Story thread · 2 reports / 2 sources

Chicago’s ‘Soul City’ is still waiting for its landmark

suntimes.com · 1h · first reportShare

Since 2020, residents of Chicago’s Austin neighborhood have been waiting for the city to erect a gateway arch at the entrance of its Soul City Corridor, the stretch of Chicago Avenue from Austin Boulevard to Cicero Avenue. They were thrilled when an artist, Bernard Williams, was selected and renderings were drawn up. And last year, Illinois designated a larger segment of Austin as Soul City, one of 15 official cultural districts in the state, paving the way for $200,000 in additional monies to boost the neighborhood. But the gateway construction has stalled, leaving the burgeoning development of Black business, arts and culture unidentifiable to those driving from the west suburbs into the city. The delay over a single symbol illustrates how bureaucratic the process to create a cultural district in Illinois can be. Years ago, as a college student living in Oak Park and working in neighboring Austin, Corey DooleyJohnson saw the stark difference between the affluent suburb and distressed