What next for Chicagos historic Maxwell Street?
Steve Knopper writes: What’s left of Maxwell Street — the mile-long stretch of Chicago neighborhood where Muddy Waters, Hound Dog Taylor and so many others worked the thriving street corners in the early 1940s — is a block and a half of tiny shops in rusted-out buildings. The historic area may shrink further if nobody heeds Chicago preservationist Steven Balkin’s shrill warnings of University of Illinois-Chicago expansion. Balkin, an economics professor at nearby Roosevelt University, calls UIC’s decision-makers “white men in suits” and says they care more about money than preserving African-American history. The small college, he says, began its push into the South Side Chicago area in 1994 and plans to continue this year. To stop the development, Balkin wants to create a Maxwell Street Historic District, with locally owned museums, shops and restaurants. UIC officials, who have yet to pick a developer for an upcoming 30-acre expansion, want to erect new academic buildings, student
