Pastor buys former liquor store building in hopes to reduce Chatham crime

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Big plans are in the works on the South Side at the intersection of 79th and Cottage Grove.

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A local church purchased a building on the corner that previously known as Happy Liquor and Foods.

Pastor John Hannah plans to breathe new life into a building he hopes will help transform a neighborhood.

Neighbors say the liquor store attracted the wrong kind of business, some even taking a different bus stop to avoid it.

"People just standing outside. It's real dangerous. So, I just keep walking straight. There's too much happening," neighbor Jessica Crowder said.

Last May, police say three men were shot near the sidewalk, one of them was killed.

"Gangs standing in front of their door, literally their very door, selling drugs to the community," 8th Ward Alderman Michelle Harris said. "When you have somebody that stakes out in front of your door, it brings all that negative traffic."

Eventually the business was shuttered, that's when New Life Covenant Southeast and Pastor John Hannah entered the equation and bought the property.

"We knew that there's so much potential in this community," Pastor Hannah said. "We knew that there are people who want to see change in this community, so we're not going to let the negative smother the positive."

Pastor Hannah said he views this transformation as an assignment from God.

He hopes to transform the area into a grocery store, a medical facility featuring dental and counseling services and even leave space for small businesses.

"We do a prayer down 79th Street every year," Hannah said. "We've been walking past this store for 15 years, and so finally, we don't have to walk past it. We can put a flag in the ground."

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