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The Preservation Chicago 2023 Chicago 7 Most Endangered presentation was presented to a hybrid audience, both live in-person audience and a simultaneous virtual audience of approximately 400 people on March 8, 2023. The in-person audience was comprised of reporters, funders, board members, preservation partners, staff and Chicago Architecture Center members at the Chicago Architecture Center's Joan & Gary Gand Lecture Hall. We anticipate that this hybrid format, with live in-person audience and live virtual simulcast will become the standard moving forward as it allows maximum attendance and flexibility.

Ward Miller's 2023 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. This year’s Chicago 7 is dedicated to the memory of Chicago philanthropist Richard H. Driehaus, and Pauline Saliga, former Executive Director of the Society of Architectural Historians.

The Chicago 7 Most Endangered 2023 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.

Since 2003, the ‘Chicago 7 Most Endangered’ has sounded the alarm on imminently threatened historic buildings and community assets in Chicago to mobilize the stakeholder support necessary to save them from demolition.

In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Chicago 7 Most Endangered program, a brief retrospective will highlight notable wins and losses. "Once a Chicago 7, always a Chicago 7," until its saved or lost. See all past Chicago 7 at Preservation Chicago's website.

“Despite seemingly impossible odds, the public interest generated by the Chicago 7, coupled with devoted advocacy, has resulted in a remarkable number of preservation victories over the 20 years,” said Ward Miller, Executive Director of Preservation Chicago.

“The very identity of Chicago is tied to our historic buildings and the stories they tell,” said Eleanor Esser Gorski, CEO of the Chicago Architecture Center. “These are the architecturally and culturally significant structures and spaces that give our city its character. By partnering with Preservation Chicago, we’re spotlighting some of the most urgent issues facing our historic built environment today, and we are honored to host our friends for this much anticipated annual announcement.”

Founded in 2001, Preservation Chicago is a non-profit organization devoted to leveraging the power of Chicago’s historic built environment to create, nurture, and protect healthy, vibrant, diverse, and sustainable communities. From ‘lost cause’ to ‘celebrated landmark,’ Preservation Chicago has become a powerful agent of change and our impact continues to tangibly and significantly make Chicago a better city.

Preservation Chicago is committed to strengthening the vibrancy of Chicago’s economy and quality of life by championing our historic built environment. Preservation Chicago protects and revitalizes Chicago’s irreplaceable architecture, neighborhoods and urban green spaces. Through advocacy, outreach, education and partnership, we influence stakeholders to pursue creative reuse and preservation-sensitive outcomes.

The Preservation Chicago 2023 "Chicago 7 Most Endangered" Full Video (Length 3:58) Image credit: Preservation Chicago

The Preservation Chicago 2023 Chicago 7 Most Endangered Video Short (Length 1:00) Image credit: Preservation Chicago

20 Years of the Chicago 7: Incredible Wins, Tragic Losses, and Those Still Endangered. (Length 5:45) Image credit: Preservation Chicago

The Full Announcement and Presentation of the Preservation Chicago 2023 "Chicago 7 Most Endangered" (Length: 64 Minutes) Image credit: Chicago Architecture Center

In 1975, nightlife organizer Robert Williams purchased the commercial warehouse building at 206 S. Jefferson Street with hopes to transform it into a nightclub comparable to the best dancefloors in New York City. After a two year of renovation and with one of best sound system available, the Warehouse opened as a three-level nightclub. A membership-only venue, the Warehouse became wildly popular, initially with Chicago’s Gay Black community as a place of dancefloor liberation, and later become popular for a wide range of Chicagoans.

Prior to the opening of The Warehouse, Williams recruited his friend and fellow New York City nightlife figure, Frankie Knuckles, to be the club’s resident DJ. Knuckles spent the next five years honing a new style: a revolutionary dance sound that blended disco, electronic, soul, and gospel music. The Warehouse became known in Chicago as one of the best places to hear this developing sound which later took its name from the nightclub itself, and ultimately become known as “house music.”

