Pilsen residents protest rumored migrant housing proposal at St. Adalbert's Church

CHICAGO - A protest in Pilsen is underway and neighbors are speaking out after rumored plans to build migrant housing on St. Adalbert's Catholic Church's property. 

That community has fought to keep the church open for residents for many years. 

Local leaders say there is a proposal on the table, but Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez and his team say nothing has been decided. 

The 25th Ward alderman, who represents the area, says he plans to meet with the applicant looking to utilize the space in the coming days, but says they have yet to be briefed on the plan. 

He says it's far too soon to assume migrants could be moving in. 

Residents gathered Thursday evening outside the church to protest, stating they are worried the church campus, which they've long fought to save, could turn into anything but a religious gathering place. 

One neighbor says she stumbled across the possibility of migrant housing on the property by accident. 

"The plan was discovered quite by accident when some of us saw Mayor Johnson's press release from March 6 that disclosed the winnersof the tax credit awards. There were several winners and we noticed that one of the winners was in Pilsen...," Pilsen resident Julie Sawicki said. "The press release had a picture of St. Adalbert's church, this property, with a new building on the parking lot. So that raised a lot of questions."

The shuttered church held its last mass in 2019. 

This is a developing story and we'll bring more updates as they become available.