(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A proposal to build a giant underground commercial and industrial complex on Chicago's Southeast Side brought supporters and opponents to a meeting about the project this week.
"The Invert" would house a variety of businesses in a 6 million square-foot space dug into limestone more than 300 feet below the site of a former steel mill at 111th Street and Buffalo Avenue.
Limestone is used to make concrete, and the family that owns the Ozinga concrete company is the main investor.
Chris White of the Alliance of the Southeast claims the project is a ruse to get around mining prohibitions.
“It’s mining limestone. There’s no safe way to mine in a residential area,” he said.
Steve King, president of "The Invert,” said limestone is not a motivator behind the project because it is so cheap to buy in the Chicago region.
White says he's worried about the effects that detonations needed to remove limestone will have on the environment and people living nearby.
King said trucks and trains already in the area cause more vibrations than the detonations would.
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