the organization has not said when it expects to break ground.