1945-46, Keck & Keck, 13106-13128 S. Ellis Avenue. Image credit: Preservation Chicago

Altgeld Gardens 'Up-Top' Commercial Building Preservation Chicago 2022 Chicago 7 Most Endangered Poster. Available in a variety of sizes including 8x10, 16x20, and 24x36. Posters available at Preservation Chicago's webstore.

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The Preservation Chicago 2022 Chicago 7 Most Endangered presentation was presented live to a virtual audience of approximately 300 people on March 9, 2022. Additionally, there was a small in-person group of approximately 25 people including staff, board members, stakeholders, and reporters. We anticipate that this dual presentation format, including both a live in-person audience and live virtual simulcast will become the standard moving forward as it allows maximum attendance and flexibility.

Ward Miller's 2022 Chicago 7 Most Endangered presentation was fast-paced, information-packed, and engaging. Beautiful photos and embedded media made the presentation visually rich and compelling. For those who missed the live event, the entire one hour presentation was recorded and has been posted on Preservation Chicago's website and YouTube channel.

The 2022 Chicago 7 Most Endangered announcement and presentation was held at noon on Wednesday, March 9, 2022. The event was held in partnership with the Chicago Architecture Center.

Since 2003, the “Chicago 7 Most Endangered” has sounded the alarm on imminently threatened Chicago historic buildings to mobilize the stakeholder support necessary to save them from demolition.

The Chicago 7 Most Endangered 2022 reporting has been robust with coverage with many articles appearing in print, web, radio and television. This is media coverage is important as it powerfully amplifies the the message.

New ‘Endangered 7’ include LSD, Loop and Near North Side sites, The Skyline, 3/9/22

Preservation Chicago has long been concerned about the deferred maintenance, vacancy and deteriorating condition of the Century and Consumers Buildings, fronting State Street, Adams Street and Quincy Court, in the heart of the Chicago Loop and the city’s Central Business District. These two early 20th-century skyscraper structures were included in past years as part of our Chicago 7 Most Endangered List in 2011 and in 2013. Both have now once again been selected as part of our Most Endangered List for a third time in 2022.

Preservation Chicago has recently learned that a $52 million expenditure, or line item, has been earmarked in the Federal Infrastructure Bill, currently before Congress, specifically for the demolition of The Century and Consumers Buildings. It appears that the decades-long advocacy efforts to save these significant buildings is therefore reaching a critical stage.

These two remarkable buildings, the 16-story Century Building by Holabird & Roche (1915) and the 22-story Consumers Building by Jenney, Mundie & Jensen (1913), were once principally occupied by small businesses, attorney offices and showrooms. Due to the close proximity of the courthouse and courtrooms, the Federal Government and the General Services Administration (GSA), exercised its power of eminent domain in 2005 to take control of these State Street buildings based on increased security fears following the events of September 11, 2001. Since that acquisition by the GSA, the buildings have been stable but slowly deteriorating due to deferred maintenance and vacancy.

Multiple adaptive reuse plans for the Century and Consumers Buildings have been proposed and later blocked due to the proximity to the Chicago Federal Center. The Dirksen Federal Courthouse, part of the larger Federal Center complex, fronting Dearborn Street on the west, is located across the rear alley from these historic buildings. The Quincy Court entry to the Dirksen Building was originally envisioned as a principal pedestrian entrance by architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe to the courthouse structure from State Street.

Originally both the Century and Consumers Buildings, along with parcels to the south extending to Jackson Boulevard along State Street, were all to be occupied by Federal Government offices as part of an expansion of their Loop campus. That proposal would have included the Century and Consumers Buildings, along with two structures located in between at 212 and 214 S. State, known as The Consumers Annex (C.M. Palmer, 1883, and later Martin Jewelers and Roberto’s Men's Store with a remodeled Art Deco storefront by Isadore E. Alexander, c. 1949). Also included in those Federal Center expansion plans were the Art Moderne Benson & Rixon Store Building (Alfred Alschuler, 1937) at 230 S. State and the modernist Bond’s Clothing Store (Friedman, Alschuler & Sincere, with Morris Lapidus, 1949), at 240 S. State, also known as 10 W. Jackson Boulevard. A small two-story building included on this block is the heavily-remodeled and truncated E.L. Brand Building (Adler & Sullivan, 1883), at 12-18 W. Jackson Boulevard.

These seven properties on the block-long parcel fronting State Street, one of Chicago’s most famous and notable thoroughfares, were acquired by the GSA to be used exclusively for Federal Government offices and long-considered part of a larger revisioning and vast expansion of the Federal Center complex. At one time, the GSA proposed a new large office building, which was to be sheathed in glass to bridge and connect the Century and Consumers Buildings. This proposal would have further increased the larger and more desired floor plates and square footages for Federal offices. That proposal was welcomed by many in the architectural community, as it engaged and bridged the two historic skyscrapers in a sensitive manner, reinvested in the restoration, and repurposed these two seminal buildings. The plans also engaged The Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Restoration, which is a series of established guidelines, principles and best practices for the reuse of historic buildings and part of a Federal program.

In the past decade, it was determined that the expansion of the offices into all of these buildings was unnecessary with federal funding largely diminished for this larger and broader vision. Only the Benson-Rixon Building, with its broad horizontal banding and curvilinear corner, along with the former Bond’s Store, were to be converted into governmental offices. The remaining buildings along State Street, between Adams and Quincy Court, were to remain vacant for the immediate future or potentially reused by others when, and if, possible. Discussions held at the Federal Center in about 2009-2010, which included Preservation Chicago and our other partner organizations, also considered demolition of one or both of the tall Chicago School buildings as a possibility. The conversation around demolition of these early skyscrapers was considered unbelievable and incomprehensible at the time, and that was shared with GSA officials.

Security concerns, along with a reduction in the required office space in the Loop, appeared to have halted the GSA's initial plans for renovation and reuse. Then in 2017, the City of Chicago issued a Request For Proposals for the adaptive reuse of the Century and Consumers Buildings, after an extensive advocacy effort by Preservation Chicago. Preservation Chicago was delighted by the City of Chicago’s selection of CA Ventures in partnership with Cedar Street Companies. Their $141 million renovation proposal planned for a preservation-sensitive adaptive reuse of the four building cluster, with the two terra cotta office towers as residential apartments and the two adjacent low-rise buildings as State Street retail. Despite a strong developer team submitting a solid adaptive reuse for a residential plan, it was halted by a federal judge citing security concerns.

Widely considered to be an impossible challenge to solve, Preservation Chicago redoubled its efforts to identify an adaptive reuse that could accommodate the rigorous courthouse security requirements. Eventually, we arrived at a highly unusual solution, a collaborative national archive center to be known as the Chicago Archives Center.

At first, the notion of repurposing two tall, slender Chicago School skyscrapers into an archive center seemed unique and perhaps even far-fetched. In fact, this creative solution has many strengths and is very achievable. Recognizing the growing urgency to repurpose these buildings, Preservation Chicago has been working quickly over the past two years to build a strong coalition of critical stakeholders. There is now strong interest, support and enthusiasm for this adaptive reuse project. This coalition of partners has already engaged architects and engineers long before news broke of the demolition earmark at the Congressional level.

The irreparable damage that demolition of these historic buildings will have on South State Street cannot be overstated. Their facades provide an important anchor for the existing street walls along both State Street, Adams Street, and the Chicago Federal Center, with which Ludwig Mies van der Rohe felt it important to frame his buildings. If demolished, not only will Chicago lose two important early Chicago School skyscrapers by two of its most important architecture firms, it will also create a huge void and open site which will adversely impact and vacate the energy from one of downtown Chicago’s most vibrant thoroughfares and intersections. Chicago does not need another vacant lot or windswept plaza, nor does it need the shame of losing more of its early historic skyscrapers. Every effort should be made to repurpose these buildings and return them back to life and, perhaps, the tax rolls.

Moreover, there are also concerns regarding the impact that demolition of 202 S. State St. would have on neighboring buildings that compose the historic Berghoff Restaurant at 17 W. Adams Street. A recent structural survey has concluded that the Berghoff Restaurant–Chicago’s oldest extant restaurant, comprising two historic 1870s buildings–would lose the significant structural stability that they currently receive from the frame of the Century Building.

Every effort should be made in partnership with the GSA and Federal Government to preserve, protect, and reuse the Century and Consumers Buildings. Since the buildings are already owned by the Federal government, they could be rehabilitated for government use, or a creative solution like a collaborative archive as proposed by the Chicago Archives Center.

Preservation Chicago hopes that the Consumers Building’s elevations on State and Quincy Streets will be restored to include the building’s original rooflines, frieze band, fascia, cornice and terra cotta, along with the storefronts and grand marble-lined lobby and arcade.

Preservation Chicago is currently engaged with several potential users for a collaborative Chicago Archives Center. To date, we have a group of religious archive collections which have come together to explore the Century and Consumers Buildings as a national collaborative archives center, which could prove beneficial to many religious orders around the nation. Such an idea could also provide a center for religious studies and research, centrally located and under one roof, in an area of Chicago noted for its concentration of universities and university students.

With this collaborative archives project, many of the rear elevation windows on the Consumers Building, closest to the Federal Courthouse, could be blocked for the archives stacks which are sensitive to sunlight exposure. Other windows at the west end of the Quincy Court elevation, could potentially be blocked from the interior side, which would not impact the building’s southern elevation. The easternmost windows on Quincy, as well as those fronting State Street, could remain open but inoperable with special glass. The areas at the front of the building could be used as a research center for each archive, which could potentially be located on individual floors of the building and locked off with security as needed. Of course, security would be of great importance and entry to the building would be by appointment only and via a security desk in the lobby of each building. This is an exciting opportunity and concept and could even house municipal, state and Federal archives, as well. One suburban university has even proposed the idea of a new presence in the Loop for their library, archives, and sciences departments.

In an era of ever-shrinking tax dollars, now is not the time to use $52 million of public taxpayer monies to destroy historic buildings for vacant lots. If properly repurposed for government use, or as a Chicago Archives Center, these two buildings could serve the people of Chicago for another 100 years or more.

Preservation Chicago has once again selected Chicago’s public housing sites (or specific buildings within them), all of which are historic Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) developments, as part of our 2022 Chicago 7 Most Endangered list. Altgeld Gardens’ “Up Top” structure and “C Building”, Cabrini Row Houses, and Lathrop Homes’s South Campus comprise this year’s selection.

At Altgeld Gardens, we are spotlighting the unique Midcentury Modern, one-story curvilinear Commercial Building, known locally as “Up Top,” designed by the seminal architecture firm of Keck & Keck. This gently curving, block-long building, with its undulating cantilevered canopy and open arcade with retail tenants, overlooks a community plaza and greenspace and was once the very heart of the Altgeld community. The commercial storefront structure is the only privately-owned building in the Altgeld Gardens development and once contained a cooperative-owned grocery store, drug and variety store, beauty salon and barber shop, and a tavern. The building is now almost completely vacant while the open arcade contains a heartbreaking memorial wall of handwritten names for those lost to violence. The current owner has attempted to sell the building to CHA in the past, yet nothing has transpired in recent years, leading to the building’s further disrepair and vacancy. As a result, it has once again earned a place on our Chicago 7 Most Endangered List.

The other building in Altgeld Gardens that we are highlighting is the “C Building,” which is part of the George Washington Carver Elementary and Primary School complex. It was designed as part of a multi-building campus of one-story structures for preschool and primary grades and was housed in a Federal-style building overlooking Carver Park and the playground. The C Building in later years was used as an administration building for Carver School, but has been vacant for more than three decades. A demolition threat was recently held off as the owner, the Chicago Board of Education, wanted the building to be demolished. This building is part of an ensemble, along with buildings A, B and D; together, they form a curved wall of buildings fronting, protecting, and shielding Carver Park and schoolchildren on one side, while also providing a portion of two streetwalls on the street-facing elevations.

Altgeld Gardens was also part of our 2017 Preservation Chicago 7 Most Endangered List, with 624 housing units in 26 buildings in Blocks 11, 12, 13, 15 and 16 all noted as threatened, along with the privately-owned “Up Top.” These noted structures, except for “Up Top,” were all lost in the following years due to severe neglect and legal challenges as the residential buildings were considered too far gone. That former housing site is now the proposed location of a 130th Street terminal, station, and multi-story parking lot for the Red Line Extension.

The Cabrini Row Houses comprises 586 units on 16 acres. Bounded by Chicago Avenue, Larrabee Street, Oak Street, and Hudson Avenue, they were originally known as the Frances Cabrini Homes and consisted of two- and three-story buildings. Over the years this development has languished and fallen into disrepair. About 140 units of the western portion of these early row houses have been retained, restored and reused. However, a vast majority of this beautiful and utilitarian village of row houses have remained untouched, despite the overall growth and development of much of the former Cabrini-Green project area on the Near North Side. In a city desperate for affordable housing, there was a prior plan to eliminate half of the row houses for fear that emergency vehicles would be impaired by these narrow streets. However, off-site parking for resident vehicles on much of the nearby vacant land, still controlled by CHA, could resolve such problems. CHA needs to step up and get these buildings and houses back to a vulnerable community of residents that have been awaiting these homes for almost 20 years.

A 2013 Chicago 7 Most Endangered, Lathrop Homes’s North Campus and its historic Jens Jensen landscape has been beautifully renovated after a 20-year advocacy effort. However, the South Campus, located south of Diversey, comprises almost half of the development area and is again stalled. Since 2002, Preservation Chicago has advocated with the community and our partner organizations to reject the first revisioning concepts, which included a wholesale demolition of most, if not all, of the buildings on the Lathrop site. Most of the historic 1938 buildings are vacant, with the exception of a senior housing building and a new apartment structure, while a corner building at Diversey and Damen has just begun a renovation effort.

