[Oe List ...] 5th City Auto Center

[Jim Baumbach]

Long before Google produced their first set of city pictures, I wandered 
the streets of Fifth City photographing many different structures 
including the razing of the chapel, administration building and the gym 
at 3444 Congress Pkwy.  Driving past the vacant lot where the Auto 
Center used to stand so proudly, always left me with a very empty 
feeling.  It wasn't until I started digitizing my negatives, recently, 
that I once again relived the fantastic event held in Fifth City.  The 
day of the ground breaking for the Auto Center.  From Cathy Byrnes 
(daughter of Jane Byrnes, previous mayor of Chicago) to the Marshall HS 
Band, and all of the familiar faces of Fifth City, one by one, speaking 
in a packed Washington Hall of the Community Center about the wonderful 
promise and symbol this edifice represented.  The ground breaking, 
itself where so many people symbolically pushed their shovels into the 
soil on that cold February day in 1983 was an event rivaled only by the 
Fifth City Plaza dedication 8 years earlier.  I always wondered about 
the sad tragedy of the Auto Center that held such a promise of 
possibility of creating jobs for the local residents.

Thanks again for the Google update.

Jim Baumbach

W. J. wrote:
> Of course those of us who are Google 'spies' knew that. Apparently the 
> City took it down after the title holders gave it back to the banks 
> and they walked away. That would be my best guess. Now it's a fenced 
> parking lot, rather than an abandoned hulk that would pose a threat to 
> the community from 'unauthorized use.'
> That's probably also the reason so much of 5th City is now vacant lots.
> The silver lining in this sad story is that many of the formerly 
> glass- and brick-strewn vacant lots from Kedzie down 5th Avenue to the 
> Community Center are now vegetable gardens. 
> Marshall
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* Jim Baumbach <wtw0bl at new.rr.com>
> *To:* Order Ecumenical Community <oe at wedgeblade.net>
> *Sent:* Thu, December 3, 2009 4:00:52 AM
> *Subject:* Re: [Oe List ...] Google Maps: view of 5th City Iron Man
>
> Thanks Marshall.  It is possible to tour all of Fifth City with the 
> Google views.  Sadly all of the residences where Alice and I lived for 
> 10 years there are gone.  I would like to know if anyone knows what 
> happened to the 5th City Auto Center.  It is completely gone.
>
> Jim Baumbach
>
> W. J. wrote:
>> This Google view shows the Iron Man withe the 5th City Community 
>> Center in the background and the shopping center to the right.
>> Marshall
>>
>> <http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&client=safari&q=fifth+avenue+and+Kedzie+Chicago+map&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=S+Kedzie+Ave+%26+W+5th+Ave,+Chicago,+Cook,+Illinois&gl=us&ei=TGkXS4iOGpSesgOk_OiwDg&ved=0CAwQ8gEwAA&ll=41.877009,-87.710874&spn=0.000663,0.004039&t=h&z=19&lci=com.panoramio.all&layer=c&cbll=41.877009,-87.710873&panoid=cx1m3GxOxOFDyjM7qlwdxw&cbp=13,68.5,,1,-0.02 
>> <http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&client=safari&q=fifth+avenue+and+Kedzie+Chicago+map&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=S+Kedzie+Ave+%26+W+5th+Ave,+Chicago,+Cook,+Illinois&gl=us&ei=TGkXS4iOGpSesgOk_OiwDg&ved=0CAwQ8gEwAA&ll=41.877009,-87.710874&spn=0.000663,0.004039&t=h&z=19&lci=com.panoramio.all&layer=c&cbll=41.877009,-87.710873&panoid=cx1m3GxOxOFDyjM7qlwdxw&cbp=13,68.5,,1,-0.02>>
>>
>> This email was sent to you by a user on Google Maps (maps.google.com 
>> <http://maps.google.com>)
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