For more than 50 years, Norine Levy-Hughes has seen the ups and downs in East Garfield Park. But from in her rowhome on Monroe Street, she watched across a vacant lot for 20 years as Willis Liquors singlehandedly brought down the block.

Known in the neighborhood for ever-present loiterers, from prostitutes to gang members to drug addicts, Willis was a nasty spot on Madison just west of California.

“Since they’ve been here, this block has been polluted, it’s been vile, there’s been filth,” Levy-Hughes said. “I would come out of my back and clean up this whole vacant lot by myself. I would clean up the wine bottles, the beer bottles, whiskey bottles.”

But with the help of her neighbors, community groups, Ald. Bob Fioretti (2nd ward) and the City of Chicago, Willis was closed down last September after a three-year battle.

“I would come out and tell God that I was tired of coming out and picking up these bottles, and I would ask him to help me, to make a change and to stop it. Then more residents showed up and got involved, and we see the result,” Levy-Hughes said. “Everything’s been a ghost town since. It’s a wonderful thing. It’s quiet, it’s clean.”

Levy-Hughes gathered with neighbors, community leaders and Fioretti in front of the shuttered liquor store Tuesday to celebrate their victory.

“This has been a nightmare. On Sunday mornings, I would do my drives through the ward, and the number of prostitutes in front of here was unbelievable,” Fioretti said. “This kind of liquor store is a cancer on our community. It’s the second one we’ve closed down, but this one was particularly viral, infecting our neighborhood.”

With the city’s departments of buildings, business affairs and consumer protection, Fioretti documented the store’s poor condition inside and out — eventually resulting in Willis’ owner giving up his business license.

Today, Dept. of Buildings Commissioner Richard Monocchio said they’re seeking to demolish Willis.

“I was inside and I saw it. It’s dilapidated,” Monocchio said. “All I know is we’re going to do what we think is best for the city, and we think that building should be torn down.”

Getting Willis shut down was a cooperative — and deeply satisfying — effort between different branches of government, Monocchio said.

“To me personally, it’s one of the more gratifying things we’ve done,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of different inspection units in the city. To use the city’s leverage in a positive way, I think that’s what taxpayers want — they want government to work together and they want some evidence that it does work.”

Malik Elliott, the commercial district manager for the Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance, said shutting down the liquor store is a good thing for local business.

“This is not about closing stores, but making them accountable to the community,” Elliott said.

While the vacant lots next to Willis are split between a hodge-podge of owners, Elliott thinks clearing the liquor store from the block might create a clean slate that’s enticing to developers.

“Now we have the density, we have the traffic counts to actually bring in some big convenience and personal retail uses,” he said, pointing to a CVS in the works just a few blocks west on Madison. “It’s in the center of East Garfield Park. It’d be a great location for a lot of different retail and apparel concepts.”

But for now, residents are just happy Willis is gone. Marissa Baker used to walk a block out of her way to catch the bus just to avoid going past Willis. On Tuesday, she claimed victory.

“We worked together to reclaim our neighborhood,” she said. “We’ve succeeded in holding a business accountable to the community it’s supposed to serve.”

CONTACT: bmeyerson@chicagojournal.com

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By kar from East Garfield Park
Posted: 07/01/2011 2:01 PM

The owner of Willie's Liquors at Madison and Francisco is appealing the demolition order and wants to open a convenience store at the same location. It is important for the community to show up and let the judge know that we do not want this to happen! Let's get that building knocked down once and for all! The Daley Center-Room 1111 Thursday, July 7 · 11:00am - 2:00pm