The CHA is once again neglecting its historic resources and developments, with more than 1,000 existing housing units being mothballed or vacant. In the case of the Cabrini Row Houses and the Lathrop Homes’s South Campus, many of these affordable units constructed for Chicago’s most vulnerable residents have remained vacant for far too long.

Altgeld Gardens was constructed between 1943-1946 for returning Black veterans that served their country in World War II and their families. The development, situated in Chicago’s Riverdale Community and part of the larger Calumet Region on Chicago’s Far South Side, consisted of 1,500 units, divided into 162 separate buildings of two-story houses. It is bounded by 130th Street, South Doty and South St. Lawrence Avenues. The complex of buildings was mostly designed by the noted architectural firm of Naess and Murphy and was said to be “the most self-contained comprehensive public housing project ever constructed in Chicago."

A large portion of Altgeld Gardens’s row houses were part of Preservation Chicago’s 2017 Chicago 7 Most Endangered list. Despite promises from CHA and their consultants that the buildings would be renovated and preserved, a lawsuit challenged this work and ultimately most of the buildings were demolished. However, during those Section 106 hearings, a proposal for a large and wide boulevard connecting 130th Street/Hazel Johnson Environmental Justice Parkway though the development and connecting to the Little Calumet River, would have eliminated many of the public buildings at Altgeld Gardens. This was halted, due in part to Preservation Chicago’s advocacy as part of these public hearings. At the time, Preservation Chicago made the argument that while everyone wanted to visit the sites where George Washington and Abraham Lincoln visited, in Chicago we had a sitting president, Barack Obama, who started his community services and engagement work with Hazel Johnson at Altgeld. Therefore, we should sensitively rethink such harsh and insensitive plans, along with a wide boulevard, which would have encouraged speeding cars into the heart of Altgeld Gardens.

These formerly proposed plans would have demolished the Commercial Building by architects Keck & Keck – brothers George Fred Keck and William Keck– along with the plaza and other public and semi-public buildings. That would have been a tremendous loss for Altgeld Gardens and its residents, along with individuals interested in modern architecture and that of Keck & Keck, one of Chicago’s best architectural practitioners during this period, who are comparable to other modernists, like Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Walter Gropius and The Architects Collaborative, Paul Schweiker, and Bertrand Goldberg.

School Building C, part of George Washington Carver Elementary School’s campus of 1940s buildings, narrowly missed demolition last year after wrecking equipment had actually been delivered to the site. Despite being vacant for decades, the Chicago Board of Education didn’t repurpose the building or allow it to be a community-centric structure. With the building’s long-term vacancy and its shuttering, basic maintenance was deferred and the building was neglected. However, there are community visions for this building as a training center. It could be repurposed for a variety of reuse ideas.

We also understand from residents that over 200 renovated units at Altgeld Gardens remain vacant, despite a huge waiting list for those in need. In a large and resourceful city like Chicago, why aren’t our public housing developments addressing these needs in a more timely manner?

These buildings present amazing reuse opportunities, but the potential in each of these structures is close to being squandered. We can do better and we’re asking the Chicago Housing Authority, City Hall, and the Chicago Board of Education to work together, towards a beneficial preservation outcome for the community. That these buildings’ present condition and continued deterioration persist while public agencies stand by is an embarrassment to our City and its residents. It is time to act and make corrections to the mistakes of the past.

With the Red Line Extension coming in the next five years to 130th Street, we at Preservation Chicago are of the opinion that the Keck & Keck-designed “Up Top” Commercial Building should be acquired by the CHA or other agency and offered through a Request for Proposals from the City of Chicago. We join Altgeld residents’ concerns that this structure is extremely important for its architecture, innovation and cultural history. The Commercial Building should be considered for Chicago Landmark designation, as other notable structures by this seminal firm have been honored with a Landmark designation in the past. The firm’s recognition extends to Keck & Keck’s “House of Tomorrow,” which was part of the 1933 Century of Progress World’s Fair. The House of Tomorrow was floated across Lake Michigan and re-sited in the Indiana Dunes, near Beverly Shores, Indiana. It is now undergoing a sensitive and much-needed restoration, much like what is required for Altgeld’s “Up Top.”

We also would like to join the community vision of a reuse and revisioning of the “C Building,” currently part of the Carver School Campus, which is in complete disrepair. This building has endless possibilities as a structure that could house worker training programs for residents in various industries, in addition to providing new skills and education in the various trades to local residents of Altgeld Gardens and the neighboring Philip Murray Homes. If funding was lacking for such programs, the “C Building” could be adapted in part as a cultural center or housing for seniors and people with disabilities.

Looking to the future, Chicago’s INVEST South/West needs to extend to the buildings of Altgeld Gardens to encourage a purchase, renovation and reuse of the “Up Top” Commercial Building, which has brought so much interest to this site. With a Chicago Landmark designation, the curvilinear commercial building could take advantage of Adopt-A-Landmark funds or perhaps Neighborhood Opportunity Funds.

The same ideas and funding may be available to consider for the “C Building,” and perhaps the Chicago Board of Education (BOE) and the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), would consider a sale of the building for another use—a creative use. Using CPS and BOE funds to demolish their historic buildings is counterintuitive to their mission and could perhaps be viewed as a violation of taxpayer funds, when such buildings could be donated or sold to a new user or, better yet, gifted to the community, with support funding from other City agencies. There are many possibilities for the “C Building,” if only the owner could work with the community and elected officials.

Lastly, the City of Chicago needs to further recognize the outstanding work of Ms. Hazel Johnson (1935–2011), founder of People for Community Recovery (PCR) and recognized as “The Mother of Environmental Justice.” Ms. Johnson ,who lived with her seven children and family at 13141 S. Langley in Altgeld Gardens, was recognized and honored by several United States presidents for her work. Her home was the site of many visits from President Barack Obama, whom she mentored when he was a community organizer on Chicago’s Far South Side. Her former home, which is still occupied by members of her family at Altgeld Gardens, should be considered for a Chicago Landmark designation.

Hazel Johnson’s office and the People for Community Recovery Environmental Organization, as it was once known for more than a decade, now in its 43rd year, was also headquartered in the “Up Top” Commercial Building at Altgeld Gardens, and within the 13116 S. Ellis Avenue storefront–yet another reason for the preservation, reuse and Chicago Landmark designation of that important commercial building.

A recognition and Chicago Landmark Designation of Ms. Hazel Johnson’s work and service at Altgeld Gardens would further inspire many residents and citizens to take up causes in the field of environmental justice and the health hazards associated with the toxins in their communities. These issues continue to impact many housing projects and low-income communities across the nation, which we have all witnessed from Flint, Michigan and Chicago’s Far South Side to cities and towns across the United States. Much of this work began with Hazel Johnson and continues under the tutelage of her daughter, Cheryl Johnson, to this day.

The Cabrini Rowhouses were designed in the early 1940s for an area of the Near North Side near the North Branch of the Chicago River which had been considered a slum by city officials and cited as lacking many modern sanitation standards. The architects of the new Cabrini Rowhouses included Henry Holsman, George Burmeister, Maurice Rissman, Ernest Grunsfeld Jr, L.R. Solomon, G. M. Jones, K.M Vitzhum, I.S. Loewenberg, and Frank McNally. These were all recognized names in the world of architecture in Chicago during this time period.

Threat: Cabrini Rowhouses

Demolition of a majority of the Cabrini-Green Housing Project and many of its high-rises began in the 1990s and continued to 2011, with the last of the tall buildings located at 1230 N. Burling. The Cabrini Rowhouses are some of the few remaining of the original 3,607 units that the CHA has not demolished and destroyed. A small portion of the row houses were renovated, totaling about 140 units. However, according to the CHA, “the remaining rowhomes and flats are one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom units” and remain vacant as they have been for almost two decades. In 2019, there was a threat of demolition of these row houses and that threat continues, even with the unfulfilled promise of CHA to replace many of these units for the City’s most vulnerable.

It is said that 80% of the estimated 3,500 families who were promised a home in the new development have not yet returned and that the total price tag to the taxpayers $2 billion dollars, according to an article in Block Club Chicago “Cabrini-Green: A History of Broken Promises,” by Alejandra Cancino of the Better Government Association and published in December 2021.

Despite their good design, human scale and the almost European qualities of this tight-knit development, the Cabrini Rowhouses remain vacant as they have for approximately 20 years. These row houses could make for wonderful affordable or mixed income family units. However, time and time again, there’s been little action. About five years ago, a Federal Section 106 Hearing to which Preservation Chicago attended as a Consulting Party member proposed a demolition of half of the housing units in order to widen streets to accommodate parked cars and emergency vehicles. We at Preservation Chicago, encouraged no-parking zones on the streets within the district of row houses, to allow for emergency vehicles to service future residents versus wholesale demolition of 50% or half of all of the historic row houses. We suggested parking nearby on the many acres of vacant land as a solution to this issue.

Following that Section 106 meeting at the Chicago Federal Center, no follow-up meetings for the Cabrini Row Houses occurred and they remain vacant to this day. This has encouraged Preservation Chicago to list the Cabrini Row House as a Chicago 7 Most Endangered for 2022.

The Cabrini Rowhouses represent the very last remaining components of the once much larger Cabrini-Green Housing Project, bounded by a series of streets within the central area of Chicago, close to transportation and many resources, including excellent schools, jobs, grocery stores and other facilities. These cream-colored buildings are of a human scale and represent the original visions for Cabrini and other public housing developments in Chicago—and among the best of them. We therefore are of the opinion that the remaining vacant 446 row houses be given priority for renovation and restoration. We therefore encourage the City and CHA to work toward a fulfillment of prior obligations and promises to bring these homes back to the people that need them and provide decent housing for these families and citizens of Chicago.

The Julia C. Lathrop Homes was one of the Chicago Housing Authority’s first housing project developments, constructed in 1938 by a great assortment of architects including Daniel Burnham’s two sons, Daniel Jr. and Hubert Burnham, Robert DeGolyer, and others, with a noted landscape designed by Jens Jensen. It is our understanding that all architectural and design services were pro bono, gifted for the greater good.

In the case of Lathrop Homes, Preservation Chicago has advocated for the preservation and restoration of these housing units for almost two decades. As a result of our advocacy and that of our partners, working with City Hall, CHA, the developers, and at times the National Park Service, the north campus of Lathrop Homes has become a beautifully restored campus of buildings by a who’s who of architects that had originally volunteered their time in the 1930s. Throughout the course of this 20-year advocacy effort, plans to develop the area into market-rate high-rises along with scorched earth demolition have been thwarted. These proposals were unacceptable and, despite the wildly successful outcomes of the North Campus, we now face the same obstacles and delays that were so common in the past on the South Campus. CHA has to authorize the renovation of these units and we encourage a full preservation and restoration of these units to match the success of the North Campus.

While the North Campus of the Lathrop Homes has been fully renovated after a decades-long effort, we are witnessing numerous delays in efforts toward the renovation and restoration of buildings and features on the South Campus. This area, bounded by Diversey, Damen and the North Branch of the Chicago River, awaits the promised redevelopment plan while the boarded up and fenced buildings continue to deteriorate. This appears to be of concern as the buildings languish and there is talk of the possible demolition of more buildings, which are said to be structurally unsound, despite all of the Lathrop buildings being constructed at the same time and with the same materials. However, even with such considerations, work should begin on the buildings that are scheduled to be renovated and reused, noting the volume of units which are currently vacant and the extreme need for decent affordable housing in Chicago.

The development team of Related Midwest, Heartland Housing and other partners, along with the CHA, all need to come together to realize the same and proven vision and success realized on the North Campus. CHA and the Lathrop Partners must proceed forward quickly with the renovation and reuse of the many buildings, while also exploring alternate plans for some of the buildings that are said to have structural issues. What are those structural issues, who determined these faults, and can they be resolved without demolition? Also, what are the final plans for the row houses, with their kitchen gardens located just west of Damen Avenue, along with plans for a large boiler and power plant at the south end of the site, adjacent to the North Branch of the Chicago River? These are questions for a beautifully situated and pastoral site with incredible views of Downtown Chicago, located near many of the City’s most desirable neighborhoods and communities.

For nearly 130 years, St. Martin Church, a striking Gothic structure with a soaring steeple, has been a visual landmark on the South Side of Chicago. Designed by renowned ecclesial architect Henry J. Schlacks for a fledgling German Catholic parish in Englewood, the church first served German immigrants and ultimately became a thriving Black parish before being closed in 1989.

In later years of use, deferred maintenance led to deterioration of the structure, whose former glory diminished despite subsequent operation as Chicago Embassy Church. While its current status is uncertain, the need is urgent to find a preservation solution to save St. Martin’s. Restoration of this magnificent edifice to its former prominence would add to the spiritual and social life of the community, and creative reuse could spark renewal of this corner of Englewood.

After years of deferred maintenance and closure, St. Martin has suffered deterioration. Sections of the roof appear to be compromised, likely causing interior exposure to elements. The roof of the adjacent mansion-like rectory also appears to have deteriorated. Some of the windows appear to have been damaged and occasional graffiti damage to the church façade has been noted. The interior condition is unknown. Without intervention, this church will continue on a steady path of deterioration due to weather, deferred maintenance, and its unheated interior.

