Private school, CPS deny deal is 'land grab'

A deal allowing a prestigious private school on the Near West Side use of nearly an acre of public land for the next 30 years is under fire from the neighborhood's new alderman.

The deal involves St. Ignatius College Prep, a Jesuit Catholic school, and the Chicago Board of Education. According to a copy of a shared use agreement between the school board and the Inner City Education and Recreation Foundation, a non-profit arm of St. Ignatius, the Jesuit school is allowed to expand its new athletic complex onto 41,360 square feet of land adjacent to John M. Smyth Elementary, which is at 1059 W. 13th St. and is owned by the board.

Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez worries the move - which was initially approved in 2017 - represents a giveaway to the wealthy. Before he was elected alderman in April, Sigcho-Lopez headed the Pilsen Alliance neighborhood group, which held a protest before a Smyth Local School Council meeting in December saying the city needed to "protect Smyth" from Ignatius' expansion plans.

John Chandler, a vice president of St. Ignatius who oversees the school's development projects, said the new athletic facilities and driveway will benefit Smyth students and the surrounding community.

"I want to dispel the notion that St. Ignatius is on some crusade of a land grab in the area," Chandler said. "It's a community benefit that would help the kids of Smyth school because there is no playground or recreational spaces for the kids at the moment."

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