Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2005. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Chicago Tribune - June 14, 2005
Johnathon E. Briggs, jebriggs@tribune.com
Scheduled for completion as early as next spring, the 135,000-square-foot facility will be the new home of Center on Halsted, formerly Horizons Community Services, the city's largest gay and lesbian social service agency. But it is also being heralded as the cultural and social hub. It is the manifestation of a vision that dates to the late 1980s.
"This is a center that will bring the community together in a way that it has never come together before," said Robbin Burr, executive director of Center on Halsted, which occupies a 10,000-square-foot office at 961 W. Montana St. "It's a big moment for Chicago and the LGBT community at large."
The center is being funded by private donations, foundation money and government grants. In June 2001, the center acquired the Park District property at 3656 N. Halsted St.
After surveys, interviews and site visits to gay and lesbian centers in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York, center officials learned that members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community wanted a space where they could foster unity, feel physically and emotionally safe and find cultural enrichment.
The three-story facility, designed by San Francisco-based architectural firm Gensler Architecture, Design & Planning Worldwide, will offer meeting and office space to more than 40 Chicago-area community groups, classrooms, recreational areas, a 175-seat performance venue, a rooftop garden, a cyber center and a underground parking garage.
The center will also allow the agency to expand social service programs it has provided for 32 years, including youth counseling services, aid for victims of domestic violence and hate crimes, individual and group therapy and HIV/AIDS programs.
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