St. Martin’s entire existence has combined the highest level of structural craftsmanship with service and attention to its community’s many needs. The awareness that beauty is a need and a benefit to the poor as much as to the wealthy has lifted the spiritual and emotional well-being of its parishioners of every background.

The present day needs of the community, like most disinvested communities, are many: education and job training, economic investment, accessible mental health, and a clean, litter-free environment, among many others. As pressing as these needs are, there is also the need for intangible goods, like a sense of security, safety, and peace of mind.

Thus, restoration of St. Martin’s Church as a beautiful, luminous space can provide a spiritual and emotional benefit even if it is not used for religious services. It could be used for smaller-scale musical performances or occasional art exhibits, possibly of the immersive experience type. This reuse could be coupled with, for example, arts and other classes in the renovated rectory-parish hall building north of the church. Perhaps this could be done in collaboration with faculty of the nearby Kennedy-King College. This space could also house a small gallery featuring goods produced by local craftspeople and artists. The parking lot on the site of the demolished St. Martin school building could be turned into green space with beekeeping and a native-plant garden, as well as community plots for growing fresh produce. In this way, the entire St. Martin campus could become something of a creative incubator space.

If restored and repurposed, the irreplaceable structure of St. Martin’s can anchor an oasis of creativity and nature, offering music performance, arts training, and peace for present-day and future generations. In commenting on the damaged statue of St. Martin, one of the clergy of the Chicago Embassy Church commented that: "The statue can tell the story of the Englewood community and where it was, and where it is. And […]where it is going. We believe that Englewood is one of the hidden treasures in our city.” A renovated St. Martin Church can be a beacon of pride and hope for the entire community, making this corner of Englewood a treasure that is no longer hidden.

The Peterson Avenue Midcentury Modern District extends over approximately a two-mile distance that stretches from North Park to West Ridge. Consisting mostly of low-rise structures that today house dentist and doctor offices, dry cleaners, schools, and even a fire station, the Peterson Avenue Midcentury Modern District is an overlooked collection of Midcentury Modern architecture in the City of Chicago.

Peterson Avenue’s Midcentury buildings were developed over the course of about three decades, with construction spanning from the late 1940s to 1970. Until the start of this period, Peterson Avenue was largely undeveloped, consisting of service stations, billboards, the occasional 1920s storefront or apartment building, and empty fields. However, that changed with the post-WWII construction boom that spurred a surge of development across Chicago’s North and Northwest Sides. During and after this period, Peterson Avenue’s sustained growth saw the look of sophisticated modernism positioned the district as a gleaming, contemporary destination for Chicago’s Northwest Side businesses.

While Peterson Avenue was not a formally planned development, many of the buildings lining the corridor were erected by a handful of developers and builders, many of whom also had their offices nearby. As they grew Peterson Avenue from miles of empty lots to one of the most sought-after neighborhood commercial districts in Chicago, the developers recruited a mix of architects, both well- and lesser-known, to further enhance the commercial offerings in the community. Some of the more recognizable names that left their mark on Peterson Avenue during this period are A. Epstein & Sons, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Perkins & Will, Paul Gerhardt, Jr., and Henry L. Newhouse II (son of prolific Chicago architect Henry L. Newhouse).

Today, Peterson Avenue’s Midcentury Modernist buildings are threatened by a host of issues and threats stemming from neglect, unsympathetic alterations, abandonment, and demolition. Many significant designs have been razed, with one recent example being The Sapphire Building at 2800 W. Peterson Avenue, despite calls by Preservation Chicago to adaptively reuse the structure. The Peterson Avenue Midcentury Modern District is also not protected by Chicago Landmark status, nor are any of its structures listed in the Chicago Historic Resources Survey. As a result, Peterson Avenue’s history relating to Chicago’s commercial expansion on the Northwest Side in the middle of the 20th century and the significant architectural movement it represents are in danger of being lost.

The Peterson Avenue Midcentury Modern District is today threatened by a number of issues, all of which are eroding the architectural character of this historic streetscape. Peterson Avenue is suffering from a number of vacancies which leaves these significant buildings neglected and vulnerable to vandalism or weather damage. Two of Peterson Avenue’s most architecturally significant buildings, 2300 (1963) and 2606 W. Peterson (1958), appear to be currently vacant and exhibiting considerable signs of damage that will likely worsen until action is taken by the current or new owners to mitigate this decay. Prolonged vacancies also leave Peterson Avenue’s buildings at risk of prolonged exposure to poor weather where a lack of heating maintenance results in burst pipes and water damage, as evidenced by a recent occurrence in which water was seen leaking from multiple floors of currently vacant 2320 W. Peterson (1967).

Heavy alterations have continued to shape the appearance of the Peterson Avenue Midcentury Modern District, moving buildings further away from their original condition and chipping away at the district’s cohesion. One of the most prominent examples of this erosion is The Office Center at 2534-2544 W. Peterson (c. 1956): a remarkable fusion of Miesian Modernism with the elegance of the Hollywood Regency style complete with a towering obelisk, the building offered luxe office space inside of a polished stone and glass facade. Today, the building is nearly unrecognizable, with much of its original materials removed or replaced. Likewise, the courtyard office building at 3300 W. Peterson (1960) has lost its original sawtooth canopy which was the structure’s most prominent feature. Throughout, the loss of original signage, light fixtures, surface materials, and landscaping and their replacement with contemporary, unsympathetic substitutions lessens the visual power of the Peterson Avenue Midcentury Modern District.

Demolition has also been an ever-present danger to the Peterson Avenue Midcentury Modern District. Many of the district’s most impressive designs have been lost over time, some as recently as last year. The demolition of the Newhouse-designed Sapphire Building (1966) at the corner of Peterson and California Avenues, has been the most high-profile demolition in recent years. The Perkins & Will-designed Peterson Bank at 3232 W. Peterson is possibly the biggest loss: a beautiful brick structure that exemplified the evolving look of Modernism at the start of the 1970s. The building was demolished in the 2000s and today the land is a parking lot. The dual demolitions in 2019 of 2900 W. Peterson (1949), designed by Henry L. Newhouse, and 2906-10 W. Peterson (1956) eliminated one of the district’s few fully intact Midcentury streetwalls, replacing them with one-story offices of similar or lesser square footage. As buildings in the Peterson Avenue Midcentury Modern District continue to remain unattended, partially vacant, and unrecognized, demolition will become an even more pressing threat in the future.

Preservation Chicago enthusiastically endorses the creation of a Peterson Avenue Midcentury Modern Landmark District. By establishing an all-encompassing district that honors and protects these significant structures, we can prevent unchecked demolition from further harming and erasing the district’s continuity and cohesion. A Chicago Landmark designation could also ignite widespread interest in the district, helping to revitalize and find new tenants for these endangered or abandoned structures. Furthermore, Landmark status could allow for property owners to apply for Adopt-A-Landmark funds which would aid in the necessary restoration and maintenance of these structures, many of which are 60 to 70 years old.

In some instances, a Chicago Landmark designation should be potentially considered for building interiors in the district. Offices like the Holistan Building (c. 1964) at 2545 W. Peterson, the Cardamil Building (1960) at 2600 W. Peterson, and the Furst & Furst Building (c. 1963) at 2300 W. Peterson all feature intact lobbies with floating staircases, terrazzo floors, and interior courtyards that are representative of the elegant amenities used to entice businesses to Peterson Avenue from across Chicago. These spaces symbolize Peterson Avenue’s Midcentury allure and should be strongly considered in any future landmarking efforts. Preservation Chicago also believes that the Midcentury Modern structures found along California Avenue from Peterson to Glenlake as well as Lincoln Avenue between Peterson and California are very much an integral part of the district and demonstrate how widespread Modernism came to be in the area’s development during the 1950s and 1960s.

Cities across the United States are celebrating their Midcentury architectural heritage through the creation of landmark districts. The Miami area boasts two separate Midcentury Modern historic districts: the Morris Lapidus/Mid-20th Century Historic District in Miami Beach and the MiMo Biscayne Historic District in Miami. Both districts honor the impact that Midcentury Modernism had on their respective areas’ development, acknowledging them as important historic resources meant to be celebrated and understood. Elsewhere, areas like Las Vegas’s Beverly Green Historic District and New Jersey’s Wildwood Shores Resort Historic District, along with dozens of landmarked buildings in Palm Springs, are all testaments to the long-lasting legacy of Midcentury Modern architecture in America. The Peterson Avenue Midcentury Modern District is an essential part of this legacy and deserves to be recognized with the same enthusiasm seen in other American cities.

However, a pervasive unawareness of Midcentury Modernism’s status as a historic architectural movement continues to threaten the existence of buildings from this era. Midcentury Modernism’s effect on the built environment stretched from the vistas of the Hollywood Hills to small town American main streets; its impact cannot be overstated. Yet, there remains a belief that it is too recent and lacks the ornate signifiers of other more easily recognizable historic styles, like Queen Anne or Art Deco.

One way to tackle this issue here in Chicago is to update the Chicago Historic Resources Survey (CHRS) used by the city to classify buildings by historic importance or significance. There are many issues with the CHRS, one of the most glaring being that at the time of its completion and publication in 1996, the survey only covered Chicago’s built environment up to 1940. Today, nearly 30 years later, the CHRS has never been updated, meaning that over 80 years of Chicago’s architectural history is deemed potentially unworthy of historic consideration, including every building in the Peterson Avenue Midcentury Modern District. By updating the CHRS, the City of Chicago can grant decades worth of Chicago buildings the ability to be placed on a 90-Day Demolition Hold in response to a demolition request, while also acknowledging that Chicago’s architecture during the second half of the 20th century can be just as important as that which came before it. Chicago’s accomplishments in Modernism, Postmodernism, New Formalism, and Brutalism are celebrated worldwide, yet in the chapters of the CHRS, these accomplishments remain unacknowledged. Updating this survey, the guide by which historic buildings in Chicago live or die, will permanently establish that these significant sites, such as Peterson Avenue’s wealth of Midcentury Modernism, are important, that they matter, and like other buildings on the CHRS, that they are worthy of preservation.

Last year, Preservation Chicago named the Chicago Lakefront as one of Chicago’s 7 Most Endangered sites, noting the threats facing the city’s many heritage sites along Lake Michigan. This year, we have selected Promontory Point, one of last year’s highlighted lakefront sites, as one of 2022’s 7 Most Endangered due to the continued threat facing The Point’s historic limestone revetment. The City of Chicago, along with the Chicago Park District, intend to replace The Point’s natural limestone with a mass of concrete, destroying not only the historic stepstone revetment, but also the naturalistic aesthetic of this Alfred Caldwell-designed park. This irreversible alteration will adversely affect the open and diverse community culture that has thrived for decades at Promontory Point, moving this historic site further away from its original design and setting a precedent for future unsympathetic alterations.

Lake Michigan is Chicago's own beautiful wilderness, and the lakefront is where this nature and the complex city meet. Burnham Park, a 600-acre expanse of waterfront parkland on the South Side, is one of the city’s finest examples of this. The park was the brainchild of architect and planner Daniel H. Burnham, designer of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, who envisioned a meandering chain of greenspaces that would link the fairgrounds’ remnants with downtown Chicago. An 1896 presentation to members of the South Park Commission including its President, James Ellworth, and other influential Chicagoans, including Marshall Field and George Pullman, helped to first popularize the concept among the city’s decision makers, setting into motion the process to bring the park to fruition.

Burnham, with the help of architect Edward H. Bennett, developed and honed this immense vision over the course of the following decade, incorporating the parkland into his influential 1909 Plan of Chicago. The Plan of Chicago outlined a wide-reaching overhaul of the Chicago landscape, including a boulevard system, ample parkspace, elegant civic structures, and public plazas. As part of this layout, it called for the establishment of cityfront green space buffered by interior lagoons formed by offshore islands along the city’s South Side. 

Although the South Park Commission was granted permission by the State of Illinois to move forward with the park’s creation in June 1910, just two weeks after Burnham’s death, the construction process was delayed for years to come. Finally, by the early 1920s, landfilling moved ahead by way of engineering practices that are impressive even by today’s standards. Massive bulkheads made of timber and rocks were installed to form the new park’s eastern boundaries while the parkland itself emerged from the lake by depositing sand, earth, and construction debris between these bulkheads and the already existing shoreline. 

To complete this process, protect the land from erosion, and allow people to be near the lake and access the water, eight miles of limestone stepstones were installed along Lake Michigan, managing this meeting place of lakefront wilderness and city parkland. While the interior lagoons and offshore islands outlined in Burnham’s Plan of Chicago were never realized, one small segment did come to exist: Promontory Point, a small peninsula that jutted out from the lakeshore near 55th Street.

By the early 1930s, the landfill process was nearly complete and, following the establishment of the Chicago Park District in 1934, attention soon turned to the construction of new park facilities made possible by funding from the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Under Chicago Park District architect Emanuel Valentine Buchsbaum, plans were prepared for the 55th Street Promontory Pavilion. Designed in an eclectic French Revival style, the building is faced with Lannon stone and features a prominent tower with a conical roof. The Pavilion’s construction occurred simultaneously with the final grading and planning of Promontory Point itself and, to carry out this considerable task, the Chicago Park District selected Alfred Caldwell, one of their junior staff members.

Underappreciated for decades, Caldwell today is acknowledged as one of the greatest Prairie School landscape designers of all time. His distinguished work still exists outside of Promontory Point, most notably at Lincoln Park’s Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool which is today a Chicago Landmark, a National Historic Landmark, and has been entered into the National Register of Historic Places. Caldwell also worked closely with famed landscape architect Jens Jensen for years before coming on as a Chicago Park District employee after facing financial difficulties in the wake of the Great Depression.