From The Warehouse at 206 S. Jefferson Street, house music quickly spread across the globe. It emerged as one of the biggest and most successful genres in music for decades to come and became the basis for countless pop hits and revolutionizing how music sounded forever. Knuckles became a world-renowned producer due to the fame earned from his time developing house music at The Warehouse. His groundbreaking impact, as well as the overall impact of the house sound, on the world of music was deep and lasting. Outside of The Warehouse’s important place in music history, it is also a notable site of Black Gay history, a significant heritage whose commemoration that has often been overlooked within the built environment.

The Warehouse is located in the West Loop where teardowns of historic industrial structures have been occurring at a rapid pace. When the structure recently sold in December 2022, the listing noted both the building’s history and the opportunity to clear the site for new development. The new ownership has been unresponsive to persistent outreach by Preservation Chicago.

Despite its extraordinary significance to Chicago music and cultural history, The Warehouse has no protections against alteration or demolition. Preservation Chicago urges the City of Chicago to take urgent steps to initiate Chicago Landmark Designation to fully recognize and protect this highly significant site of Chicago music history. The Warehouse should be protected as a symbol of the rich history of Chicago’s Black Gay community, the incredible story of house music, and the groundbreaking impact that Frankie Knuckles had on the sound of modern music today.

"The Commission on Chicago Landmarks voted unanimously on Thursday to recommend that City Council designate Promontory Point as a city landmark; a decision met with jubilation from preservation advocates and city officials alike.

"For more than 22 years community members have organized around preserving the Point’s limestone stair-step revetment from both lakefront erosion and city-proposed demolition. In the past, the city has proposed replacing the park’s stone perimeter with concrete and steel, as has been done along the rest of Chicago’s lakeshore; these proposals have routinely been met with considerable pushback.

"City landmarking means that the Commission on Chicago Landmarks will review any proposed alteration, demolition or new construction at the Point. Effectively, landmarking establishes an overlay of local oversight and scrutiny of the project's design and construction, which must follow the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties as provided through the National Historic Preservation Act.

"The Promontory Point Conservancy, a nonprofit that advocates for the park’s preservation, particularly the limestone, celebrated the unanimous vote in a statement on Thursday. 'The stage is now set for the City (CDOT), the Chicago Park District and the U.S. Army Corps to work openly with the community to fix the historic limestone revetment at the Point instead of destroying it. There is now a shared, common preservation language … for a common, shared plan for fixing the historic limestone revetment.'

"Other meeting attendees, including Ald. Leslie Hairston (5th), representatives of Preservation Chicago and Landmarks Illinois, alongside commissioners shared the good spirits.

"'The community, you just kept showing up, and it's made all the difference,' said Commissioner Suellen Burns. 'This is one of the best examples I've seen of folks coming together. Finding common ground and achieving something that will really be extraordinary.'

"Jack Spicer, co-founder of the Promontory Point Conservancy opened his statement with, 'As Mr. Rogers would say, 'It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.' We've waited so long for this.'

"Spicer then said, 'I just wanted to be really clear to everybody that for 23 long, long years (Ald. Hairston) has supported the community in their efforts to save the limestone revetment at Promontory Point. She's going to be ending her aldermanic career soon and this is a high note for that to end on.' (Monaghan, Hyde Park Herald, 3/9/23)

Preservation Chicago applauds the Promontory Point Conservancy for their dedicated advocacy effort to 'Save the Point". Preservation Chicago has been working closely with the Promontory Point Conservancy to request to the Chicago Commission on Landmarks to designate Promontory Point as a Designated Chicago Landmark. Promontory Point Conservancy is responsible for the extensive report by preservation consultant Julia Bachrach detailing the historical significance of the Point which clearly established the need for Chicago Landmark designation.

There has been strong support for saving the Point from elected officials including Alderman Leslie Hairston, Cook County Commissioner William Lowry, State Representative Curtis Tarver, State Senator Robert Peters, and U.S. Representative Robin Kelly. Mayor Lori Lightfoot issued a statement for the restoration of Promontory Point. In addition to Preservation Chicago, other organizations in support include Hyde Park Historical Society, Landmarks Illinois, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Friends of the Parks, Openlands Chicago, and the Cultural Landscape Foundation.

