Historical June 1979 report, notice or photographic feature. Original dates, prices, contacts and program details describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
Amid the cold and snow of the winter of 1979, a small, anonymous group of people worked often and late, conducting a search. It was a search this neighborhood had not needed to do for many years, and it involved the usual advertising and interviews and also the formulation of criteria by which to choose a new Executive Director of the Skinker DeBaliviere Community Council. Questions concerning not only the “job” qualifications but also the kind of person the neighborhood needed, as well as the future needs of the area and its residents, had to be confronted.
It was a tall order. But, as members of the Council have done with many other difficult tasks, the so-called “search committee” did their job, and from some sixty plus applicants, many attractive and well-qualified, recommended three to the full Council, who, in April, then chose Mr. Richmond “Skip” Coburn, the subject of this introduction.
This selection process, long and painstaking though it may seem, is indicative of the way in which the Council works; the concerns of the new Executive Director and the qualifications he had to meet are descriptive, too, of the areas in which the Council has made a difference in Skinker-DeBaliviere for the past decade.
Skip Coburn is a native of St. Louis; indeed, his family once lived on Waterman. He attended American University in Washington, D.C. and received his Masters Degree from that University in Public Administration/Urban Studies. His area of specialty in graduate school was the study of massive, low-income housing; his schooling in the field of Urban Studies also included substantial study of crime, housing needs and programs, financing, etc. One might note that his field, Urban Studies, is more social-science-oriented than Urban Planning, which has more to do with the physical side of housing needs and solutions.
For the past two years since graduate school, Mr. Coburn has worked in the Dept. of Planning in neighboring University City. His duties there were those of general administration, working with housing programs and coordinating community development programs. More concretely, he was working with neighborhood groups in the Loop area, dealing with absentee landlord complaints, crime problems, etc.
Clearly, Skip Coburn fulfills the educational background and experience criteria. But does all of this prepare him for Skinker-DeBaliviere? And what does he think he will be doing here?
Beyond the Nina Place revitalization, which is now being planned, and in which he will undoubtedly serve in some coordinating role, he sees continuing the housing services provided for many years by the Skinker-DeBaliviere office, including assistance with locating and securing financing for purchasing and renovating homes. He mentions also the need to establish cooperation and communication with the new Kingsbury Square home owners, when those homes are being filled.
Coburn also feels that we must explore other needs, beyond those of brick and mortar, as someone has aptly termed the physical side of renovation. For example, there is the need for day care in our area, the need for more job training than is possible in the summer program. And there is Mr. Coburn’s own special interest, the area of working with Senior Citizens.
Indeed, he sees one of the future challenges of Skinker-DeBaliviere in this area: first, providing housing for the older [wording missing in source] as in the Winter Garden apartment building on DeBaliviere now being renovated by Pantheon.
Once housed, he asks, how does the community provide activities to keep those Senior Citizens not only independent but also a fully integrated segment of the community? What specific programs can be provided, and how accessible can they be made to the seniors in our neighborhood? These are questions Director Coburn sees as important ones for the Skinker DeBaliviere Community Council to address. Helping to locate potential clientele, for example, is one way he sees of beginning. He sees the Council as serving in a “coordinating role of overall sponsorship” of various programs, and he hopes his own special dreams may be shared by the community.
These thoughts certainly underscore the fact that, though this area is no longer threatened by bulldozers, there remains much to be done. Skip Coburn, with youth and energy on his side, surely seems capable of leading the Council in new directions. As he moves into our area and begins to make an impact in his work as Executive Director, there will be more evidence of his willingness to share our fun and of the sense of humor he has already exhibited, and which he will need. Stop by 6008 Kingsbury and meet him – but be careful, he might put you to work!
Original photograph caption
Richmond Coburn. Photo by Zadie Ratliffe. The Paper, June 1979, page 1.
Originally published in The Paper, June 1979.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Archival transcription note: Printed “first, providing housing for the older” lacks connecting wording before “as in the Winter Garden”; explicit gap marker retained.; This profile says Council chose Coburn in April; earlier appointment notice gives March26. Both attributed source accounts retained.
Original source: SD_Times1979_06.pdf, printed page(s) 1; PDF page(s) 1.
