NEIU USING EMINENT DOMAIN TO FORCE NEIGHBORS OUT, BUILD NEW DORMS
“Northeastern Illinois University has taken legal action to force neighboring residents and businesses to move as part of a plan to expand the campus.
The university is using eminent domain to make room in the community for new dorms on properties adjacent to the campus.
Northeastern Illinois is the only public university in Illinois that does not have student housing, and it wants that, even at the expense of an unattractive court fight. When we first reported on this in May, NEIU was threatening to use its power of eminent domain to take neighboring properties. On Friday, it became more than a threat.
“We thought this was the sort of thing done under totalitarian regimes, but not in the United States where the sanctity of private ownership was and should remain a given,” said Rosemary Beil, property owner.
Back in the 70’s, Rosemary Beil and her husband bought and built up a corner lot at Kimball and Bryn Mawr. They don’t want to sell, but Northeastern wants it – and both sides of the block – for new student housing.
On Friday, NEIU lawyers filed suit to condemn six properties through eminent domain. Those properties contain a number of businesses that have been fixtures here for years, like a Chinese restaurant open since the 50s. They don’t want to move.
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Meincke, Paul. Channel 7 News 8 August 2014.