"A long-stalled effort to build high-end offices on the site of the century-old Washington Park National Bank building in Woodlawn has received a multimillion-dollar boost from the city.

"Developer Revive 6300’s project to build more than 60,000 square feet of office space at 6300 S. Cottage Grove Ave. received a $5 million community development grant, city officials announced last week. The development plans also call for a rooftop deck with skyline views, public art installations, ground-floor dining and other retail options. The project is estimated to cost $40 million.

"The development will bring the first new Class A office space to communities south of the University of Chicago in decades, said Leon Walker, managing partner of DL3 Realty.

"The Cook County Land Bank bought the Washington Park National Bank building in 2017. At the time, the building had accumulated about $3.7 million in unpaid taxes over a quarter-century of being empty.

"The land bank approved DL3’s proposal to redevelop the property in 2019. But the parties didn’t close on a sale at the time, and they have spent the past four years grappling with issues like flooding in the existing structure, uncertainty over Opportunity Zone regulations and the pandemic.

"'We have signed a purchase and sale agreement, and it’s fully executed by the land bank board' Walker said this week. 'We have our deposits and were waiting to get some of this city funding in place before closing.'

"The limestone façade on the 99-year-old building will be preserved and renovated, but the rest of the structure will be demolished and rebuilt due to roof, flooding and masonry damage and other issues. The developers previously planned to demolish the entire building.

"The land bank’s 2018 structural assessment report found “the existing framing system of the building is structurally sound, intact, and still in good condition.”

"'We were able to adapt the development plan so that it preserves what the community saw as an attractive — though it’s not historic — but an attractive structure for many,' Walker said. 'They wanted to have that preserved, and we were able to do that.' (Evans, Block Club Chicago, 2/16/23)

Preservation Chicago is thrilled by this successful outcome. We have long urged DL3 Real Estate, the Cook County Land Bank Authority and other stakeholders to preserve and reuse this historic building. The Washington Park National Bank Building is an important neighborhood anchor on a commercial corridor that has seen the tragic loss of many important buildings. It is essential for the long-term reinvestment and prosperity of this commercial district that this historic building be preserved and redeveloped. The building is linked to the Chicago Race Riots of 1919 and is one of the few structures still standing which witnessed this tragic event on the long march towards equality and social justice.

"Judy Blatherwick and her family put in decades of work restoring their graceful, Italianate wood-frame home in Lincoln Park, but after selling the nearly 150-year-old building to a local real estate titan, it now faces demolition.

"'There has been a lot of love put into this house, and it’s a living, breathing piece of Chicago history,' the 79-year-old said. 'Tearing it down will leave a gaping hole in the streetscape.”

"She can’t hide her sorrow over the possibility her home will be demolished to make a side yard or new mansion, and the loss of so much work and history. She and her husband, who passed away in 2010, spent years replenishing the interior, finding new mouldings, replacing window casings discarded by previous owners and painting it in vibrant colors

"The home at 2240 N. Burling St., part of the national Sheffield Historic District, is one of the few remaining wood-frame homes built in the aftermath of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.

The building’s new owner is Thaddeus Wong, Blatherwick’s neighbor for many years and the co-CEO of @properties | Christie’s International Real Estate, one of the nation’s largest residential real estate firms. He filed for a demolition permit in November, but city officials nearly three decades ago gave 2240 N. Burling an orange rating, reserved for properties that may be historically significant, and that put a 90-day hold on the permit.

"In the meantime, Preservation Chicago launched a petition drive to save the home, garnering more than 2,000 signatures, and plan to ask the Commission on Chicago Landmarks at its Feb. 9 meeting to either further delay the demolition or make 2240 a local landmark, hopefully saving it for future generations.

"'It’s a unique building, finely crafted and detailed,' said Ward Miller, executive director of Preservation Chicago. 'It represents what the city looked like before and just after the Chicago Fire.'

"The possible teardown fits a pattern seen across Lincoln Park, according to preservationists. Longtime residents sell out, and new owners, frequently very wealthy, demolish and replace old properties with imposing mega-mansions or use the spaces as side yards. Hundreds of homes were lost this way in recent decades, including ones with orange ratings. And unless more protection is offered, perhaps by making the entire district a local landmark, advocates say the neighborhood will lose the elegance that attracts so many eager buyers, as well as its few remaining affordable units.