The Point’s pavilion had already been designed by the time Caldwell was brought on, so it bears none of his Prairie School signature, in contrast to the heavily Prairie School landscape he would soon bring to The Point’s untouched terrain. The Point’s main meadow was adorned with native shrubs and foliage while gaps were laid out that allowed vistas of the water’s expanse, connecting the beauty of Lake Michigan with the man-made engineering of Promontory Point. Curved walkways around The Point’s perimeter led park visitors along its outer edge, granting them views of additional native plants and access to the limestone revetments leading down to the water.

Even before its completion, Promontory Point was an immediate success. Much as it is today, The Point quickly became a popular gathering spot for Chicagoans. The YWCA, YMCA, and University of Chicago student organizations, among many others, found a home at Promontory Point, drawn there by comfortable recreational space. By 1948, the park had officially earned the name Promontory Point, although the name’s origin has never been entirely confirmed. The Point continued to be an important site in Chicago for decades to come; in particular, the park played a prominent role during the Cold War when Nike Missile radar towers were erected along the park’s southern shore in 1953. After years of protest, the facilities were demolished in 1971.

In the 1980s, fear of damage to Lake Shore Drive from then-rising lake levels prompted the City to begin replacing the limestone revetments with massive concrete and steel structures everywhere along the Chicago lakefront, except Promontory Point. When the City’s attention turned to Promontory Point in the early 2000s, the community, with the help of then-Senator Barack Obama, resisted the demolition so that, in 2006, the City's concrete project was stalled. Still, plans persist from the City and the Chicago Park District to remove these revetments once and for all. Today, the historic revetment at Promontory Point is all that is left of a once-eight mile long stretch of beautiful limestone transitions between nature and the city.

Even after 84 years, the existing limestone revetment at Promontory Point continues to protect the parkland behind it, serving as a beloved place of recreation for park visitors. The revetment does, however, need major repair as well as rehabilitation to allow better access for all to the lake and to the water. Twenty years ago, the community paid for its own independent engineers, architects, and mediators, and discovered that preservation, repair, and rehabilitation of The Point's historic limestone revetment is feasible and cost-effective. Although a preservation approach to repairs and rehabilitation is still viable, the City has recently revived its plan to demolish the historic limestone revetment and to reconstruct a concrete revetment in its place.

Preservation Chicago calls on the City of Chicago and the Chicago Park District to consent to the designation of Promontory Point as a Chicago Landmark, decisively ensuring the protection of The Point’s historic revetments for all time. In 2018, Promontory Point was put on the National Register of Historic Places, making it more difficult to destroy the historic revetment – but not impossible. Designating Promontory Point an official Chicago Landmark, and specifically highlighting The Point’s limestone revetments as an integral part of the designation, would make demolition almost impossible and would make certain that repair and rehabilitation of The Point's revetment preserves its historic integrity and beauty. Fifth Ward Alderman Leslie Hairston has supported preservation in the community’s fight to save The Point since 1996. U.S. Congresswoman Robin Kelly and State Senator Robert Peters have also recently spoken out for preservation at The Point.

Preservation Chicago sees no reason for demolition of the original structures and does not support the use of textured concrete as a substitute for the existing limestone. We also support the Promontory Point Conservancy’s wish to hire its own independent engineers, architects, and community organizers to prove once more that preservation is doable, cost-effective and desirable. We are confident that this is an opportunity for the City to work cooperatively with a passionate community to find the best preservation plan to protect and preserve a beloved public landmark. In doing so, they can enhance lake access with creative ADA compliance, avoid environmental hazards by repositioning the original limestone material instead of concrete, and invest equitably in South Side parks overall. Preservation Chicago urgently recommends the City of Chicago and the Chicago Parks District seize this opportunity to preserve the remaining original features of this historic park.

The Central Park Theater in North Lawndale is Chicago’s first movie palace and the mothership of a remarkable partnership between theater developers Balaban & Katz and architects Rapp & Rapp. While they would go on to build grander and more remarkable movie palaces, it all started with the Central Park Theater. The theater closed in 1971 and the House of Prayer Church of God in Christ’s congregation and leadership has been stewarding it since. Without their intervention, this theater would likely have joined the many demolitions that swept through North Lawndale in the 1970s and 1980s. The repair needs at the theater are growing and the older congregation at House of Prayer is shrinking. The church retained this historic theater for 50 years and now they need help getting it across the restoration finish line.

With collaboration between City agencies, the excellent team of partners on the Central Park Theater Restoration Committee, and prospective investors and developers, this restoration is more than possible. The church is committed to owning a majority interest in the theater to both keep it in community control and also honor the legacy of their founding Pastor Lincoln Scott. The community’s vision is for a cultural center with concerts and programs in the auditorium, cultural tenants in the front second and third floor spaces, and retail uses on the first floor that would support residents and visitors in the area as well as patrons of the Central Park Theater itself. Pastor Robert Marshall and his family continue to carry on the work at the Central Park Theater to keep it standing and thriving. With a little bit of flexibility and creativity, the City of Chicago can help in these efforts to bring the Central Park Theater back to life.

The Central Park Theater might be most endangered but it is also most alive. For decades, North Lawndale underwent devastating disinvestment. Businesses closed their doors. Buildings were demolished along commercial and residential corridors. Yet along Roosevelt Road, the Central Park Theater is still standing.

We are certain that the building would not be standing if not for the congregation’s tireless work to maintain and restore this grand community asset. However, with a dwindling congregation, maintaining and restoring the theater has become a challenge too great for the House of Prayer to take on by itself. Like the North Lawndale community, the church is committed to keeping the theater alive and in community control. Given its 51-year history of stewarding the theater and the thousands of congregant hours that have been invested in the upkeep of the theater, as well as the church’s continued presence in the community, House of Prayer is looking for a development partnership that would allow it to maintain majority control of the theater upon its restoration.

The Restoration Committee participated in Open House Chicago and the Chicago Architectural Biennial in 2021. Architects and engineers have offered pro bono assistance to move pre-development planning forward.

The Central Park Theater Restoration Committee is hard at work to:

1.    Establish a separate 501(c)(3) Friends group to assist with fundraising and restoration.

2.    Finalize budget estimates for the phased redevelopment.

3.    Engage with the community to ensure this community-centered cultural center is improved by a community-driven planning process.

4.    Negotiate with potential tenants for the first floor and front upper floors of the building.

5.    Plan for a leasing agent to coordinate rental of the auditorium for concerts and special events. The House of Prayer only has need for use of the auditorium for Sunday services.

Central Park Theater needs:

1.    A commitment from the City of Chicago, investors, developers, bankers, and community leaders to join the collaboration to fully restore the Central Park Theater. The proposed Altenheim bike trail vision includes highlighting the Central Park Theater and promoting redevelopment of and around the Central Park Theater. It will be great to see a combined commitment to help realize that vision and offer Chicagoans and tourists a chance to experience the glory of the Central Park Theater.

2.    A Chicago Landmark designation. The Chicago Theatre and the Uptown Theatre are both Balaban & Katz/Rapp & Rapp collaborations, so it is logical and reasonable to Landmark the one theater that precedes them all. Such a designation would allow for the application of competitive Adopt-a-Landmark funds and would ensure that, barring extraordinary circumstances, the building cannot be demolished or negatively altered.

3.    Emergency stabilization funds to address the life/safety building code violations (estimated at $100,000).

4.    Approval to do incremental preservation on the space. If life safety code violations have been addressed in the entire building, we ask the City of Chicago to allow the front floors of the building to be restored into retail and other cultural uses.

24th Ward Alderman Michael Scott has already signed a letter in support of Landmarking the Central Park Theater, and we look forward to continuing to work with him to see this space remain in the control of the community and restored to a vibrant center of culture, food, and community for decades to come.

For the first decades of its existence, North DuSable Lake Shore Drive was a slow-paced, boulevard parkway that allowed Chicagoans to enjoy the ride along the Chicago lakefront by horses or bikes and later by automobiles. The original design was strongly influenced by the City Beautiful movement. In fact, the original builders of the Drive were the Lincoln Park Commissioners who sought a pleasure drive to help people access and enjoy the expanded and improved Lincoln Park and lakeshore. Graceful, curving, tree-lined boulevards along with the expanded parklands soon attracted new beautiful homes and buildings.

This pastoral, naturalistic quality saw major changes over time and was also impacted in the post-war era after President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. In the midst of the Cold War, many highways were created or in some cases existing streets improved to create a high-speed, high-capacity Interstate Highway System to allow the rapid evacuation of cites and deployment of troops in the event of nuclear war. The highway engineers had very different priorities than the parks commissioners which is reflected in post-war changes to DuSable Lake Shore Drive. The roadbed was widened, traffic speeds were increased, traffic lights and grade-crossings were removed, and highway-style on and off ramps were added. During the 1950s, highway engineers planned to formally convert the southern portion of the Drive into Interstate 494, but the project was never moved past the design stage. Traffic engineers were forced to make incremental changes over the decades due to funding challenges, but their clear goal was to bring the Drive up to interstate highway standards.

Today, North DuSable Lake Shore Drive’s character is a unique blend of parkway and highway, pleasure drive and interstate. However, this character will change after the proposed multi-billion-dollar construction project called “Redefine the Drive” is completed. Many years in the making, it is an incredibly complex plan with a wide variety of objectives. However, the core goals have been determined by the highway engineers who seek to increase traffic speeds, increase capacity, and increase safety. Interstate highway standards offer a clear path for how to achieve these goals.

Preservation Chicago strongly supports investment in infrastructure, increased green space, bike lanes, and transit. Enlarged and improved lakefront parks are the headlines, however this plan is, at its core, a highway project. There is concern that these more popular elements are being used to “greenwash” a roads project that is largely an effort to bring it up to interstate highway standards and dramatically change the character of North DuSable Lake Shore Drive from its original parkway intent.

To impose interstate highway standards on North DuSable Lake Shore Drive would fundamentally change the character of this important and historic parkway. Destroying the slower speed and meandering pleasure drive qualities of the roadway in order to increase the average traffic speed is futile as the string of traffic lights at Grant Park will remain unchanged.

Preservation Chicago would like to see no widening to the existing roadway. We would like to see the existing historic Art Deco bridges restored. We would very much like to see the existing green medians and mature trees protected and maintained. This plan is highly complex and robust public participation is essential for a good outcome.

In recent years, various City of Chicago agencies put together a project called “Redefine the Drive: North DuSable Lake Shore Drive,” with studies and proposals conducted by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT), which have been tasked with a rethinking of historic Lake Shore Drive. Examining various traffic studies, including Rush Hour congestion, in both the morning and evening hours, the team has worked to consider options toward the resolution of a host of issues.

The result has been a series of ideas which threaten the overall character of Lake Shore Drive, turning a boulevard drive into a superhighway, which will need to meet modern highway standards with such an update. The plans call for extensive landfill into Lake Michigan, tunneling large portions of Lake Shore Drive while also creating incursions into Lincoln Park. Also, many of the distinctive features–including historic bridges, vistas, underpasses and trees–will be removed for this massive project. A general straightening of the gentle curves, the rolling inclines and perspectives are all to be reconfigured and changed.

Preservation Chicago is of the opinion that many of these changes and modifications will dramatically impact and adversely affect the character of this world-renowned drive, making it resemble the Dan Ryan/Kennedy or Eisenhower Interstate highways. While this may not seem imaginable, just look no farther than to the past reconstructions of Lake Shore Drive, near McCormick Place and near the I-55 exchange, or another example at the former “S-Curve” extending from Randolph Street to Grand Avenue. These areas have been part of past revisioning projects and employ highway standards in their reconstruction which is very unfortunate for a Lakefront boulevard.

Preservation Chicago realizes the need for efficient transportation across our city. We also realize the need for repairs to many of our roadways and North DuSable Lake Shore Drive is no exception.

We therefore encourage all of the municipal agencies involved and their consultants to work together to preserve and repair the many special features of North DuSable Lake Shore Drive. This would include restoration and repair, in lieu of demolition of many of the bridges and underpasses. This was accomplished in a thoughtful way on South DuSable Lake Shore Drive at the Art Deco 47th Street Bridge and underpass, more than a decade ago. We encourage the City to maintain the many unique features, vistas, gentle curves and character of North DuSable Lake Shore Drive, keeping it more like a boulevard than a superhighway.

We also need to avoid the tunneling of DuSable Lake Shore Drive, as noted between Grand Avenue/Navy Pier and Walton Street, and also north of Belmont Avenue, which would create essentially a dry-river bed prone to flooding and other hazards. We are of the opinion that some of these proposed tunneling concepts and plans may lead to life-safety issues in the future.

In the past, the current Oak Street access to the express lanes of Lake Shore Drive have often become flooded, and we feel that a series of long and deeply-trenched tunnels anywhere near Lake Michigan is not a safe plan. Pedestrian access does not necessarily need to occur at grade level, but a series of fine-quality bridges and safe and clean underpasses can be designed to alleviate such problems. We have seen snowstorms and floods impacting the Chicago lakefront and DuSable Lake Shore Drive over time, which have resulted in dangerous and hazardous conditions for motorists and pedestrians alike, along with closures. In some cases, these lakefront conditions and high winds, along with extreme precipitation, have placed individuals in perilous situations with some being in harm’s way for more than hours on end.

