Plan Commission approves Sunshine Gospel Ministries community center

The Chicago Plan Commission has approved plans for a new community center at 6000 S. Martin Luther King Dr. Planned by Sunshine Gospel Ministries and Sunshine Development Corporation in collaboration with Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives, 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.

Sunshine Gospel Ministries and Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives are in the process of negotiating the sale of the city-owned property and have already secured a $13.5 million grant from the State of Illinois. 

To allow for the $38.1 million development to move forward, the team is looking to rezone the property from RM-5 to B3-1 with an overall Planned Development designation. With approval secured from the Chicago Plan Commission, the proposal can now look to garner approval from the Committee on Zoning and full City Council.