The Aspire Center for Workforce Innovation opened at 5500 W. Madison St. on Juneteenth, housing workforce training, legal and financial services and public space all under one roof. The 78,000 square-foot building is years in the making and a $47 million investment in the Austin community.
A large portion of the Aspire Center used to be the Robert Emmet Elementary School, which closed in 2013. In 2018, Westside Health Authority bought the property. It’s one of the building’s tenants, along with Austin Coming Together, which helped to develop the Aspire Center.
Other tenants include the Jane Addams Resource Corporation, which offers free training for the trades, BMO bank, the Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender and Legal Aid Chicago.
