Englewood school closed by city converted into resource center for formerly incarcerated

CHICAGO (WLS) -- It's been nearly 10 years since CPS decided to close dozens of neighborhood schools, and now one abandoned building in Englewood is being converted into a force for good.

Granville Woods Math and Science Academy has been empty for 10 years. Windows are boarded up, grass is overgrown, graffiti mars the outside walls and inside there are exposed wires and a partially collapsed ceiling.

Granville Woods was one of six Englewood elementary schools shut down during the massive Chicago Public School closures in 2013.

"I grew up in this neighborhood, my nephew he grew up in this neighborhood, my sister multiple friends and family; I felt like they shouldn't have closed the school," said Jamarcus Stevens, who graduated from Granville Woods.

The school served as a neighborhood anchor for Stevens' family and so many others. Now Cecile DeMello and Asiaha Butler hope the 6,000 square foot building can once again serve as a community center.

"We are looking at probably a thousand people being serviced in this building," said Butler, founder of the Resident Association of Greater Englewood.

Butler and her group have teamed up with two other groups, including DeMello's Team Englewood, to repurpose Woods into a resource center for formerly incarcerated Englewood residents. It will include job training, support services and housing for the whole family.

"If they don't have the housing to support their families, sometimes it makes the process harder of being able to be a stronger father or mother in their children's lives."

A combination of public and private funds will help pay for the center, which has been nicknamed "the Regenerator."

"I hope the Regenerator can be a model for other communities, government collaborations, especially when we think about closed buildings that have that unique layout," DeMello said.

Stevens thinks the project is a great idea. He said it will give his block a much needed purpose again.

If all goes as planned with the city and CPS approval process, community groups hope to break ground by the summer and complete the project next year.