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West Haven Heroes: Howard Pizer and Jerry Reinsdorf

By LISC Chicago New Communites Program on Wednesday, November 18, 2009

What a neighborhood can be is largely a function of what its residents and the people who work there do. On a day-to-day basis, their actions – organizing block clubs, mentoring the children of incarcerated parents, providing shelter to homeless people, tending a neighbor’s garden – may not be heroic in the popular sense.

But those actions, and countless others like them, are what make a place what it is. And the people – the community heroes – saluted by the New Communities Program lead agencies and their partners are the ones doing the heavy lifting, often with little acknowledgement or reward.

The community heroes for West Haven are Howard Pizer and Jerry Reinsdorf. Congratulations to them and all of the other community heroes for their commitment to improving Chicago neighborhoods.

Howard Pizer

With Jerry Reinsdorf, Howard Pizer, now executive vice president of the Chicago White Sox, had a major role in bringing the United Center to the Near West Side, and in negotiating with residents who were determined that their interests (much less their homes) not be swept aside by a major sports enterprise.

For Pizer, what turned out to be a job of necessary expediency – getting the United Center built – evolved into a deep and rewarding relationship with the people and organizations with whom he negotiated.

He became a member of the board of directors of the Near West Side Community Development Corporation and recently joined the board of LISC/Chicago.

And his roles in those groups are not ceremonial. Through his interest, his keen business instincts, and his fundamental human decency, Pizer has been of invaluable assistance in helping Near West Side CDC support the West Haven community and its residents.

“Howard’s ability to tap resources has been critical in maintaining community programming and expanding Near West’s efforts in youth programming via baseball and basketball leagues,” said Earnest Gates, Near West Side CDC’s executive director. “Jerry (Reinsdorf) and Howard made a commitment to the West Haven community nearly two decades ago. They have remained friends  and partners. Their word has been our bond.”

Pizer, a Chicago native, clearly knows the meaning of community. More importantly, he knows how to sustain it.

Jerry Reinsdorf

Bringing basketball and baseball championships to sports-hungry Chicago fans is a heroic act by any definition. But Jerry Reinsdorf, the chairman and owner of the Chicago Bulls and the Chicago White Sox, is a hero in community respects as well.

Sure, he and his partners cleared large tracts of land on the Near West Side to build the United Center. But not before listening to neighborhood residents about how they thought development should proceed.

The result was an excellent sports facility, which is often open for community summer activities, and a process of neighborhood development that has accommodated long-time residents of modest means.

For nearly 20 years, Reinsdorf has been a partner and advocate with the Near West Side Community Development Corporation, helping to leverage community investment dollars for re-building homes and businesses. Bulls charities, meanwhile, have donated $4.5 million to construct the James Jordan Boys and Girls Club and Family Life Center just two blocks from the United Center and $3.5 million for the Bulls Scholars Program.

The shrewd, practical business instincts Reinsdorf applied to creating championship sports teams and facilities have also been applied to the revitalization of a Near West Side neighborhood that had fallen on hard times. And that’s a victory for the entire city.