Bringing ice rinks and grocery stores to East Garfield Park

If East Garfield Park‘s businesses haven’t suffered greatly in today’s economic climate, it’s only because there aren’t just a whole lot of businesses there to begin with. There are a few signs of life, though. In this video, Mike Tomas of the Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance takes us past the sites of two new commercial developments that have him excited. The first is the new location of Johnny’s Ice House, which will serve as both a facility for amateur hockey teams and as a practice space for the Chicago Blackhawks. The second is the lot on the southwest corner of Madison Street and Western Avenue, which has been the location of proposed grocery stores for years now. The latest business to lay claim to the lot is Pete’s Fresh Market, which hopes to open a new grocery store there in 2011.