Wrought-iron fence closes off site of former homeless encampment cleared before the DNC

A heavy 10-foot-tall black wrought-iron fence now surrounds what used to be Chicago’s most visible homeless camp.

Erected in time for the Democratic National Convention, the massive barrier looks formidable enough to keep its previous residents from ever pitching tents again on the blocks-long patch of shady land between Desplaines Street and the Dan Ryan Expressway and just north of Roosevelt Road.

Residents of the encampment, previously among the city’s largest “tent cities,” were moved out on July 17 and encouraged to move into a city-operated shelter in the former Tremont Hotel just west of the Magnificent Mile. The same day, a 5- or 6-foot chain link barrier was installed as a temporary barrier. About 30 people had been living in the tent city in its last weeks.

A top aide to Mayor Brandon Johnson has said she orchestrated the move in advance of the DNC in case federal officials might have security concerns about it. Its timing prompted a mayoral ally to blast the move as a plan to “hide Chicago’s homeless.” But Johnson later denied the closure had anything to do with the DNC, saying his administration had treated people experiencing homelessness with dignity.

City officials couldn’t immediately say Monday how much the wrought iron cost or why it was so much taller than other fences lining the expressway.

But its heft prompted a neighbor who now lives in a tent a few blocks south to quip, “Build that wall," adapting a popular Republican line meant to block immigrants from American borders.

What a permanent solution will look like for its former residents isn’t yet clear.

“My whole thing with the DNC, it seemed like they were going to give us a vacation from being homeless,” said the neighbor known as “Six-Nine” who now lives at 16th and Union where he feels “safe” and “peaceful.” “When Tremont closes, the people are going to come back to where they know.”

But the Desplaines encampment is no longer accessible. The fencing has been up for a few weeks and no one has been able to enter, said longtime business owner Gregg Fishman, of Fishman’s Fabrics, 1101 S. Desplaines St.

The Department of Family and Support Services did not immediately provide an update on the Tremont shelter.

The department has also urged folks living in tents along the North Branch of the Chicago River, between Foster and Bryn Mawr, and all along Canalport, to move into Tremont and other shelters for the summer.

At 19th and Canalport, under the Dan Ryan Expressway, just five tents now remain, along with a cache of trash cans and a portable toilet.

On Monday morning, a man near the encampment asked motorists for spare change at the corner of 19th Street and Ruble Avenue. He said he was staying at a nearby private shelter, but he has struggled to secure long-term housing. He said he didn't have much to say to those politicians coming into the city for the convention.

“I just want a dollar,” he said, holding a plastic tub for coins. “That’s it.”