We are also noting extensive incursions into the beautiful parklands and greenspaces of Lincoln Park, as well as the removal of the planted medians separating north and southbound traffic. Proposed plans to date would require the removal of thousands of trees along these medians and in Lincoln Park. We are also concerned about plans for buses to be stacked for long hours at locations like Belmont and Sheridan along North DuSable Lake Shore Drive and the impact on quality of life issues for nearby residents. This could substantially increase noise and carbon dioxide levels in certain areas where buses may idle for hours at a time.

The issues along North DuSable Lake Shore Drive are many. However, let's take a more sensitive and holistic approach to preserving and – where required or needed – rebuilding bridges and underpasses. Let us continue to maintain and honor those remarkable features that make traveling on North DuSable Lake Shore Drive, or adjacent to it, pleasurable experiences. After all, this is a very special boulevard drive and we should not squander its beauty and natural qualities nor its historic resources.

The Moody Triangle site, in the Old Town neighborhood of the Lincoln Park Community Area, is formed by North Avenue to the south and the convergence of Clark Street and LaSalle Drive to the north. This highly-visible parcel fronting Lincoln Park and the Chicago History Museum has recently come to our attention as a potential revisioning and redevelopment site by Moody Church and Fern Hill Company.

The proposed scope of development includes several sites, including this triangular parcel of land that we are referring to as the Moody Triangle, as well as nearby parcels to the west along North Avenue and sites along the 1600 blocks of LaSalle and Wells Streets. However, Preservation Chicago has identified the triangular parcel, which is of specific concern, as part of our 2022 Chicago 7 Most Endangered.

This triangular site contains three buildings which we at Preservation Chicago feel are extremely noteworthy. These structures include the former North Federal Savings Bank (1961) by Naess & Murphy, now known as the Wintrust Bank Building, and the Moody Memorial Church (1924-1925) by architect John Fugard of Fugard & Knapp. Also included, at the apex of the triangular site, is a sculptural building constructed as Archway Standard Station, later known as Archway Amoco, and now a BP Service Station, with a sweeping hood and overhanging steel canopy that gently transitions to a hyperbolic curve of concrete, sloping down to the ground.

Noting this is being referred to as a development site, Preservation Chicago wants to encourage preservation of all of the structures on this triangular parcel of land, with the exception of the Shell Station at 130 W. North Avenue, which may be considered as a modest development site for Moody and Fern Hall.

The North Federal Savings Bank, later Diamond Bank and now Wintrust Bank, was designed by the firm of Naess & Murphy in 1961. This Midcentury Modern structure was not included in the Chicago Historic Resources Survey (CHRS), as the building was too new and under 50 years of age when the area was surveyed. However, the building was so well-regarded by experts in the field and the City of Chicago that the City’s Historic Preservation Division of the Department of Planning & Development had sought the building for possible Chicago Landmark designation in 2007. This bank was considered a representation of a Modernist community bank by a significant firm, executed in the International Style, influenced by the work of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and was considered as a viable candidate for The Neighborhood Banks District. However, the owner at the time, Diamond Bank, opposed being Landmarked and instead of viewing this potential designation as an honor, chose to challenge and push back to such an extreme, it was dropped as a candidate for this designation, which included five other neighborhood banks. This was alarming to many of us, as it is a small site and it could have been a great source of pride, an opportunity that was unfortunately squandered. This would be a wonderful building to consider for Landmarks in the future, but only with owner consent.

The North Federal Savings Bank Building, now Wintrust Bank Building, is a modest, two-story, Midcentury Modern building at a great location on a valuable parcel of land. Previous efforts with the former owners and bank to designate the building as a Chicago Landmark failed, despite support from the architecture and preservation community. At this time with a proposed development planned for all of the Moody sites in partnership with Fern Hall, and under the leadership of renowned Ghanaian-British architect, David Adjaye, many are concerned about the bank building and the potential redevelopment of this triangular parcel of land.

Despite some preliminary assurances that the bank is not part of the redevelopment plans at this time, we are concerned for the long-term preservation of this Midcentury Modern structure. Wintrust Bank is a Chicago-based institution and we would like to see the owner and the bank consent to a Chicago Landmark designation of their building which was determined by the City of Chicago to be worthy of Landmarking.

The D.L. Moody Memorial Church & Sunday School Building is a remarkable Romanesque and Byzantine Style structure with a 3,740-seat auditorium and sanctuary. This building, designed and constructed from 1924-1925 by John Fugard of the architecture firm of Fugard & Knapp is a fabulous and extraordinary building, as well as a local community landmark. Situated in the middle of the block on this triangular site, this large, rounded drum-shaped building, with its rich red brick and polychromed terracotta details, captures the imagination of everyone that passes the complex. Extending across the center portion of the triangular parcel, the western elevation fronting LaSalle Drive, showcases stepped, semicircular arches in red brick which beautifully reflect qualities of Romanesque and Norman architecture. Later additions were added to both the Clark and LaSalle elevations in recent decades, which are sensitive reflections of the historic 1920s structures.

While sources relay to us at this time that there is no immediate threat to the Moody Church Building or its ancillary attached structures, the triangular site is to be considered for a revisioning with a world-renowned architect and a developer. While the community input is important, this is a valuable, large, and centrally-located parcel of land, fronting Lincoln Park with unparalleled views of Lake Michigan. Moody Bible Institute, the church’s affiliate a mile or so to the south, is also selling many of its blocks of historic buildings and vacant lands—approximately 8.1 acres for a decade-long project containing 2,680 apartments, condominiums and townhomes–to another developer, JDL. This large development of buildings, to be called North Union, will contain at least three proposed towers estimated to be over 500 feet in height. It is to extend from Chicago Avenue to Oak Street and from Wells Street to the Brown Line, near Orleans Street; the project has also received approvals from the City. There will also be 30,000 square feet of retail and 1.3 acres of open space. While some historic buildings are to be reused as part of the North Union project, others will be demolished. Witnessing the redevelopment of two large properties by two nearby Moody institutions should be of concern to many.

As Moody Church and Fern Hill are in discussions with the community and elected officials on several prominent sites on the Near North Side and within the Old Town community, we would like to recommend that Moody Church and its adjoining church, community, and offices be given a Chicago Landmark designation as part of the overall development plans. This would honor Moody’s long history of evangelism, its buildings, and the institution’s presence in Chicago from the mid-19th century to present day.

Such plans would ensure the presence of this remarkable Romanesque building and complex well into the future. There may not be an immediate threat to the 3,740-seat sanctuary, auditorium, and building. However, it would be great to know this building is protected and designated as a Chicago Landmark as it would easily meet four of the City’s Landmark Criterion. These criteria would include: important architects; association with someone of great note (in this case, Dwight Moody); importance to the city’s history; and important architecture, as Moody Church is an exceptional building with marvelous detailing and craftsmanship.

Perhaps as part of development plans elsewhere close by, Moody Church’s Landmark designation could result in zoning variances and exceptions for other nearby sites. Such ideas could even extend to selling the church’s air-rights and transferring those bonuses to other adjacent sites and projects, beyond this triangle of land bounded by North Avenue, LaSalle Drive, and Clark Street.

The Archway Standard Station, later renamed Archway Amoco and now known as the BP Station, is situated at the apex of this triangular site, where the confluence of two arterial streets, LaSalle Drive and Clark Street, merge. It is a very dynamic and special intersection, near the beginnings of Lincoln Park and with direct access to DuSable Lake Shore Drive and Lake Michigan.

Archway Standard was the design of architect George Terp (1910-1998) and was completed and opened in 1971. Terp attended the Armour Institute of Technology, now known as the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), and was said to have designed nearly 14,000 gas stations over his 25-year career as an architect for the Amoco Oil Company. Retiring from Amoco two years after the construction of the station in 1973, Terp continued a small architectural practice in the South Suburb of Flossmoor, Illinois. This project was likely completed at the zenith of his career.

This Midcentury Modern structure may be in harm’s way due to this recently announced redevelopment project. This could greatly impact this much beloved gas station—a one of a kind and unique feature which always catches everyone’s eye who passes it. Noted for its long extending canopy which extends from the ground with concrete feet, the structure rises upward to form a large protective cover to shield patrons from the wind, rain, sun and snow at a very windy corner location close to Lake Michigan. Over time, the once patriotic colors of Standard Oil’s red, white and blue have changed to the green and yellow colors of BP. However, much of the station remains as it was originally designed by Terp.

Noting that this service station building is a unique design and feature, we at Preservation Chicago are of the opinion that this structure could be designated Chicago’s first Landmark service station. We also realize that if the service station can no longer operate as a gas and service station, which would be the most ideal outcome, that the elongated extending canopy could be reutilized and incorporated into a new development, engaging much of the structure if so desired.

For nearly twenty years, the General Service Administration (GSA) has allowed the historic Century and Consumers Buildings on State Street in the heart of Chicago’s Loop to remain vacant and neglected.

Now a $52 million line item for the demolition of the Century and Consumers Buildings has been added to the appropriations bill before Congress.

These proud and elegant Chicago School skyscrapers are located on State Street in the vibrant and thriving heart of Chicago’s Loop. The 16-story Century Building was built in 1915 and designed by Holabird and Roche. The 22-story Consumers Building was built in 1913 and designed by Jenney, Mundie & Jensen.

Due to post-September 11th fears and the proximity of the Dirksen Federal Courthouse, in 2005, the federal government seized ownership of these buildings through its power of eminent domain.

The General Service Administration had plans to renovate and reuse these buildings. But these plans never happened because of a lack of federal funding and security concerns due to the proximity of the federal courthouse.

In 2017, the City of Chicago, developers and Preservation Chicago created a solid plan to beautifully restore and convert these buildings for a residential use, but a federal judge blocked it citing security concerns.

Now there is a new solid plan to save and adaptively reuse these historic buildings with strong stakeholder and financial support.

The Chicago Archive Center reuse is highly-creative solution with many strengths and is very achievable. And this plan addresses all of the security concerns.

Preservation Chicago has been working with urgency over the past two years to building a strong coalition of stakeholders. They are ready to move forward with the adaptive reuse of these buildings.

But all will be lost if the $52 million dollars of taxpayer funds are used to demolish the Century and Consumers Buildings.

Chicago’s Early Chicago Skyscrapers are currently being considered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The demolition of the Century and Consumers Buildings could interfere with this extraordinary opportunity for international recognition.

If demolished, this site would remain a vacant eyesore for years as security concerns would block nearly all new development, like Block 37.

We encourage the City of Chicago to take immediate steps to designate the Century and Consumers Buildings as Chicago Landmarks which would protect them from demolition.

We further encourage Senator Durbin and Senator Duckworth to support this effort.

And we encourage the GSA to use these federal funds to RESTORE, NOT DEMOLISH these beautiful historic skyscrapers!

"The Commission on Chicago Landmarks has approved a preliminary landmark recommendation for the Monumental Baptist Church. Located at 729 E. Oakwood Boulevard in Bronzeville, the church was originally built in 1899 by architects Patton, Fisher, and Miller.

"Exhibiting a staggering five landmark criteria, the building meets Criterion 1 - Value as an Example of City, State, or National Heritage, Criterion 3 - Significant Person, Criterion 4 - Exemplary Architecture, Criterion 5 - Work of Significant Architect or Designer, and Criterion 7 - Unique or Distinctive Visual Feature.

"The church was originally built by a congregation at the old University of Chicago campus in Bronzeville. As the neighborhood transitioned between demographics via the Great Migration, the church failed to integrate itself and ultimately closed in 1925. In 1934, the building was purchased by another baptist group and was rechristened as the Monumental Baptist Church.

"The parish was led by a string of prolific pastors who extended their reach beyond the church and influenced and advocated for social justice and political efforts in the city. The church’s architecture exemplifies the Romanesque Revival style, including a large central tower surrounded by gables facing out in each direction. The exterior is adorned with rounded archways and rusticated stonework. A soaring dome rises above the central worship space.

"After the approval, Commissioner Cox brought up the fact that the church owns a number of vacant lots adjacent to the church, with a city-owned lot in between some of these. Cox asked if the parish has investigated acquiring the lot and whether they have considered the best use of the site through potential mixed-use or residential development. Currently the church’s priority is to restore the church building, but the pastor expressed an openness to discussing the potential development of those lots in the future." (Kugler, Urbanize Chicago, 3/11/22)

"A plan to free up a big chunk of city funding for the long-delayed redevelopment of the Congress Theater is headed to the City Council for final approval.

"The city’s Community Development Commission approved allocating $20 million in Tax Increment Finance dollars toward the $70.4 million restoration of the historic theater at 2135 N. Milwaukee Ave., and the surrounding apartments and retail. The city board signed off on the funding Tuesday with no debate.

Developer Baum Revision is leading the project. Baum has experience renovating historic buildings in the area including the Green Exchange and Margies Candies buildings. It’s part of the development team renovating the Ramova Theater in Bridgeport, another 1920s theater that has sat vacant for years.

"Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st), who represents the area where the Congress is located and has long pushed for it to be redeveloped, was effusive about Baum’s project at Tuesday’s hearing. He said it will not only bring the historic music venue back to life, but it will also provide housing and commercial space to locals at risk of being displaced from gentrifying Logan Square.

"Baum plans to give the entire Congress building a facelift and carve out 20 apartments — 14 of them affordable for people earning 40-80 percent of the area median income — as well as affordable commercial space for local nonprofits and artists, and retail and restaurant space.

