Update: Gladstone Park association to discuss results of its community strengths, weaknesses survey at June 23 meeting

Editor’s note: Below is a story on the Gladstone Park Neighborhood Association’s meeting in April. The GPNA recently announced that it will hold a follow-up meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 23, at the Kolping Center, 5826 N. Elston Ave., to discuss the survey’s results.

by BRIAN NADIG

The Gladstone Park Neighborhood Association is asking for input from residents on what they perceive as the community’s strengths and weaknesses.

The association recently posted an online survey on its website at www.gpnachicago.com.

“The Gladstone Park Neighborhood Association is working on a strategic plan to determine how to focus our efforts as an organization. We want to capture the community’s views on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats facing the Gladstone Park community so we can, in turn, focus our efforts on preserving the strengths, addressing the weaknesses which exist, capitalize on perceived opportunities, and defend against threats our community is facing,” the website states.

The survey asks respondents to comment on what makes the community a “desirable”:or “less desirable” place to live.

Association president Joe DiCiaula said that the the group plans to host a meeting in June to discuss survey’s results.

The results will help the association better manage where its efforts should be focused, DiCiaula said. “You have all these competing interests for time, (and) ultimately you’ve got to have some buy-in from the neighborhood,” he said.

Development projects and preservation of architecturally significant buildings, including homes, churches and schools, are among the issues that could come up on the surveys, according to association members.

At the association’s April 14 meeting, resident Elizabeth Mina discussed her research about the neighborhood, including the most significant examples of architecture in Gladstone Park.

Mina has created a website, which is available at www.gladstonepark.net, which has details about the area’s history, including the development of certain subdivisions of homes. English-style Tudors, bungalows, German-style Dutch Colonials and Cape Cods are among the styles of houses found in Gladstone Park, according to Mina.

Also at the meeting, it was reported that a zoning change is being sought to convert the upper-floor offices of a two-story building at 6320-24 N. Milwaukee Ave., to three residential units. The ground-floor storefronts would remain.

The dwelling units would range in size from 806 to 883 square feet. The property would be rezoned from B3-1 to B3-2 to accommodate the project, which would not include an expansion of the existing structure.

DiCiaula said that association plans to inform Alderman Samantha Nugent (39th) that it has no objections to the proposal.

It also was reported that the planned Gladstone Food Mart at 5789 N. Milwaukee Ave. would stop selling liquor at midnight on weekdays and 1 a.m. on weekends under a plan of operation that would be be attached to its licenses. A 7-Eleven convenience store previously occupied the space.

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