Flashback 1987: Lawson Y's residents face ouster in closing

"Sollie 17," by Nancy and Edward Kienholz (National Portrait Gallery)

    The old Lawson YMCA — now Lawson House — was on the radio Wednesday — for receiving a historic preservation award. That is good news, and better that the building is now 409 units of low cost housing, what it was at the start.
     I have two central Lawson Y memories, neither of them very good. The first was sitting in the very good barbecue chicken joint that used to be across Dearborn, enjoying dinner with my significant other, when a man leapt from the roof and hit the sidewalk on Chicago Avenue. We didn't see him fall, but saw the crowd gather, and left our meal to join them. That was a mistake, and we returned to our dinner with considerably less appetite.
     The second was sitting with Percy Davis in his little room, discussing his life options, leading to this story. The YMCA official who predicted it would be sold in two years was off by 35 years — the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago finally sold it in 2024, not for millions, but for $1.

     Percy Davis isn't the kind of person the Young Men's Christian Association wants around anymore.
     The 81-year-old former employee at the First National Bank of Chicago has lived in the Lawson Y at Chicago and Dearborn for 37 years. Now retired, Percy passes his time reading, studying Spanish and attending the senior evening club that is held every night at Lawson.
     But sometime in the next two years, Davis and the rest of the people who live in the 595-room Lawson YMCA can expect to be out of a home. Lawson is up for sale.

Lawson YMCA (Chicago Historical Society)

     The 22-story building is just one of the dozens of YMCA residential facilities that are being closed across the country as the Y phases out low-cost urban housing in favor of providing recreation to families.
     Since 1983, 66 YMCA facilities, representing 7,500 beds, have been closed nationwide. The Chicago YMCA, which has seven residential buildings housing more than 2,000 people, has in recent years closed facilities at South Wabash, Division Street and Hyde Park.
     "It's happening in every major city all across the country," said John W. Casey, president of the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago. "They've all gone through that same transition over time. Buildings have deteriorated and the capital hasn't been there to keep it up."
     The YMCA is asking $12 million for Lawson, and though it has been on the market for more than three years, Casey is confident the building will be sold within a year or two.
     "I'd be surprised if it takes two years," Casey said.
     The YMCA gives two basic reasons for closing down its residential facilities. One, it needs the money for new projects (the YMCA is breaking ground this fall for a new $8.5 million building in Woodlawn). And two, it is turning its focus away from urban centers and more toward "neighborhoods."
     "Our mission is youth and family in the city, and most of the people at Lawson are over 50 years of age," Casey said. "The question is, do you reinvest money you don't have in Lawson, or convert the value of the Lawson asset into other projects?"
     Casey said that, in the long run, the Near North area will get by fine without Lawson.
     "The YMCA understands this city can only exist in the 21st century if it has strong neighborhoods," he said. "I think the central area is going to take care of itself."
      Others are not so sure. Chicago is losing low-cost, single-room-occupancy housing at the rate of more than 1,000 units a year, and the closing of Lawson will only contribute to that decline.
     "This kind of closing is a disaster," said Dr. Ron Vander Kooi, president of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. "It's part of a pattern of Ys closing."
     Vander Kooi said the closing would mean a sharp reduction in the standard of living for most of Lawson's residents, despite the YMCA's efforts to relocate them.
     "A few will find comparable housing," he said. "Most of them will have to pay much more for similar housing and at least a few will become homeless."
     The churches in the area, which use Lawson to house the homeless people who frequently turn up at their doors, say Lawson will be missed.
     "From our viewpoint, one of the problems you get in an area like this is finding housing for people who have no place to go," said Bishop Timothy Lyne, pastor at Holy Name Cathedral, across the street from Lawson. "Lawson is a resource for taking care of problem people. The people in the neighborhood need it."
     The YMCA administration says it will make every effort to relocate residents.
     "They're of great concern to us," Casey said. "We're going to make a considerable effort to help each and every one of those people who need our assistance. We're not going to come in the middle of the night and board up that building and sell it off. The transition will be done in a timely and humane fashion."
     Some Lawson employees point to the long time Lawson has been on the market, hopeful that no one will buy it.
     "We live this day-in, day-out," said Hal Meyer, who is in charge of programming at Lawson. "They've said it was sold several times, but the day comes to fork over the money, and it doesn't happen."

                    — Originally published in the Sun-Times, July 12, 1987