Neighbors and activists broke ground in Englewood on 'Go Green on Racine' initiative
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Chicago's Englewood neighborhood is going green as the community breaks ground on a new project to revitalize the area around 63rd and Racine Avenue.
Thursday, the residents group R.A.G.E along with its community partners announced the "Go Green on Racine" initiative, a quality of life plan to develop a thriving green corridor in the heart of the South Side neighborhood.
The project is funded in part by some of the city's $750 million neighborhood opportunity fund.
Anchoring the project will be the Fresh Market, a cooperative for locally sourced fresh produce and grocery items.
It's the result of The Inner City Muslim Action Network's corner store campaign.
"We believe that once you start investing other nodes along this corridor east and north south and east west, you'll begin to see the change," said Rami Nashashibi with I.M.A.N.
The corridor connects Englewood and the West Englewood neighborhoods near the closed Racine Green Line "El" station and includes a proposed mixed-use housing.
The effort comes as the "Go Green" project is among the six finalists for the $10 million Chicago Prize grant, which supports community improvement.
While the recipient won't be announced until June and the market is set to open in August, neighbors say it's worth the wait.
