The Cubs started demolishing the former House of the Good Shepherd in Lake View as part of an effort to expand its nearby Camry parking lot, at Racine Avenue and Grace Street.
The team purchased the site from Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago and began demolishing the former domestic violence shelter in late April. A permit to tear down the two-story building was issued by the city April 20.
The team wants to add 259 parking spaces ahead of the 2027 All-Star Game at Wrigley Field. But adding parking will require city approval, starting with the Chicago Plan Commission. That process is separate from the ongoing demolition and could start in June, according to Mike Lufrano, executive vice president of community and legal affairs for the Cubs.
The number one concern the Cubs have heard from neighbors is that Wrigley Field patrons steal residents’ parking, according to Lufrano.
The Camry expansion aims to remedy that. The team said the lot is used mostly by Wrigley employees, who arrive hours before game time and leave hours after — meaning they don’t contribute to the area’s traffic congestion as much as game attendees.
The lot currently has 688 spaces, according to Will McIntee, Cubs’ director of government and community affairs. If the expansion is approved, there would be 947 surface parking spaces.
During a March presentation to the East Lake View Neighbors association, some neighbors balked at the Cubs’ original proposal. Their primary concern was the potential for increased traffic. They also wanted to know why more parking spaces were needed when the team shared that most fans use public transit to get to Wrigley.
About 37% of game attendees drive to Wrigley while 63% use alternate modes of transportation, according to the team. The Cubs said fewer drivers are likely because of its advertising push encouraging public transit use to Wrigley.
Following community feedback, the Cubs made changes to its proposal for the Camry Lot. The biggest is updated plans for the exit on the property’s west side, which would cut through the concrete wall separating the lot from Racine Avenue. The new exit would funnel drivers directly onto Clark Street and reduce traffic on Grace Street, Lufrano said.
Other changes included adding more trees. Lufrano said some neighbors expressed concerns that the Camry expansion would mean trees being removed. Lufrano said that was never the case, with the expansion resulting in “a net addition of trees.” An additional sustainability measure is preserving the basement of the Good Shepherd buildings to use for stormwater retention, he said.
“Like everything we do here, we try to listen and try to incorporate [neighbors’] ideas when it makes sense, both for the community and for us,” Lufrano said. “It makes the project better.”
Lufrano said the team wants to work in partnership with the community and hopes to have its proposal in front of the Plan Commission in June.
For some with ties to the Good Shepherd, there’s still hope that the shelter can be kept nearby in its original form.
Jillian Wilson, 27, stayed at the Good Shepherd for about seven months when she was 18. She had felt trapped in an abusive relationship, and the shelter provided her safety.
When Wilson heard from her former case manager that the Good Shepherd was closing, she “stopped in her tracks.”
“That place really holds a special place in my heart,” Wilson said. “I was shocked.”
She said the Good Shepherd was unique in giving women in need a long-term place to stay, with full-sized apartments. The shelter provided women with trauma-informed counseling, addiction services and educational opportunities, among other services.
“To have this place where it’s like, ‘OK, you can stay; you don’t have to go back; you have a home here.’ … I felt so humanized there,” Wilson said.
The Good Shepherd has helped more than 6,000 women and children seeking an escape from domestic abuse, according to its website.
Wilson started an online petition to save the Good Shepherd from demolition. So far, it has 117 signatures.
Though demolition already started, she hopes all involved parties will make an effort to rebuild or relocate the shelter.
The Catholic Charities has said it moved the shelter and its programs to another building, but Wilson argues the location is smaller and won’t be able to help survivors of abuse in the same capacity.
“I don’t think the community is very aware of just how important this place was to a lot of women because it was a secret, and it was supposed to be a secret, obviously, for many reasons,” Wilson, who now lives in Indiana, said. “It’s just so impactful to the community, even my own life.”