Friday, February 1, 2013
The board president says extending Joe Orr Road into Indiana will greatly benefit municipalities in south-east Cook County.
Joe Orr Road was recently realigned and will be extended into Indiana, and the benefits of the 1.3 mile project are coming, according to Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. The project, which started east of Stony Island Avenue and went to Torrence Avenue in Lansing, moved Joe Orr Road further south and expanded it to five lanes, according to the release from the Preckwinkle's office. Torrence also grew to three lanes from the new Joe Orr intersection to the old one. With a future expansion into Munster, IN in mind, a traffic signal was installed at the new intersection as well. "This project reflects the department’s strategic role as an active force in economic development. We recognize that building and improving …
Sunday, August 19, 2012
The executive director of Habitat for Humanity Chicago South Suburbs wants to use vacant properties on Joe Orr Road to do something special for the Heights.
Chicago Heights Fourth Ward Ald. Josh Deabel once called the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, located in the 100 block of Joe Orr Road, "the only hardware store we have." Deabel said this as he expressed concerns for what would happen to the store and the vacant strip mall properties surrounding it once the City of Chicago Heights took ownership of the building. It turns out Habitat for Humanity executive director David Tracy, who operates ReStore, is just as concerned. Tracy wants to have all the vacant storefronts surrounding his store turned into a multi-faceted community center, including a rooftop garden and a job training facility. There are still lots of questions to be answered, but several Patch readers have commented with positive …
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Everyone wants Chicago Heights cleaned up yesterday. Mayor Gonzalez discusses what it's going to take at the intersection of Joe Orr and Ashland.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
"I just don't want to see this building torn down," Ald. Josh Deabel said during the discussion at the May 7 Chicago Heights City Council meeting.
After months of legal discussion, the Chicago Heights City Council voted in favor of acquiring the strip small formerly housing Ace Hardware on Joe Orr Road. But one alderman is worried the City will tear the strip mall down and create another vacant lot. The property, located at 190 Joe Orr, was being maintained by the city and therefore had a lien against it. It also had hundreds of thousands of dollars in back-taxes piling up and is showing deterioration along the roof, according to Corporation Counsel T.J. Somer. The city's plan was to execute a deed in lieu of foreclosure, eliminate the back-taxes and repair the building. "The benefit of that is always, when we do these kinds of deals . . . is that we make it marketable again," Somer …
Tom
7:16 pm on Sunday, February 3, 2013
They don't have the money to repair the infrastructure we have but boy can we come up with 7.2 M for a road to nowhere. more ›