Chicago leaders announce conversion of buildings into housing sites for migrants

CHICAGO - The Near South Health Center has sat vacant, but will soon become the latest temporary shelter for migrants arriving in Chicago.

City leaders announced the plans during a town hall on Wednesday.

The city is converting more than a dozen buildings, including colleges, closed schools, and churches, into housing sites.

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Also on the proposed list is the Broadway Armory in Edgewater. City and park officials tell Block Club Chicago they are making contingency plans to the programming and services at the facility. But some neighbors say shutting down a major park facility will impact hundreds of in-need seniors and children.

A community meeting on this site will be held next week on July 27th, hosted by 48th Ward Alderwoman Leni Manáa-Hoppenworth’s office. The expansion of migrant shelters follows an effort by Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas and other Republican officials outside of Illinois to send buses carrying migrants to sanctuary cities like Chicago.