"The Congress Theater has sat empty since 2013, when the city shut down the 1920s venue following a string of code violations and crimes that occurred in and around the theater during shows." (Bloom, Block Club Chicago, 3/8/22)

"City Council has approved a funding package including $10 million in TIF for the renovation plan of Clarendon Park Community Center at 4501 N Clarendon Avenue in Uptown. Located in Clarendon Park, the community center is located at the intersection of N. Clarendon Avenue and W. Sunnyside Avenue. The Chicago Park District is leading the project.

"Originally built in 1916 as a beach bathhouse, the last time the center was renovated was in the 1970s. With a design by Booth Hansen, the renovation will accommodate the full range of users and make the entire building fully accessible. It will also upgrade finishes, lighting, mechanicals and address water infiltration issues.

"The building’s lobby and southern vestibule will be completely reworked, opening the building up to make it more transparent, allowing more light into the lobby. Sightlines will be further reworked throughout the building, introducing new windows and apertured to allow light into the building. The gymnasium and fitness room will also be renovated entirely with new diminishes and equipment." (Kugler, Urbanize Chicago, 2/28/22)

Preservation Chicago is thrilled to see this important building’s exterior restored to an appearance more similar to its original design in a multi-year, multi-phased project. The distinctive tall towers fronting Clarendon Avenue and the smaller towers fronting the beach, along with the entry colonnade and the verandas and open-air rooftop loggias were beautiful and distinctive architecture elements that should never have been removed. We hope to see the reconstruction of some of these missing features during a second phase of restoration which could elevate the Clarendon Park Community Center to its rightful place alongside the 63rd Street Bathing Pavilion and other important lakefront buildings from this period.

Preservation Chicago applauds Ald. James Cappleman for his commitment to seeing the Clarendon Park Community Center protected from demolition and for helping to solidify the necessary renovation funds. Preservation Chicago applauds the Chicago Park District for its flexibility, support and commitment to this important project. The Clarendon Park neighbors and community stakeholders played an essential role in this effort and deserve special recognition for their unwavering support for this wonderful outcome with a special thanks to Katharine Boyda, Melanie Eckner, Martin Tangora, Cindi Anderson, Stuart Berman, the Uptown Historical Society, the Clarendon Park Advisory Council, Uptown United and Uptown Chicago Commission.

vOur Lady of Victory, 1954, Meyer and Cook (upper church) 5212 W. Agatite Ave. Photo Credit: Eric Allix Rogers

"A Northwest Side group wants a historical church that held its last mass last year to receive landmark status to prevent it from potentially being torn down.

"Our Lady of Victory, 5212 W. Agatite Ave., closed its parish as part of the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Renew My Church consolidation plan. The building is still a Catholic church open for services under the archdiocese’s permission for now.

"While the archdiocese has no immediate plans for the building, it mentioned options for selling the property when it announced the closing in 2020. This sent parishioners and community members into a panic, as they want to make sure the building is preserved and stays a neighborhood asset.

"A petition by the neighborhood group Save Our Lady of Victory calls on elected officials to work with the city to grant the church landmark status.

"'It is one of the most fabulous pieces of architecture on the Northwest Side — we don’t want to lose it,' said Susanna Ernst, president of the Northwest Chicago Historical Society and an Our Lady of Victory parishioner who organized the petition.

"Our Lady of Victory, founded in 1906, is the oldest Catholic church on the Far Northwest Side. It has been home to Irish, Polish and German congregations. Its architectural significance, community outreach and growth between the 1920s and ’50s make it important to the area, Ernst said.

"The church has been suggested for landmark status to the Commission on Chicago Landmarks by the Northwest Chicago Historical Society, Ernst said. The commission, which is an arm of the city’s Department of Planning and Development, is responsible for recommending sites for legal protection as official city landmarks.

"Should the commission deem Our lady of Victory meets the historical, architectural and cultural significance requirements to become a landmark, aldermanic and ownership approval would be needed, according to the city’s landmarks ordinance. A public hearing, followed by a commission decision, is then taken to City Council before the landmark can become official.

"Preservation Chicago added the church to its list of 2021 endangered buildings and recommended it be repurposed as another religious space, an event venue or as housing. 'The church could still remain a sacred site but maybe be enveloped with other uses, maybe tied to the community, or maybe an educational facility,' said Ward Miller, executive director of Preservation Chicago. 'The landmark designation encourages the right kinds of ideas and a creative imagination being applied to these structures.'

"In addition to benefiting the Far Northwest Side, which has few landmarked buildings, the designation could benefit the archdiocese, Miller said. With the archdiocese closing churches and parishes around the area as part of its Renew My Church plan, its Catholic churches could see new life and sustainability with the city’s help, Miller said.

"The archdiocese 'could still landmark the outside of the building and encourage the city to maintain big structures, even if they are closing or in disrepair,' Miller said. Given that the archdiocese does not consider its properties for landmark status, Miller said ownership consent for religious buildings — added to the ordinance in 1987 — should be repealed." (Parrella-Aureli, Block Club Chicago, 3/1/22)

"A plan to devote city funds toward rehabbing a single-room occupancy building into permanent supportive housing in Lincoln Park is scheduled for a City Council vote Wednesday.

"The council’s Committee on Finance signed off on an agreement Thursday for the city to provide up to $5 million in multifamily loan funds and up to $12 million in tax-exempt bonds toward nonprofit NHP Foundation’s $21 million project to rehab the Covent Hotel, 2653 N. Clark St.

"The Covent Hotel dates to 1915, when it was built to accompany an adjacent theater, which was demolished in the 1960s. The surviving three-story building has long served as a single-room occupancy, but it fell into disrepair after its previous owner died, city officials said.

"Ald. Michele Smith (43rd), who has supported the project since before it went to the city’s Plan Commission in 2020, said it was a “very difficult project to bring to fruition because of the high cost in our community.”

"'It was very important to me and the surrounding community that we preserve this [single-room occupancy], which has been used in this fashion since just past the Depression,' Smith said. 'We couldn’t be happier.'

"The hotel’s renovation will also involve replacing doors, windows and elevator systems, as well as converting its eight ground-level commercial spaces into four larger retail spaces, said Mecky Adnani, senior vice president at NHP.

"'This is what the community wanted,' Adnani said. 'These kinds of rental units are needed in the Lincoln Park area, and we’re really glad we could preserve the building while creating these 30 great studio apartments.' (Wittich, Block Club Chicago, 2/22/22)

"The real estate investor that bought a distressed Streeterville hotel last year has purchased another downtown property in need of a jolt of life: The Standard Club building in the Loop. A venture of real estate investor Remo Polselli last week bought the 11-story building at 320 S. Plymouth Ct., according to sources familiar with the transaction.

"Polselli acquired the 166,000-square-foot property from the Standard Club, the storied members-only social and business institution that closed the facility in 2020 amid financial troubles.

"The deal likely crushes any chance of the Standard Club group itself reopening in the property and tees up what could be a dramatic repositioning of the 96-year-old building, which is said to be in need of costly upgrades. Local real estate investors have speculated that the building could be turned into a boutique hotel or a residential use, such as student housing in an area rife with urban campus schools, including Roosevelt University, Columbia College Chicago and Harold Washington College.

"The Standard Club building was dealing with its own problems before the public health crisis set in. Stung by operating losses and declining membership, the club disclosed during the first week of March 2020—just days before the pandemic began—that it would close on May 1 and was putting its property up for sale.

"The club said in a statement to Crain's at the time that it hoped to find a "synergistic business relationship" with a partner to put the club on more solid financial footing, holding out hope that it might reconvene in all or part of the building. But the group also told its members then that the best offer "may be to sell the clubhouse entirely in order to satisfy the club's debts and obligations and reimagine the club."

"One source familiar with the building sale said the transaction will allow the club to pay former employees and meet unfunded pension liabilities, among other costs." (Ecker, Crain's Chicago Business, 3/3/22)

Preservation Chicago encourages stakeholders to include a Landmark designation of the The Standard Club as part of the process moving forward to recognize its important history. The Standard Club was designed by Albert Kahn, an architect well known for his buildings linked to the automotive industry in Detroit, and one of only a handful of buildings by Kahn in Chicago. This club has an amazing history dating back to the early days of Chicago. Its exterior and interior spaces, including ballrooms, historic lobbies, murals by Sol LeWitt, and linoleum cuts of important events in Chicago history by Edgar Miller should all be protected by a Chicago Landmark Designation.

"The Commission on Chicago Landmarks voted unanimously during its March 3 meeting to award the Muddy Waters House, 4339 S. Lake Park Ave., with a $250,000 grant for exterior renovations from its Adopt-a-Landmark Fund. This award follows last October's designation of the North Kenwood home of legendary blues musician Muddy Waters (born McKinley Morganfield) as a Chicago Landmark by the City Council.

"Morganfield’s great-granddaughter Chandra Cooper — who owns the building and is leading the effort to convert it into a house museum — said during an interview with the Herald, 'I'm hoping that this place will end up being a place (where) young people and old people, and lovers of the blues, and people who want to be educated about the blues will have an incredible safe haven to come... and to learn to listen and to just really understand who Muddy Waters was. And the legacy of who he is and the fact that he is the king of Chicago blues.'

"The Adopt-a-Landmark grant will be used to weather-proof the house, including removal of some exterior paint, concrete stair grinding, and re-pointing of the face brick on the main east facade, window repair and replacement.

"'The work is expected to begin this spring and be finished by late fall. Once the work is done, 'the first floor will be occupiable and we will be able to open our doors,' said Cooper."

"During the meeting Commissioner Tiara Hughes asked whether the vacant lot to the north of the house would be acquired as 'an exterior gathering space.'

"Cooper said that the group behind the museum has had several conversations with Ald. Sophia King (4th) this week about the adjacent lot. 'It's hopeful that we will be able to one day obtain the lot. But right now there is nothing on the table for that,' she said.

"The Herald reached out to King's office for a comment about Cooper's desire to incorporate the vacant lot, which is owned by the City, as part of the museum, but did not receive a reply by press time." (Monaghan, Hyde Park Herald, 3/3/22)

In February 2021, the Museum House Ban ordinance proposed by Ald. King was defeated. If it had been approved, it would have directly prevented the Muddy Waters House Museum from moving forward.

Preservation Chicago is thrilled that the long-endangered Muddy Waters home has finally received the financial support it needs to be restored. Bravo to Chandra Cooper for her dedication in face of adversity and her fierce love for this important part of Chicago’s cultural heritage. Chicago collectively owes you a debt of gratitude for your efforts. We will continue to support this effort until the MOJO Museum celebrates its grand opening.

Preservation Chicago has worked very closely with neighborhood preservation partners and has played a strong role in supporting the effort to protect and landmark the Muddy Waters home. Additionally, our petition with nearly 33 thousand signatures and other efforts played a decisive role in publicizing the proposed House Museum Ban ordinance that would have been devastating for emerging house museums like the Muddy Waters home, and scores of arts and cultural centers across Chicago. We continue to advocate for a Chicago Jazz, Blues, and Gospel Thematic Landmark District that would recognize and protect the places and spaces where Chicago musicians made history.

"CONDO CONVERSION, CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS, LUXURY APARTMENTS, CHURCH OR SINGLE FAMILY CASTLE possible at this phenomenal location. Luxury condos estimated resale value $850,000 each. Potential for 8 parking spaces. ZONED B3-2. LAND SIZE 8073 sq/ft. 17245 buildable sq/ft. Wicker Park Richardsonian Romanesque Landmark Church.

"FULL AND VERY HIGH BASEMENT. Striking interior and stained-glass detailing; fine woodwork and wooden sanctuary ceiling. City landmark status. Needs work. Excellently located in the heart of the Wicker Park action. Very close to Damen / Milwaukee Blue Line. Cash deal only. No contingencies. As-is." (Loopnet.com)

“A 19th-century church building on North Avenue where two proposed residential conversions have failed in recent years is back on the market.

“The question for any potential buyer will be how many residential units will get the neighborhood’s blessing—or how few. In 2017, a developer’s plan to turn the former St. Paul’s Church into 28 apartments failed to get neighborhood support. In 2019, a different developer’s plan for 19 units did not move forward either.

“Under its current zoning classification, B-32, the roughly 8,100 square feet of land St Paul’s stands on would be allowed to have eight units of about 1,000 square feet each. The building itself is about 16,500 square feet, which would likely allow a redeveloper to get more than eight units approved.

“‘What we’re hearing is that based on (purchase) and rehab costs, it would be difficult to make anything work with under about 19 units,’ said Nicholas Zettel, who works on zoning issues for Ald. Daniel La Spata, 1st, in whose ward the building stands. Zettel said no proposals have been brought to the ward office since the 19-unit project’s developers backed out last year.

“The current condition of the church’s interior would not allow a new user to move right in without updates, Zettel said. “It’s in some kind of a state,” Zettel said. “It will have to be a rehab project if you want to preserve the exterior.”

“Demolition approval would be difficult to obtain because the building is in the Wicker Park Historic District, designated by the city in 1991.” (Rodkin, Crain’s Chicago Business, 7/8/20)

"A little over 150 years ago, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed about 17,450 buildings in the city, but not this one. That’s because Richard Bellinger, a Chicago police officer, was determined to keep his two-year-old honeymoon cottage standing.

"To eliminate the fire’s fuel, Bellinger ripped out the wooden sidewalk and fence and cleared away leaf debris. An often-told legend says he wet down the roof with cider from a barrel in the basement, but a few decades after the fire, Bellinger’s widow tried to put that story to rest. 'We did have a barrel of cider in the basement, sure enough, but we didn’t use it because we were able to get enough water' from nearby ditches, Mrs. Bellinger, whose first name Crain’s could not find, said in 1915.

