Momentum has officially abandoned the anti-Pritzker parking garage lobby, as has any chance of compromise between preservationists and Col. Jennifer Pritzker-led Tawani Enterprises over the plot at 7331 N Sheridan Road. As DNAinfo reports, demolition work began over the weekend on the grand century-old home that, until recently, housed the Shambhala Meditation Center. It's now all-but-inevitable that Pritzker will get her way with a proposed 250-space parking garage in a residential area almost directly beside Pritzker's restored Emil Bach House. No retail, no residences, just parking. Protesters, large in number and very vocal, organized against the "mistake by the lake" for months but lost the support of Ald. Joe Moore and lost the Zoning Board vote. The Chicago Plan Commission must still grant approval, but few expect a rejection at this stage. Apart from the clashing character of the garage, neighbors objected to noise and pollution and the safety of placing ramp entry and exit right up to the Sherwin sidewalk with a large senior population nearby. David Watkins, one such elderly neighbor, is resigned to Pritzker's behemoth, telling DNAinfo "if they went this far, it's done."
·Parking Garage: Crews Begin Demolition of Shambhala House [DNAinfo]
·Rogers Park Residents March Against Pritzker Parking Garage [Curbed Chicago]
·Parking Wars [Curbed Chicago]
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