Dear Friends:

As many of you know, in 2018, Misericordia purchased the former 3-acre Unity property at 1925 W. Thome to support some of the thousands of people waiting for residential services in the state of Illinois. Our plan is to build beautiful homes to address this unmet need, which has been our mission for nearly a century. The property is immediately to the south of our campus on Thome Avenue.    

We are ready to start the first phase, which is removing a building from the existing site, but there is an effort to prevent us from doing so, even though there are numerous men and women waiting for us to start this project so that they too can call Misericordia their home. 

After conducting a feasibility study, it was determined that the building: 1) does not meet our needs, 2) would cost millions to renovate to our standards, 3) is not in city of Chicago/ADA compliance, 4) has been altered since the original construction; 5) and most important, is simply not conducive to serving children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.    

There are some who believe that the building is of landmark quality. The fact is that the City of Chicago authorities charged with making such determinations, after a thorough analysis made within the mandatory 90-day review period required by the city’s Landmarks Ordinance, concluded that the building does not meet the city’s standards for such recognition.

There are some who advocate for the building because it was designed by a renowned architect, George Maher, heralded for his Prairie School style single family homes. In fact, the building on Thome Avenue which was designed to reflect Tudor architecture, was ultimately not built to that standard and has been so altered over time that significant elements of its original design and use are virtually nonexistent. Notably, a recent and very detailed 180-page thesis on Maher’s work, which contains a comprehensive list of his most acclaimed buildings, makes no mention of this structure.

Misericordia voluntarily agreed to delay demolition of the building for an additional 90 days beyond the expiration of the mandated city review period. That courtesy was extended to preservation groups so as to afford them the opportunity to find an individual or entity which would be willing to remove it to another site, where it might be used for other purposes. Since 2019, we have said that any person or entity can have the building as long as it was moved from the existing property and there would be no relocation costs to Misericordia. In December of 2019, one of the local preservation groups received a bid from a respected Chicago construction company to move and restore the building. The bid was $9,033,287, and again was obtained from one of the local preservation groups, not Misericordia. At this cost, it is not surprising that, since agreeing to a 90-day extension in early March, we still have had no written offers/proposals from any group or entity to relocate the building.   

With thousands of people waiting for services in Illinois, we do not feel we are in a position to wait any longer. There comes a time in which all parties must come to the realization that there are no viable options to move the building to another location.  Since we purchased the property, we have tried to be a good neighbor that is sensitive to the needs of others. It is time for us to begin construction to help those men and women, as well as their families, who have been waiting patiently to become a part of the Misericordia community.

Please sign this petition to show that you support our efforts to start this expansion project immediately. Kindly share with your friends and family too. 

Thank you!

Sister Rosemary