"'There just aren’t that many wood-based houses like 2240, mostly because, for obvious reasons, wood construction became less common after the Chicago Fire, but this is not just about the architectural significance of an individual house,' said Landmarks Illinois Advocacy Manager Kendra Parzen. 'We’d really like to see a more complete solution for the district, because right now, the same house-by-house fight keeps happening over and over again.'

"The Sheffield historic district, first created in the 1970s and later expanded, now covers most of Lincoln Park between Lincoln Avenue on the east and Clybourn Avenue on the west, but the designation doesn’t provide protection to individual buildings, Parzen said. Between 1993 and 2019, more than 350 buildings, roughly one-third of its stock, were either demolished or significantly altered, often transformed from three-flats or other multifamily properties into single-family homes or new condominiums.

"Lincoln Central Association, the local community organization, is also fighting to save 2240 N. Burling. According to the organization’s December newsletter, its loss would continue a decadeslong process that led teachers, firemen and other service workers to leave the neighborhood.

"Mid-North Association President Melissa Macek said securing local landmark status for the neighborhood would provide more protection for vulnerable properties. She lives several blocks east in the Mid-North District, a local landmark area, and its 19th-century brick rowhouses, Queen Anne-style homes and several pre-Chicago Fire workers’ cottages are largely protected.

"'I want my daughter to be able to see all this architecture when she grows up,' she said. 'People need to raise their voices, otherwise it will be gone.'

"The Old Town home that innovative 20th-century architect Walter Netsch designed with a bold, unconventional floor plan of multiple levels and bands of skylights across the ceiling is going up for a rare type of landmarking this week.

"Mark Smithe and Will Forrest, who bought the house on Hudson Avenue in December 2014 from the estate of Dawn Clark Netsch, the architect’s widow, are going before the Commission on Chicago Landmarks on Jan. 12. They’re submitting the house, built in 1972, for landmark designation not only for the exterior, which is a common practice, but for the interior, which is not.

"'The interior is so remarkable that it’s worth preserving,' said Forrest, a senior partner at business consulting firm McKinsey. 'It’s inseparable from the exterior.' The men said they do not plan to sell the house anytime soon, but that they want to ensure its long-term protection now. 'It has a legacy we want to preserve,' Smithe said.

"Landmarking the interior of a public or publicly accessible building, such as the Palmer House Hilton downtown or the university-owned Frederick C. Robie House in Hyde Park, is not unusual, said Ward Miller, executive director of Preservation Chicago. Landmark designation comes with limitations on what about a structure can be changed and with what materials.

"The Netsch house 'is a unique situation,' Miller said, but because it’s being advocated by the property owners, he expects the Landmarks Commission will approve the designation. Commission staff and members do not comment publicly on proposed designations before the official meeting, but in the agenda, staff wrote that they recommend approving the couple's application for landmark designation. Miller suggested landmarking the Netsch interior 'maybe would start a trend.'

"Netsch designed the house for himself and his law professor wife, Dawn Clark Netsch, in the early 1970s when Old Town was an epicenter of hipness populated by, among others, bohemian retailers, comedy landmark Second City, and his fellow modernist architects. Dawn Clark Netsch went on to a career in politics, serving as the comptroller of Illinois and running for governor in 1994. She died in 2013, five years after her husband.

"Neighbors around the Netsch house worried it would be torn down because of its unusual features. Smithe and Forrest, who lived nearby, approached Dawn Clark Netsch’s executors about buying it. They paid $1.65 million for the house and have not disclosed what they spent on renovation.

