A pair of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) proposals approved today by City Council will help rebuild a Northwest Side branch library and improve a South Side elementary school.

"Schools and libraries have long-served local neighborhoods as community anchors, and the TIF assistance is a great way to help these institutions serve local needs for many generations to come," Mayor Rahm Emanuel said.

Albany Park Library
The Albany Park branch library at 5150 N. Kimball Ave. will be replaced by a new structure that's twice its size through $15 million in TIF assistance.

The new 16,000-square-foot facility will rise on the site of the current library, which dates to 1963.

Being planned by the Public Building Commission, the new library will create eight full-time positions and 35 temporary construction jobs. Work could start in spring 2013.

Donoghue School
Donoghue Elementary School at 707 E. 37th St. will receive $200,000 in TIF for capital improvements under a plan to create a shared parking lot with an adjacent private housing development.

The parking lot will be constructed on unused Board of Education property between the school and the site of a 48-unit affordable housing project.

The housing developer, Oakwood Shores Terrace Associates LP, will contribute $150,000 to the school as part of the long-term agreement to allow apartment residents and visitors to use the lot.

# # #