Our Lady Gate of Heaven (OLGH)
Over one hundred years ago, Calumet was a wetland teeming with wildlife, but with an environment inhospitable to humans. Developers remedied this problem by dumping slag (a waste product of smelting ore) into the wetlands. While this created much solid area to build upon in South Chicago, the slag blocked natural drainage patterns. Subsequent construction of impermeable surfaces such as paved roads and parking lots contributed to the problem. Today Calumet battles significant amounts of flooding during periods of high rainfall.
Our Lady Gate of Heaven (OLGH), a church in Calumet’s neighborhood of Jeffrey Manor, suffers from the kind of flooding seen all over Calumet: its parking has flooded with three to four feet of water after heavy rain. Not only was this an inconvenience to the church, OLGH rented out space to a Banner School. When CNT approached OLGH and offered to help, the offer was gladly accepted.
CNT has constructed a vegetated swale that the water will naturally drain into. Additionally, a beautiful garden will stand where asphalt and rainwater used to burden students and parishioners.
