Ten years ago, for my high school paper, I covered Northeastern Illinois University’s plans to seize a block of nearby Bryn Mawr through eminent domain. A decade on, nothing has replaced those former businesses and homes.
To commemorate the “Bummer on Bryn Mawr,” as one poster put it, neighbors recently held a somber tenth anniversary.
I attended — I’m a neighbor too. I grew up around the corner and vividly remember Hunan Wok and Ugly Hookah Cafe, the long-surviving travel agency and busy salon … now vacant storefronts.
What Happened?
NEIU revealed plans for mixed-use student dormitories on Bryn Mawr between Bernard and Kimball in 2014, amid declining enrollment. To build them, the public university would use eminent domain to take private property there. The news shocked neighbors, as NEIU was — and is — a primarily commuter school.
By late 2016, affected Bryn Mawr properties were either seized by or sold to the school. A decade on, NEIU faces a deficit, and enrollment remains down. Plans for the Bryn Mawr dorms were scrapped in 2021, and NEIU has struggled to unload the buildings.
Some businesses from those buildings pivoted successfully: Day and Night, a convenience store, and popular Bryn Mawr Breakfast Club relocated down the street. Only the 711 stayed, with the state as its landlord, thus prohibiting the sale of alcohol and slicing profits. The beloved Chinese restaurant, and more, was lost.
Attendees shared what they’d like to see on Bryn Mawr via post-its on vacant windows. (Emmi Mack / City Cast Chicago)
Taking a Sarcastic Stand
The Hollywood-North Park Community Association held a so-called Somber Tenth Birthday Party along the 12 empty storefronts Wednesday. Over 20 neighbors gathered with signs and balloons to call attention to what HNPCA chair Andrew Johnson called “blight in our neighborhood.”
Some attendees lovingly recalled takeout from Hunan Wok. But most didn't focus on what used to be on Bryn Mawr — they just want to see new life there.
As neighbor Ryan O'Connell pointed out, the area is landlocked by two cemeteries. “You just ride through, and it's like nothing, nothing, nothing … We're just missing something here.”
In the street, HNPCA members passed out flyers. “We’re celebrating eminent domain!” one explained sarcastically. Drivers honked in approval.
Looming above her was an NEIU billboard that declared: “Our mission is you.” One attendee scoffed at that: “Your mission is YOU,” her sign read.
NEIU recently said it will launch “a campus master planning process” this year that includes the Bryn Mawr stretch.
“ I hope they've got the tools to do right … This should be a win-win situation,” Johnson said.
Challenges like these aren’t confined to Bryn Mawr. In Rogers Park, Loyola University is facing pressure over leaving acquired lots vacant. And on the Near West Side, UIC is forcing out historic Jim’s Original decades after taking over the surrounding neighborhood.
But in quiet North Park, residents are done staying mum.
