Galewood residents push back on former Mars factory housing plan

Neighbors hold meeting over former Mars plant

 Galewood residents are taking matters into their own hands holding a meeting about the future of the old Mars candy factory.     It’s a story we first brought you Monday. And tonight, pushback is growing over a housing proposal.  Kasey Chronis has the latest.

GALEWOOD, Ill. - Galewood residents are taking matters into their own hands — holding a meeting Wednesday evening to discuss the future of the former Mars candy factory on the city’s Far Northwest Side — after proposed development plans were not met with widespread support.  

What we know:

The Galewood Montclare Community Organization is hosting a neighborhood input meeting from 6-8 p.m. on Wednesday at the Redeemer Church, located at 6740 W. North Avenue. 

Together, the group plans to build a community proposal it can present to Mars Wrigley, the site's developer, and local officials. 

The meeting comes as pushback is growing over a housing proposal announced by McCaffery Interests, the developer selected by Mars Wrigley.

Longtime residents are calling for the 20-acre site to become a community hub, but McCaffery Interests has proposed nearly 500 housing units — a plan neighbors say could lead to overcrowding.

The backstory:

The old Mars plant, situated along Oak Park Avenue between the Metra tracks and Armitage Avenue, is facing a new future. 

FOX Chicago obtained renderings of the proposed housing development, which calls for 150 senior living units, 197 apartment units, and 132 townhome units. 

"My thought is, where are you going to put all these people," said Ray Centeno, who lives across the street from the site. "With the schools that are around here and then the new development that's going up on North Avenue and Harlem."

Centeno has lived on Oak Park Avenue, across from the factory, for roughly 30 years. With a birthday on Halloween, he says the holiday has brought some of his favorite memories — including thousands of people lining up each October for full-size candy bars. 

While he’s relieved the Spanish Revival–style building is protected by landmark status, he feels adding more housing wouldn’t be ideal and believes other uses would better serve the community.

"My preference, which I brought up at several of the meetings that I attended, is an ambulance house south of the track here due to the amount of residents that live within the area of Oak Park, Harlem Avenue, North Avenue, and Dickens Street," Centeno said. "A lot of times, my wife and I would be sitting out here in the front or she would be doing her plantings, and there’s a big commercial train going by, and an ambulance was called, or the fire department, and they get stuck right there at the train track, and I’m talking for 10, 15, 20 minutes. Do you want to be getting ill or have your house on fire and the fire department can’t get through?"

Other neighbors are recommending a state-of-the-art library or sports complex for local youth. 

What they're saying:

Alderman Chris Taliaferro (29th Ward) told FOX Chicago that he plans to send a representative to the neighborhood meeting — but cannot be in attendance as his own monthly meeting will be taking place at the same time.

On Monday, Taliaferro shared a statement with FOX Chicago, which read, in part:

"It is important that we continue to meet over the next several months as a community and with McCaffery Interests to express what bests represents and would be beneficial to the Galewood neighborhood. That is the project that will ultimately garner my support and recommendation. As of now, we are not at that point." 

What's next:

FOX Chicago once again reached out to McCaffery Interests and Mars Wrigley for statements but did not immediately hear back.