Deep Pocket Town
Through a foundation he launched in 1998, Gary Comer, the late founder of Lands’ End, has given away some $86 million to help revive his childhood neighborhood on the Far South Side, known as Pocket Town.
1. HIGH SCHOOL (2010)
Gary Comer College Prep’s neon-green exterior is impossible to miss. Last year, all 127 seniors graduated and went on to college.
2. YOUTH CENTER (2006)
A massive 80,000 square feet, the center serves 1,000 kids a day and is home to the famed South Shore Drill Team.
3. YOUTH GARDEN (2010)
4. GRADE SCHOOL (1999)
Where it all started: Paul Revere Elementary, the public school where a young Comer learned his ABCs
5. LIBRARY (2011)
The newest addition to Pocket Town, the Greater Grand Crossing branch sits on land donated by the Comer Science and Education Foundation.
NEW HOMES (2006)
The original plan for Revere Way was to build 90 affordable homes, but after 2008 the foundation capped the development at 60.
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WHERE THE $86 MILLION HAS GONE
RELATED: Can $86 Million Save a Neighborhood? »
Photography: Mike Schwartz
This article appears in the February 2013 issue of Chicago magazine.
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Pocket Town? I was raised there during the 40's. It was a working class neighborhood full of great, honest, hardworking people. Paul Revere was my school and Mrs. Mary Cronin was my all time favorite teacher. When I lived there it was called the Triangle and home.
Janet Mattson Kapischke