"Miller said he hopes landmarking Netsch’s house, both exterior and interior, 'will open the door to landmarking midcentury homes in Old Town.' The Old Town Triangle district designation from 1977 enshrined the neighborhood’s structures from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but buildings from its hip heyday, designed by architects Stanley Tigerman, Bruce Graham and other less well-known modernists like the firm Bauhs & Dring, 'are worthy of preservation, too,' Miller said.” (Rodkin, Crain's Chicago Business, 1/10/23)

Preservation Chicago is thrilled about this wonderful preservation win. We testified in strong support of the Chicago Landmark designation of the Walter Netsch and Dawn Clark Netsch house. We have worked with the Old Town Triangle and other preservation partners for over six years towards the recognition and protection of Old Town's important collection of midcentury homes. We advocated for and helped research the Old Town Midcentury Context Statement which was authored by Terry Tatum before his passing. We further hope that the Chicago Landmark protections, for both interior and exterior, become more common for outstanding examples of Chicago's built heritage.

"Developers seeking the city’s blessing for projects to rejuvenate La Salle Street have gone public with detailed plans, their qualifications for the work and the level of public subsidies they want.

"In the important category of tax increment financing, the six developing teams collectively want $388 million in help for investments valued at $1.1 billion. Not all will get it; city officials said they will narrow the field to up to three chosen projects.

"All involve turning office space that’s vacant or outmoded into residences, with retail and other amenities added to make the traditional financial district more like a neighborhood.

"Some developers said they would try to add a grocer. All of them met a city mandate that at least 30% of new housing be affordable as defined by city ordinance.

"The most expensive project, both for its overall budget and its TIF request, involves the landmark Field Building at 135 S. La Salle St. Developers want $115 million in TIF money for a $258 million project to make the office behemoth into a mixed-use property with 430 residences.

"The program is 'seeking to make the heart of the Loop more resilient' and diverse, said Maurice Cox, commissioner of planning and development. Cox and the development teams commented on high vacancy levels throughout La Salle’s office and retail space. He has urged developers to think of ways to end the central Loop’s office 'monoculture.'" (Roeder, Chicago Sun-Times, 3/3/23)

Proposals were received for the following buildings"

30 N. La Salle

208 S. La Salle

135 S. La Salle

105 W. Adams (two separate proposals)

111 W. Monroe St.

"1535 N. Pulaski Road is no ordinary Chicago building. Modeled after 17th- and 18th-century Spanish Baroque style architecture, rising two stories with an ivory-colored, terra-cotta facade, the Pioneer Arcade building in Humboldt Park was once a hub for indoor recreational fun, a bowling and billiards hall that was operational for about 80 years.

"Now, the building’s ornate outsides have disguised its hollow insides since the early aughts, with more vacant years likely to come as redevelopment plans have stalled.

"The proposed project for the site is in jeopardy as Chicago’s Department of Housing has twice rejected the Hispanic Housing Development Corp.’s request for a financial letter of support to receive $1.5 million in low-income housing tax credits from the Illinois Housing Development Authority to construct 61 rental units of affordable senior housing.

"Without city support, the organization might have to leave a $6 million grant from Housing and Urban Development on the table, as well as the potential for an additional $24 million in federal rental subsidies to help the developer maintain affordability for the proposed building over a period of 40 years.

"The development corporation received a deadline extension from July 2023 to July 2024 from HUD for when it has to break ground on the project, and the group can receive only one more extension before the five-year time limit.

“We are dead in the water with the project,” said Hipolito “Paul” Roldan, president and CEO of the Hispanic Housing Development Corp. “We don’t know whether HUD would give us another extension on top of this, given the city has not expressed interest in supporting (our project).”

"The $6 million grant came from HUD’s Section 202 funding, money that is earmarked for supportive housing for low-income elderly residents. For HUD’s fiscal year 2020 funding round, 37 projects out of 132 applicants were selected for grants totaling around $150 million, with the Hispanic Housing Development Corp.’s project the only one in Illinois. (Kane, Chicago Tribune, 3/8/23)

"In its current state, the building’s exterior is mostly intact, with only very minor alterations to the main facade. On the interior, the bowling lanes and billiards hall have been significantly altered with no historic significance remaining. In an unusual circumstance, the building came before the commission with a redevelopment plan to demolish the back portion of the building and use the front section as part of a new development by Hispanic Housing Development Corporation.

