Jul 1, 2009 10:39 am US/Central
Alderman Steps Up Effort For South Side Wal-Mart
Ald. Howard Brookins Has Been Trying For Wal-Mart In His 21st Wart For 5 Years
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Ald. Howard Brookins Jr. is stepping up efforts to get a Wal-Mart in his ward.
CBS
Ald. Howard Brookins (21st), who has been trying for years to bring a Wal-Mart to his ward on the city's South Side, is stepping up his effort.
Brookins is asking his fellow aldermen to help him, saying that it is more important than ever to bring jobs to the city at a time of rising unemployment and the city's growing budget shortfall.
The city has now has only one Wal-Mart, at North and Kilpatrick avenues on the city's West Side, and Brookins has been trying for a second one for five years. A previous effort failed before Wal-Mart built a store just across the border in Evergreen Park -- leaving him shaking his head at the prospect of hundreds of workers and countless shoppers flocking to the tiny suburb.
Brookins has called for the Wal-Mart in his ward to be constructed at the former Ryerson Steel plant site at 83rd Street and Stewart Avenue. It would include the city's first "supercenter" that also sells groceries.
Brookins introduced an ordinance in April that would allow Wal-Mart to build the store in his ward, but the move has yet to advance. It put Brookins at odds with labor unions, which opposed allowing Wal-Mart to open in the city, and did not sit well with some aldermen, who said infrastructure, the city workforce, and the 2016 Olympics were higher priorities.
The Associated Press and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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