"With or without the cider, the house is a survivor, one of very few structures left standing in the Burnt District. The house has a sibling relationship of sorts with two more famous structures that survived the same conflagration: the Water Tower and Pumping Station on Michigan Avenue. All three buildings were the work of W.W. Boyington, one of the most prominent Chicago architects in the years before and after the fire.

"In the early 2000s, Sophia de la Mar and Brayton Gray lived a few blocks from the Bellinger Cottage in Lincoln Park, and 'we used to say to each other, let’s walk past that pretty cottage,' Gray recalls.

"In 2005, they bought the house, on North Hudson Avenue (which was called Lincoln Place at the time of the fire). They did an extensive rehab, adding a multi-story section in the back that makes it a four-bedroom, 3,650-square-foot house with an attached garage.

"The lot is 46 feet wide, nearly double the city norm. Putting the dining room at ground level 'gave us the garden to walk out into,' de la Mar says.

"Trees and evergreen shrubs provide some privacy for the terrace, particularly when history buffs gather on the sidewalk to debate the veracity of the cider-on-the-roof story.

"Although Gray says coyly that the legend about cider 'is a very old story to be treated with skepticism, like the story of Mrs. O’Leary’s cow,' a previous owner was not as doubtful.

"On the fire’s 90th anniversary in 1961, the Chicago Tribune published this photo of the house’s then-owner, Albert Liebrich, an architect, with a mural made of wire that depicted Richard Bellinger pouring cider on the roof. Liebrich and his wife, Lucille, also kept a cider press in the basement, as a tribute." (Rodkin, Crain's Chicago Business, 3/3/22)

"Already disappearing before COVID-19, Chicago’s two-, three- and four-flats, long seen as sources of affordable homeownership and rental opportunities, may emerge from the pandemic with an identity crisis.

"The uncertainty of the past two years could alter some of the signature benefits for renters as landlords change their management style to adapt or consider selling altogether, a recent study found.

"That would mean one more hurdle for tenants, and one more challenge for communities as the city looks to combat a shortage of affordable housing.

"The findings were outlined in a December report by researchers from the American Bar Foundation and the University of Illinois at Chicago, which examined small, independently-owned rental properties in Chicago, such as two- and three-flats. The buildings make up a large portion of the country’s supply of unsubsidized affordable housing, and many of the landlords manage their properties in ways that benefit tenants, such as limiting rent increases, forgoing fees and being more flexible on partial or late payments, according to the study.

"But the basis for that management style might be more precarious than it once seemed. As small landlords grapple with financial challenges during the pandemic, some are considering reining in that flexibility.

"The findings follow a 2021 study from the Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University that detailed how Chicago’s two-, three- and four-flats were disappearing even before the pandemic, often replaced with single-family homes or empty lots. The researchers fear the pandemic could hasten the loss of small rental housing and make two- and three-flats less appealing as a path to homeownership.

"'This sector of the rental market is really important because: one, it is more affordable, and two, there’s an understanding, somewhat supported by previous research, that landlords have these more flexible, lenient, tenant-friendly practices in this sector,' researcher Anna Reosti said." (Freishtat, Chicago Tribune, 3/5/22)

"Cook County officials celebrated a milestone Wednesday morning on the West Side with the 1,000th renovated home as part of a county-run program.

"The before-and-after pictures are remarkable. The home at 3838 West Adams Street in the West Garfield Park neighborhood was once abandoned and sitting in disrepair.

"It sat vacant for at least five years. With a lot of love, it underwent a major makeover, with everything from top to bottom being brand new.

"'Government has long been complicit with the private sector in extracting wealth from Black communities,' said Marisa Novara, Chicago commissioner of the Department of Housing. "We've gotta make right in these communities. This is how we do it.'

"Cook County officials celebrated the home Wednesday morning, announcing that through its programs with the Cook County Land Bank Authority, community developers have now renovated 1,000 previously vacant and abandoned homes across the county, returning them to productive, tax generating use.

"'As of today, the land bank has added more than 15 million dollars in revenue to Cook County, disrupting decades of disinvestment and enabling small developers to build businesses and create jobs leading to greater stability in their own neighborhoods,' said Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.

"The Cook County Land Bank Authority was formed by a Cook County ordinance back in 2013 to address the large inventory of vacant residential, industrial and commercial properties in Cook County.

"'We're celebrating our 1,000th home and there are 999 others throughout Cook County that we celebrate every day and we're looking to scale up the land bank's efforts in the coming years,' said Eleanor Gorski, director of the Cook County Land Bank. (D'Onofrio, ABC7 Chicago, 2/16/22)

The Demolition Delay Ordinance, adopted by City Council in 2003, establishes a hold of up to 90 days in the issuance of any demolition permit for certain historic buildings in order that the Department of Planning and Development can explore options, as appropriate, to preserve the building, including but not limited to Landmark designation.

The ordinance applies to buildings rated red and orange in the Chicago Historic Resources Survey (CHRS), but it should be modified to include all buildings included in the survey. These buildings are designated on the city's zoning map. The delay period starts at the time the permit application is presented to the department's Historic Preservation Division offices and can be extended beyond the original 90 days by mutual agreement with the applicant. The purpose of the ordinance is to ensure that no important historic resource can be demolished without consideration as to whether it should and can be preserved.

Preservation Chicago is advocating to extend the existing Demolition Delay Ordinance to at least 180 days or longer, in order to create the time community members, stakeholders, decision makers, and elected officials need to conduct robust discussions regarding the fate of these historic buildings and irreplaceable Chicago assets. The support of the Mayor and City Council is necessary to advance this effort.

#100944882

Date Received: 02/23/2022

Ward: 47th Ald. Matt Martin

Applicant: Longford Design, Development + Construction C/O Brian Connolly

Owner: 3914 N. Lincoln

Permit Description: Demolition of a three-story masonry building.

#100937432

Date Received: 01/13/2022

Ward: 2nd Ald. Brian Hopkins

Applicant: 2300 Crystal Development

Owner: Luba Mjkhaylova

Permit Description: Demolition of a 3-story masonry church building.

#100946230

Date Received: 12/3/2021

Ward: 40th Ald. Andre Vasquez

Applicant: Alpine Demolition Services, LLC

Owner: Doris Eneamokwu

Permit Description: Opening of closed existing windows, install new window frame and glazing, repair existing glazed brick as needed (tuckpointing) [removal of ornamental masonry panel]

"As of September 2, 2021 it seems that the beautiful terra cotta face that has looked down over Devon Avenue for more than 100 years is no more. No one is quite sure what happened, but there was scaffolding on the building and someone was chipping away at it in the morning, and it was gone by the afternoon. And the Assyrian American Association name is no longer on the building either.

"The New Devon Theater, with its distinctively austere glazed block façade featuring a large arch and a large bust of a woman’s face, was built in 1912, and was quickly eclipsed by the nearby Ellantee Theater. It disappears from news listings after October, 1917.

"By 1923 it had been converted to a Ford dealership. By 1936 it had become an American Legion hall. In the 1950s it operated as a radio and TV store. Since 1963, it has served Chicago’s Assyrian community as the home of the Assyrian American Association of Chicago." Cinema Treasures.org

Address: 1535 N. Maplewood Ave., Humboldt Park

#100898128

Date Received: 11/23/2021

Ward: Ward: 1st Ward Daniel La Spata

Applicant: Soma Design Consultants, Inc. C/O Bryan W. Hudson

Owner: Greg Fordon

Permit Description: Partial demolition of a two-story, masonry residential building to accommodate a third-floor addition.

#100945948

Date Received: 10/26/2021

Ward: 43rd Ald. Michele Smith

Applicant: Quality Excavation Inc. C/O Anne Quinn

Owner: Patrick Nash

Permit Description: Wreck and removal of the three-story, masonry residential building and a frame garage.

#100934954

Date Received: 10/01/2021

Applicant: Thomas Montgomery

Owner: Sam Brashler

Permit Description: Wreck and removal of the existing roof structure on a two-story, masonry residential building, to accommodate the construction of a new rooftop addition

“It’s an old, common cry in a city where demolition and development are often spoken in the same breath, and where trying to save historic homes from the wrecking ball can feel as futile as trying to stop the snow. My Twitter feed teems with beautiful houses doomed to vanish in the time it takes to say ‘bulldozed.’ Bungalows, two-flats, three-flats, greystones, workers’ cottages. The photos, posted by people who lament the death of Chicago’s tangible past, flit through my social media feed like a parade of the condemned en route to the guillotine,” mused Mary Schmich in her Chicago Tribune column on July 12, 2018.

1714 W. 19th St, Little Village. Demolished February 2022. Photo Credit: Google Maps

"Back in December, Gov. J.B. Pritzker executed a spin move that would have scored well in an Olympic competition for policy shifts. After months of talking down the prospects for the state-owned Thompson Center in the Loop, suggesting it was good for nothing but a teardown, he accepted a proposal to not only save the building but for the state to still own about 30% of it.

"Preservationists loved the move, as did those who, regardless of how they viewed the architecture, liked the sustainability of using what’s already there. The deal got the state out of a financial tangle. And it promises a shot in the arm for a part of the Loop that needs it — provided that Pritzker’s chosen developer, Michael Reschke, can pull off his end of the bargain.

"The Thompson Center is a critical piece of the central Loop, that part of the main business district that centers on La Salle Street, long the city’s financial hub. La Salle is full of distinguished buildings, with the street seeming to cut through cliffs of limestone and terra cotta that stop at the Chicago Board of Trade Building at Jackson Boulevard. It’s a classic urban vista.

"But it’s facing capitalism’s version of climate change. Business anchors such as BMO Harris and Bank of America are moving elsewhere downtown, drawn to high-rise views and naming rights on buildings. Financial exchanges don’t draw physical crowds of traders anymore. And some regard the office space as too outmoded for today’s needs. Sources say the vacancy rate around La Salle Street is 20% or more for both offices and retail.

"The Thompson Center, occupying the full block at La Salle, Clark, Randolph and Lake streets, threatened to deaden the area further. Pritzker’s pirouette kept it from sitting empty. Reschke, chairman of Prime Group, insists the building, costing him $70 million to buy but much more to fix up, can lead a La Salle revival.

He’s had time to analyze what he agreed to purchase. Reschke said he hopes to close on the sale with the state this summer and to start the expensive overhaul in the fall. His remarks betray no buyer’s remorse.

"'We’ve been getting a lot of interest in this building. We are very excited about its prospects,' he said last week. 'People are starting to realize the benefits of a central Loop location again,' he said. Those would include superior transit access. The building itself is the L’s hub, with six transit lines stopping there. Reschke said when businesses shop for space, “it’s really not so much about [rental] rate, believe it or not. It’s the intangibles, the transit, the air purification systems. Employers are more concerned about conveniences and amenities, anything that makes for a cool, nice environment.”

"Sometimes, all it takes is one flashy project to make an area fashionable again. People love or hate the Thompson Center, but if it powers the central Loop’s turnaround, it will have earned the right to be called a landmark." (Roeder, Chicago Sun-Times, 3/14/22)

"We applaud the city’s proposal to kick in $20 million to help fund a major restoration of Logan Square’s Congress Theater.

"But we’re also watching with interest what could be a compelling follow-up act: an effort to bring new life to the South Side’s grand, but long-dormant, Avalon Regal Theater.

"The Cook County Land Bank Authority purchased the back taxes on the 95-year-old Moorish Revival theater, 1645 E. 79th St., within the last two weeks, the Sun-Times Editorial Board has learned. The agency would own the property for the next three years while Chicago officials put together a redevelopment plan for the 2,250-seat theater.

"If successful, the redevelopment of the Congress and Avalon Regal theaters would represent a remarkable sea change in Chicago’s attitude toward its classic former movie theaters. The city built some of the nation’s finest movie theaters between 1910 and 1930 — then callously wrecked almost all of them when the venues began falling into disuse in the closing decades of the 20th Century.

"The Avalon Regal Theater, built in 1927, was designed by architect John Eberson, who gave the building Middle Eastern architectural details — inside and out — inspired by an intricate metal Persian incense burner he found in a Royal Street antique store in New Orleans’s French Quarter. The theater hosted movies and live shows before closing and being converted into a church in the 1970s.

"The theater went though a series of owners after the Gardners, the last being entrepreneur Jerald Gary, who rebranded the venue as the Avalon Regal and admirably kept the unused building in the public eye for a decade.

"Gary fought to reopen the theater while struggling with the crumbling venue’s near-monumental maintenance — but falling behind on its real estate taxes, which allowed the Cook County Land Bank Authority to seek ownership. Gary can still pay the back taxes within six months and win back ownership of the building, however. And let’s not kid ourselves: Putting the Avalon Regal back into use will be an expensive proposition.

"'The [Avalon Regal] theater is a strategic part of a broad, community-based vision to revitalize the 79th Street commercial corridor through Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s INVEST South/West initiative,' city Department of Planning Commissioner Maurice Cox said.

"When downtown theaters such as the United Artist’s, the McVickers, the Clark and others began falling in the 1970s and 1980s, the equally-doomed Chicago Theater was spared — with city help — and is a jewel of the Loop.

