City Council approves land sale for Sunshine Gospel Ministries community center

The Chicago City Council has approved the sale of city-owned land for the Sunshine Community Center, a new community center planned by Sunshine Gospel Ministries and Sunshine Development Corporation in collaboration with Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives. Located at 6000 S. Martin Luther King Dr, the project site is bound by E. 60th St to the north, E, 61st St to the south, S. Martin Luther King Dr to the east, and S. Calumet Ave to the west.

With Civic Projects Architecture designing the project, the three-story community center is planned for use by families, seniors, and youth that will participate in its after-school programs and athletic programming. The project will foster community engagement among its neighbors.

On the first floor, the building will feature health and wellness spaces, including a fitness center, exercise studios, a two-court gymnasium, a cafe/restaurant, community rooms, a senior room, and multi-use space for pop-up retail and healthy cooking demonstrations. The lobby space will open onto S. Martin Luther King Dr to the east while connecting through to the courtyard and outdoor spaces to the west.

The second floor will have programming rooms for media and technology, visual and graphic arts, a recording studio, youth lounge, youth program rooms, multi use programming rooms, and a gym viewing deck. The third floor will include administrative offices and office rental space for future tenancy.

The larger site will include outdoor spaces including play courts, multipurpose athletic facilities, playgrounds, open lawns, seating in the courtyard, a walking path, and native landscaped areas. The property will include a surface parking lot with 90 parking spaces as well as 44 bike parking spaces.

The $36.9 million project will be supported by a $13.5 million grant from the State of Illinois and a $5 million Community Development Grant that was awarded earlier this year. Set to replace 16 city lots at 345-79 E. 60th St., 6000-50 S. King Drive and 6001-49 S. Calumet Ave, all of which will be sold for $1 per parcel.