“After months of community debate, Ald. Timmy Knudsen (43rd) has thrown his support behind a revised Francis Parker School expansion plan, arguing the proposal now delivers significant benefits for public schools, affordable housing and neighborhood preservation.

“The decision marks a major step for the private school’s long-discussed and controversial plans to expand its Lincoln Park campus. But the revised proposal has done little to quiet opposition from neighbors who argue the project would displace families and eliminate housing in one of Chicago’s most expensive neighborhoods.

“The proposal has been debated in some form for more than a decade. At the center of the discord is Francis Parker’s desire to demolish an apartment building it owns at 327-335 W. Belden Ave. and replace it with an academic building connected to the rest of the campus by a pedestrian bridge.

“Backlash to the project was on display Saturday, when dozens of people gathered at Oz Park to protest the proposal and criticize Knudsen’s support of it.

“Organizers said they plan to continue fighting the expansion as it moves through the city’s approval process.

“‘The alderman’s support doesn’t end this process,’ said Litcy Kursinkal, a Lincoln Park resident helping organize opposition to the project. “There are still multiple public bodies that will review this proposal, and we intend to be present at every step to make sure community concerns continue to be heard.”

“For many opponents, the concessions fail to address the fundamental issue at the center of the debate: the loss of existing housing.

“Residents have repeatedly argued that Francis Parker should pursue expansion within its existing campus footprint rather than demolish occupied residential buildings. Critics have also questioned whether community feedback was adequately reflected in Knudsen’s decision-making process.

“At Saturday’s rally, Lincoln Park resident Erica Bauer said she was disappointed by Knudsen’s decision and frustrated that an alternative expansion concept developed by an architect living in the neighborhood was not seriously considered.

“Kursinkal, another organizer involved in the opposition effort, said the fight has grown beyond the specifics of the Parker proposal.

“‘In my mind, it is larger than a neighborhood,’ Kursinkal said. ‘Money and power is kind of dictating the norms and suppressing community voices.’ (Filbin, Block Club Chicago, 6/2/26)

“Francis W. Parker School, a private K-12 college prep school in Lincoln Park, is moving forward with plans to expand its footprint following years of neighborhood backlash, failed buyout attempts and at one point a lawsuit.

“The school’s plan to expand, neighbors say, could cost families their homes, reshape a tightly knit residential block and deepen a yearslong rift between the school and the community it calls home.

“Since at least 2019, Parker has sought to expand beyond its campus along Webster Avenue, first attempting to buy out neighboring condo buildings on Belden Avenue outright before shifting tactics to purchase individual units.

“The school offered more than $20 million to buy two century-old buildings — $11.2 million for the 15-unit Belden by the Park building at 327-335 W. Belden Ave., and $9 million for the neighboring 19-unit building at 317-325 W. Belden Ave., the Tribune reported.

“After those bids failed, Parker shifted strategies. The school bought two condos in Belden by the Park for roughly $1.8 million in 2019 and secured contracts for additional units, according to the Tribune.

“The approach intensified tensions in the neighborhood where residents accused the school of attempting a piecemeal takeover of the buildings. Condo associations sent letters urging Parker to stop acquiring units and more than 600 neighbors signed a petition to preserve residential zoning in the area.

“About six years earlier, Parker had made an unsuccessful attempt to purchase the Shakespeare Building, a 24-unit property located at 2230-2256 N. Lincoln Park West.

“The strategy sparked fierce backlash from residents, including a since-dismissed lawsuit accusing the school of attempting a “hostile takeover” and raising fears among homeowners that they could ultimately be forced to sell.

“Parker is now advancing a proposal to construct a new academic building at 327-335 W. Belden Ave. by demolishing the existing residential building there, expand enrollment and add new campus features, including lights for its outdoor soccer field so that practices and games can be scheduled both earlier and later in the day.

“The proposal also includes a package of neighborhood measures, including new security cameras and lighting, a commitment to convert a Parker-owned property at 2236 N. Clark St. into seven affordable housing units and a pledge to keep another building as residential housing for at least 30 years.” (Filbin, Block Club Chicago, 4/6/26)

Preservation Chicago has worked with the community, owners and stakeholders to consider a Chicago Landmark District of Fullerton Parkway, Lincoln Park West, Belden and Commonwealth Avenues as a Chicago Landmark District to preserve all of the buildings on Belden years ago. However, that effort met resistance with former Ald. Michelle Smith and was not pursued, much to the disappointment of many residents. We remain involved with the community on this advocacy effort.

In an effort to create a win-win alternative, Preservation Chicago suggested a creative, “outside of the box” alternative that would allow many priorities to be accomplished. Parker could move its campus to acres of vacant land in Lincoln Yards. Parker outgrew its current Webster campus decades ago and the lack of available land for expansion has significantly reduced the growth of enrollment. Lincoln Yards is about ten minutes west of Parker’s Webster campus. Close to the highway, the proposed Lincoln Yards location would immediately make the school geographically accessible to many more neighborhoods and many more families. In Lincoln Yard, land is plentiful so they could build a new academic building, all of the athletic facilities they have long dreamed of, and could maintain significant additional land for parking and future growth. Additionally, their current Lincoln Park campus could be sold for a significant sum which could help to underwrite the cost of building a new Lincoln Yards campus. The current site could support a large, high-density residential development that would add many more homes to Lincoln Park and avoid displacing any current residents. The historic courtyard buildings would be preserved in their residential current use.

Additionally, 327-335 W. Belden was the longtime home of architect Gertrude Lempp Kerbis and her family. Kerbis was a woman that “broke the glass ceiling,” the world of architecture and studied at the Illinois Institute of Technology under architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.

Kerbis designed a number of prominent structures, including the “Seven Continents Restaurant- Rotunda Building” (A 2019 Preservation Chicago 7 Most Endangered Building) It was a seminal Jet Age building at O’Hare Airport, which opened in 1963, with its distinctive circular design, containing a mile’s worth of steel cabling in its roof structure and a complex program of requirements and spaces.

Read the full story at Block Club Chicago

• Francis Parker Expansion Gets Ald. Knudsen’s Support, But Some Neighbors Vow To Keep Fighting, The revised plan includes affordable housing and school funding, but critics say it comes at the cost of existing apartments and neighborhood housing, Patrick Filbin, Block Club Chicago, 6/2/26
• Lincoln Park school’s potential expansion faces opposition from residents, Jeremy Ross, Ethan Illers, Andrea Medina, Ashlyn Wright, WGN 9 Chicago, 5/29/26
   
• Francis Parker School Expansion Plan Draws Backlash From Lincoln Park Neighbors, Neighbors critical of the elite private school’s latest proposal to replace a nearby building with a new academic structure say it would displace families and prioritize the school’s growth over existing residents, Patrick Filbin, Block Club Chicago, 4/6/26
• Francis Parker School revives expansion plans, reigniting Lincoln Park opposition; Apartment buyouts could give way to reconstruction, as neighbors cry foul, The Real Deal, 4/7/26