"The city’s few remaining neighborhood theater buildings such as the Avalon Regal, the Congress, the Ramova — not to mention North Lawndale’s Central Park, which was listed Wednesday on Preservation Chicago’s annual most-endangered buildings list — deserve the same positive ending." (Chicago Sun-Times Editorial Board, 3/9/22)

"The world’s first modern skyscraper was erected in Chicago in 1885. Now, the city’s skyline shares space with an array of architectural styles from Late Modernism to Millennium Modern and the Chicago School. At the neighborhood level, it’s common to see Prairie School houses, as well as workers cottages and Chicago bungalows.

"No matter where you call home, every building has a story. 'Learning the history of your home can help you to appreciate it more deeply, helping you to place it within a larger story about Chicago,' says Max Chavez, director of research and special projects for Preservation Chicago, a not-for-profit organization committed to protecting and revitalizing Chicago’s historic architecture and urban spaces.

"Interested in learning about your Chicago home? Learn about the resources available throughout the city and online with advice from the city’s experts.

"'A homeowner's first step involves assembling the tools and terms they need to search their home's history,' says Chavez.

"This includes the present-day address and former addresses. Depending on the home’s age, it’s possible the street name could have been changed. If the home was built before 1909, the year Chicago city planners renumbered many streets, your home may have also had a different number. You should also note the property’s PIN number, which you can easily find on Cook County's Map Application.

"The bulk of Chicago’s urban area was constructed before 1920. Fortunately, the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) has digitized the microfilm rolls of the 'ancient' building permits, which are free to peruse online. The Chicago History Museum is another resource that allows visitors to view their microfilm rolls and get help from their research librarians.

"The Chicago Public Library offers a collection of historic maps that are available online and searchable by address, which means some research can be done from the comfort of your home. 'All you need is a library card,' says Emily Wallrath Schmidt, preservation program manager at the Chicago Bungalow Association, which equips homeowners with energy efficiency programs and educational resources to maintain and preserve their homes and neighborhoods.

"Wallrath Schmidt’s favorite resource is The Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps. 'Most neighborhoods have editions from at least the 1920s and ’50s, so you can see how your building and neighborhood changed,' she explains. 'In addition to showing the footprint of the building, because they were insurance maps concerned with flammability, they also detail building materials.'

"Another essential tool, according to Chavez, is the Chicago Historic Resources Survey. 'It is searchable by street, year of construction, architect, style, and neighborhood and can help fill in some of the gaps during research.' He also suggests looking up Chicago museums, local historical societies, and preservation organizations. 'Places like the Chicago History Museum, the Newberry Library, and the Art Institute all have extensive records and archives that can be accessed by the public,' he says.

"Newspapers.com, an online collection of decades of easily searchable newspaper scans, is another popular search tool. From construction announcements to obituaries, newspapers can provide all sorts of clues about the history associated with a certain address.

"The beauty of learning the history of your home is discovering some of the stories connected to your home.

"'As a preservation organization, we are always helping Chicagoans who have uncovered fascinating histories and want to dig deeper,' says Chavez. One such story involves the Phyllis Wheatley Home, which was included on Preservation Chicago’s 2021 list of Most Endangered Sites in the city. 'The owner had no idea of its extensive history as a settlement for Black women during the Great Migration when she purchased it, and now it's a confirmed part of Chicago's rich Black history,' he shares.” (Karydes, Billdr, 3/3/22)

"From the 1920s through the 1950s, Chicago's South Side was the center for African-American culture and business. Known as "'Bronzeville,' the neighborhood was surprisingly small, but at its peak more than 300,000 lived in the narrow, seven-mile strip.

"Chicago's black population stretched along 22nd to 63rd streets between State Street and Cottage Grove. But the pulsing energy of Bronzeville was located at the crowded corners of 35th and State Street and 47th Street and South Parkway Boulevard (later renamed Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive). At those intersections, people came to see and be seen, shop, conduct business, dine and dance, and experience this bustling black metropolis. The crowds reflected the diverse mix of people living in the black belt: young and old, poor and prosperous, professionals and laborers.

"Bronzeville was well known for its nightclubs and dance halls. The jazz, blues, and gospel music that developed with the migration of Southern musicians attracted scores of diverse listeners and admirers. In the 1920s, the Regal Theater opened its doors and hosted the country's most talented and glamorous black entertainers. The community was also home to many prominent African-American artists and intellectuals, including dancer Katherine Dunham, sociologist Horace Clayton, journalist and social activist Ida B. Wells, jazz man Louis Armstrong, author Richard Wright, and poet Gwendolyn Brooks.

"Bronzeville's businesses and community institutions Provident Hospital, the Wabash YMCA, the George Cleveland Hall Library, Parkway Community House, the Michigan Boulevard Garden Apartments, Binga Bank, Overton Hygienic Company were more than alternatives to racially restricted establishments downtown. They were pillars of the community which helped to instill pride and contribute to the upward mobility of African Americans.

"But Bronzeville fell into decline after the end of racially restricted housing. Upper and middle class families moved away, and over-population and poverty overwhelmed the neighborhood. Today, black heritage tours guide visitors to the nine architectural landmarks that remain from the historic community, while neighborhood groups and business interests continue to work toward rebuilding the 'city within a city' that was once a national center of urban African-American commerce and art." (WTTW Interactive: Bronzeville: The Black Metropolis)

Join IIT and the Mies van der Rohe Society for Mies' 136 Birthday Celebration

Join the Mies van der Rohe Society and Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture to celebrate Mies’ 136th birthday and our successful fundraising efforts to rebuild the South Porch and steps of S.R. Crown Hall. Architect T. Gunny Harboe, FAIA, will talk about the current stage of the project. Enjoy a red carpet style cocktail party and mix and mingle with fellow alums and friends.

The Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize exhibit will be on display with thought provoking architectural projects from North, South, and Central America. Founded in 2012, this biennial award at Illinois Tech recognizes excellence in built works of architecture in the Americas.

Venetia Stifler and Concert Dance Inc. will perform a brief dance piece at the South Porch as a crescendo to Dirk Lohan’s yearly toast to his grandfather, Mies. Lohan is a trustee emeritus and alum at Illinois Tech, a founding member of the Mies Society, and a fellow of the American Institute of Architects.

Thursday, March 24, 2022

6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

S. R. Crown Hall, 3360 South State Street

Tickets are $100 and $25 for students (ticket price includes a one-year membership to the Mies van der Rohe Society.)

“The Mies van der Rohe Society is dedicated to preserving Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s legacy and maintaining the architectural integrity of his buildings at Illinois Institute of Technology, enhancing educational programs for the students, and reinforcing Chicago’s international reputation for architectural distinction.”

Conversations Around the Studio series begins March 20, 2022

The series kicks-off with a talk about the pioneering House of Tomorrow at the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago and the Keck brothers’ Solar Homes.

Elmhurst Art Museum's Exhibition Manager, Sarah Cox, shares how the exhibition 'Houses of Tomorrow: Solar Homes from Keck to Today' came together. She'll discuss how the House of Tomorrow shaped the careers of George and William Keck, sharing some of their innovations in midcentury single-family homes and the new generation of builders they inspired.

Sun, March 20, 2022

1:00 PM – 2:30 PM

$10

Location: Schweikher House Preservation Trust, 645 Meacham Road, Schaumburg, IL 60193

"The virtual exhibit tour, hosted by WTTW's Geoffrey Baer, offers a fascinating look at 100+ works and documents that cover Bill Mauldin’s life and work for the Chicago Sun Times. Mauldin, an award-winning cartoonist documented and satirized military and political affairs, often featuring important figures like Robert F. Kennedy, Mayor Daley, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., several U.S. presidents and his famous military characters, Willie and Joe.

"Get a fresh, virtual take on our latest exhibit without leaving the comfort of your home!

"Welcome to the Pritzker Military Museum & Library’s newest exhibition, Drawn to Combat: Bill Mauldin & The Art of War, a retrospective of the provocative work by two-time Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist Bill Mauldin about our nation’s time of war, civil rights, and social justice.

"Explore Mauldin’s largest collection featuring 150 framed drawings and published cartoons, as well as personal material from his exceptional career including his Pulitzer Prize awards, fan letters, and Purple Heart medal. #WhoIsBillMauldin

"Learn more and purchase your exhibit tickets ahead of time here:"

"What happens when a building slips through a crack in time? Leftover from an extinct era and useless in modern society, the Uptown Theatre has done just that. Closed in 1981, the 85-year old movie palace has sat in decay on Chicago's North Side. This film explores the history of the Uptown and why the biggest and arguably most elaborate movie theatre in the country has been left vacant for almost thirty years. Is the Uptown a stoic remnant of the long-forgotten past, or is it, as Rapp & Rapp remarked when they built it, a theatre 'not for today, but for all time'?"

"For decades, Chicago was home to some of America’s grandest department stores. Clustered along a mile-long stretch of State Street, stores like Marshall Field’s; Carson, Pirie, Scott; Sears; Wieboldt’s; Montgomery Ward’s; and Goldblatt’s set new standards for retail innovation, customer service and visual display. Generations of Chicagoans trekked to these stores for holiday shopping, celebrations, and fun.

"Within thirty years of the Great Chicago Fire, the revitalized city was boasting some of America's grandest department stores. The retail corridor on State Street was a crowded canyon of innovation and inventory where you could buy anything from a paper clip to an airplane. Revisit a time when a trip downtown meant dressing up for lunch at Marshall Field's Walnut Room, strolling the aisles of Sears for Craftsman tools or redeeming S&H Green Stamps at Wieboldt's. Whether your family favored The Fair, Carson Pirie Scott, Montgomery Ward or Goldblatt's, you were guaranteed stunning architectural design, attentive customer service and eye-popping holiday window displays. Lavishly illustrated with photographs, advertisements, catalogue images and postcards, Leslie Goddard's narrative brings to life the Windy City's fabulous retail past."

"In this illustrated lecture, historian and author Leslie Goddard, Ph.D., revisits Chicago’s fabulous retail emporiums and explores their rise and fall."

176 pages, 95 color plates

$21.99.00 paper

"Wrightwood 659 is pleased to announce the virtual release the Schiller/Garrick Theatre Visualization which premiered at Wrightwood 659 as a key element of the exhibition Romanticism to Ruin, the Two Lost Works of Sullivan and Wright. Working under the guidance of John Vinci and Angela Demma, with new drawings by Vinci along with reference photos, drawings and sketches from the Richard Nickel collection as well as insights into coloration discovered during the preparation of this exhibition, Bangladeshi architectural animator Razin Khan spent the better part of a year 'rebuilding' the Garrick as a virtual 3D model, providing the most overwhelming approximation of the experience of the structure to date. Khan’s spectacular animation allows viewers to relive one of Louis Sullivan’s most spectacular works."

"In Chicago, black or silver colored towers designed by Mies van der Rohe are sprinkled across the city from the north to the south. They all sprang up within a relatively short period of time and constitute — in combination with some faithful homages — what’s called the Second Chicago School of Architecture. This timeline makes it seem like Mies' strategies sprang out of nowhere and like they were born already fully developed. This video takes a look at how these tower strategies evolved from smaller projects to larger ones by paying special attention to their section. Whereas open plans promise ultimate fluidity, in section, Mies' buildings present another idea entirely. In this direction, difference and discretion dominate and symmetry rules. All of this is in service of developing a close connection between the occupant and the distant horizon.

__Chapters__

"Architect Helmut Jahn’s kaleidoscopic, controversial State of Illinois Center in Chicago, which shocked the world when it opened in 1985, may not be long for this world. Today the building is a run down rusty shadow of its former self, occupying a lucrative downtown block and deemed expendable by the cash-strapped state legislature.

"Despite initial construction flaws and hefty refurbishment costs, this singular architectural vision of an open, accessible, and inspiring civic building—defined by its iconic, soaring atrium--remains intact. Four years after the stinging loss of brutalist icon Prentice Women’s Hospital, Chicago preservationists, along with the building’s original champion, Governor James R. Thompson, are gearing up for a major battle to save the city’s most provocative architectural statement."

Includes interviews with:

Watch Starship Chicago: A Film by Nathan Eddy (15:50 Minutes)

"At Home In Chicago; A Living History of Domestic Architecture by Patrick F. Cannon and photos by James Caulfield

"Imagine a book that takes you into more than fifty of Chicago’s most striking homes. No need to knock or ring. Here’s your chance to take a slow ramble through lavish dining rooms, working kitchens, private bedrooms, and cozy patios of homes that reveal the city’s 184-year history.

"You’ll be accompanied by an experienced docent. And you’ll join Chicago’s preeminent architectural photographer, who will show you things you might never notice.

"Open your eyes and take in At Home in Chicago: A Living History of the Domestic Architecture, the first comprehensive look at the city’s most private residences. You’ve probably heard of some of these places: Frank Lloyd Wright’s sleek Robie House, Mies van der Rohe’s groundbreaking 860-880 Lake Shore Drive, Jeanne Gang’s sublime Aqua Tower. But most are off limits from Chicago’s famous architectural tours.

"At Home in Chicago is the sixth book by Patrick F. Cannon and James Caulfield. Now they focus on Chicago’s domestic architecture: the log cabins, cottages and bungalows, greystones, three-flats and mansions. The houses that made Chicago.

"The authors travel across the metropolitan region to present an eye-opening look at the city’s 200-year history through different home styles. They inspect houses built before the 1871 Great Chicago Fire, walk through the mansions that rose during the Gilded Age, check out the apartments finished before the Depression, and scrutinize mid-century and new-century homes.

"At Home in Chicago tells an astonishing story about Chicago. It reveals the city’s history through a chronological procession of dwellings―both big and small. These homes show how we lived and how we continue to live in the place we call home."