Reopen parts of shuttered schools to revive neighborhoods on South, West sides, mayoral aide suggests

The Chicago Students Organizing to Save Our Schools, shown in March 2013, opposed Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to close 50 CPS elementary schools. In the end, though, the schools were closed, and critics say losing those schools has devastated some communities. Now, a city official is suggesting re-purposing parts of some of those schools to help their neighborhoods. (Sun-Times Media)

Re-purposing all — or even a portion — of the schools closed by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel is “one of the biggest opportunities yet to be tapped” to revive impoverished South and West Side neighborhoods, a top mayoral aide said Wednesday.

“It’s very frustrating to me because I think — I know — how we could make progress on it,” Planning and Development Commissioner Maurice Cox told the City Council’s Budget Committee during a periodic update on federal stimulus spending.