Elgin IL is up and coming as a destination in the arts. We are so excited to welcome this to our community in downtown Elgin. Judy and I toured the campus in March and we were so impressed.
Ground was broken in October 2011 for the 55 units of live/work housing for artists. It is a 14.5 million dollar project in downtown Elgin at the corner of Spring a Fulton streets, formally owned and used by Elgin Community College as a downtown campus. The city swapped out land with the college for this 1908 Sears and Roebuck building for conversion, plus development of a new three story structure next door.
Ground was broken in October 2011 for the 55 units of live/work housing for artists. It is a 14.5 million dollar project in downtown Elgin at the corner of Spring a Fulton streets, formally owned and used by Elgin Community College as a downtown campus. The city swapped out land with the college for this 1908 Sears and Roebuck building for conversion, plus development of a new three story structure next door.
Here are a few statistics I took from a Courier News article from Oct. 18 2011, by Mike Danahey along with some pictures I took when we toured it in March.
 |
| Old Sears & Roebuck Building on the corner of Spring and Fulton Streets formally used by Elgin Community College |
"building better communities through the arts"
The Elgin Artspace Lofts are being developed by Artspace Projects Inc. of Minneapolis, a nonprofit developer of arts facilities. Over the last two decades, Artspace has completed 30 major projects around the country.
The Elgin project will be Artspace’s second in Illinois, the other being the 24-unit Switching Station Artist Lofts in Chicago that have been in operation since 2003.
The Elgin project will be Artspace’s second in Illinois, the other being the 24-unit Switching Station Artist Lofts in Chicago that have been in operation since 2003.
 |
| The atrium under construction where a new huge sky light will be installed |
 |
| View from the balcony overlooking the construction of the atrium |
In addition to housing, the old Sears building will hold 5,000 square feet of commercial space on the first floor along with community space, including a gallery, for use by the project’s residents.
“This will be the centerpiece for downtown and define Elgin as an arts community,” - said Mayor Dave Kaptain.
 |
| Commercial space under construction on the first floor along Spring Street |
... the mayor would like to hold an advance ribbon cutting in early August, timed to the annual Art & Soul on the Fox event that draws hundreds of people downtown.
To qualify for a unit, an artist’s annual income must be at 60 percent or less of the Chicago area median income, which means $30,060 a year for a single person and $45,060 or less for a family of four. Rents will range from $329 for a studio to $1,027 for a three-bedroom place.
To get on the interest list, visit www.artspaceelgin.org or email project coordinator Heidi Kurtze at heidi.kurtze@artspace.org.
The Downtown Neighborhood Association of Elgin posted this very good youtube video(click on the link below):
ARTspace Elgin YouTube video
No comments:
Post a Comment