During the early decades of the 20th century, the population of the Old Town neighborhood continued to expand.  The neighborhood's appearance and community began to deteriorate under the changing economic and social conditions of the area.  The Old Town Triangle Association was formed in 1948 to promote an organized approach to renewing the neighborhood.

 
 
OTTA Newsletter
May 1962

"In 1948, the Old Town Triangle Association was formed by a small group of neighbors who became associated originally in Civil Defense work.  Working toward neighborhood improvement in one of Chicago's annual spring clean-up campaigns, they organized a street fair and outdoor square dance as a demonstration of the successful results of an organized clean-up effort.  The response of the community was well beyond what was expected and a basis was established for the organization of the OTTA."
 
OBJECTIVES OF THE OTTA:
1) Conservation and urban renewal
2) Encouragement of lending by private and public agencies for individual home improvement
3) Strict enforcement of zoning
4) To aid in the development of recreation, crime control, juvenile direction, church, school, and other social service programs
5) To keep members advised as to all information concerning the Triangle
6) Improved traffic control
7) Better garbage containers and pest elimination
8) Encouragement of gardening and parkway improvement
OTTA POLICIES REGARDING CONSERVATION:
1) A belief that the heart and essence of urban renewal is CONSERVATION AND REHABILITATION
2) A belief that it is necessary to conserve the Triangle's present broad base of people in a variety of economic, social, and age groups
3) A recognition of the fact that the original and continuing objective of the community is its CONSERVATION as a valuable residential neighborhood
4) A belief in rehabilitation and renewal rather than demolition; a belief that replacement on a mass basis of either people or buildings is NOT necessary, or desirable

 
 
Sedgwick Avenue south of North Avenue, 2000
Site of early tree planting project

OTTA Brochure
1959

"One of the prime purposes of OTTA is to provide a forum for the consideration of matters affecting the well-being of Old Town including traffic control, zoning problems, youth activities, municipal housekeeping, preservation of old buildings, and community planning. It seeks to discourage overcrowding . . . . Currently the Association is engaged in a long-range tree-planting project. In the past, spot planting has been undertaken successfully; now a test planting of flowering trees on Lincoln Park West is the first step in a major venture that eventually will cover the entire Triangle area."

 

 
 

THIS RELATIONSHIP HAS SERVED US WELL...
The Old Town Triangle Association and the Menomonee Club for Boys and Girls Working Together
[1980]

"Rather than historic or architectural character, the new Old Town, as we know it, began life as people working together to make this an attractive neighborhood for urban living.

No better example can be found of this 100% voluntary effort, cooperation between residents, neighborhood groups and local business and professional leaders than the symbiosis of the Menomonee Club for Boys and Girls and the OTTA.

The Menomonee Club is an Old Town institution whose 35 year span of existence approximates the period during which residences have been upgraded, buildings remodeled, gardens created and trees planted, plus, as Paul Angle once commented, 'When I sit on my back porch on a summer afternoon and see the numbers of mothers with babies and young children, I realize that a good many young families still consider the Triangle a good place to live.'

To enhance this favorable family setting, in November 1945, a group of concerned Orleans Street residents gathered to consider the formation of a club which could provide the area's children with wholesome recreation to keep them off the streets and out of trouble.

The club's first fund raising activity was a raffle held in December.  The three prizes were a turkey, a duck, and a chicken.  On Washington's birthday, 1946, the first officers were elected and a name, 'The Menomonee Club,' was adopted.  The treasury amounted to $151.90.  By May a vacant store had been rented as a club house.....

During these formative years, the residents' combined efforts were paying off with tangible results.  In 1956 Col. John Clayton said, 'Ten years ago you couldn't walk through our neighborhood for the broken glass on the street.  Today the Menomonee Club's got the kids so busy they're kept out of trouble.  We're lucky.'  About 200 children were using the club each week."