"With UrbanWorks serving as the architect, the plan calls for the restoration, repair, and integration of the front 35 feet of the Pioneer Arcade, with the rear 85 feet set to be replaced with six stories of senior housing. This new addition will be setback significantly from the street and a new building planned for the vacant site south of the Pioneer Arcade will also be setback from the historic building for visual relief. The muted palette of the new design does not aim to compete with the Pioneer Arcade facade.

"The developers have received site plan approval from DPD under the property’s existing Planned Development and came to the Commission on Chicago Landmarks consenting to the designation. While a designation usually covers the entire building, there are precedents for the landmarking of a building where it is partially demolished for new construction." (Kugler, Urbanize Chicago, 11/8/22)

After over a decade of vacancy, the Pioneer Arcade received Final Chicago Landmark approval on December 8, 2022. This protection is long-overdue and essential to protect its beautiful ornate facade as part of an adaptive reuse project. The Pioneer Arcade was a Chicago 7 Most Endangered in 2015 and Preservation Chicago has made many attempts over the years to advocate on behalf of the building. We applaud the Chicago Department of Planning and Development for encouraging to the developer to pursue adaptive reuse and Chicago Landmark designation. We encourage the Chicago Department of Housing to prioritize this supportive housing redevelopment, especially since it is the only HUD Section 202 allocation in Illinois.

"A former alderman who leads a Humboldt Park cultural museum shielded key details about building an archives and storage facility in the park and repeatedly misrepresented the project to city and state officials, according to a new report from a local preservationist.

"The 16-page report by Mary Lu Seidel, director of community engagement with Preservation Chicago, details years of conflicting information about and problems surrounding the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts & Culture’s unauthorized expansion.

"Neighbors and preservationists sounded the alarm last year about the half-built cinder-block building that spouted up next to the museum, which is housed in one of the oldest-surviving structures in Humboldt Park: the landmarked receptory and stables building at 3015 W. Division St.

"Former Humboldt Park Ald. Billy Ocasio runs the museum, which was ordered to stop construction in October when city officials learned the project got underway without proper permits and approvals.

"Seidel reviewed hundreds of documents and records obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests. The report found museum leaders misrepresented the scope of the project and changed plans “with little or no input from the Humboldt Park community, people of Chicago or the Chicago Park District,” and even lied on a city permit application.

"In building the ancillary facility, the Humboldt Park museum “violat[ed] the rules, procedures and laws of every government institution it encountered,” Seidel wrote.

"Ocasio didn’t respond to requests for comment. He previously told Block Club “some honest mistakes were made” and the museum is working to correct any issues.

"The documents in the report date back to 2020, when Ocasio applied for a $750,000 state grant to build an 1,500-square-foot archives and storage facility next to the museum. Ocasio previously said the project is “very important” to the future of the institution.

"Documents show Ocasio failed to submit necessary paperwork and provided conflicting information to city and state agencies involved in that approvals process.

"'Every process was ignored, violated or skirted,' Seidel said in the report." (Bloom, Block Club Chicago, 2/23/23)

"No one, confronted with a Gordian knot of red tape just to relocate a driveway by a couple of feet, would imagine someone else building a monstrous boxy building on park district land without a building permit or written park district approval.

"But, then, this is Chicago.

"Near to the picturesque, historic and landmarked Humboldt Park Receptory and Stable Building, an ugly structure has unexpectedly sprung up like a mushroom after a rainstorm. Community members were not consulted. The building is far larger — and different — than called for in plans submitted to obtain a $750,000 grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Plans were not submitted to the Commission on Chicago Landmarks Permit Review Committee.

"Fortunately, the city has put a stop to construction for now. Good. No work should resume until all stakeholders have had a chance to examine construction plans — the real ones. If the stakeholders insist on a more architecturally-fitting building, or no building at all, that is what should happen. Circumventing the full approval process should not confer any kind of advantage.

"'The park district has told them to start over and create real architectural drawings by real experts and go through a formal process to see if it would pass muster,' Friends of the Parks Executive Director Juanita Irizzary told us.

"What’s happened here is surely not some kind of innocent mistake. Former Ald. Billy Ocasio is president and chief executive director of the highly regarded National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture, which is putting up the building as an adjunct to space it leases in the Humboldt Park Receptory and Stable. Ocasio knows the rules, or ought to.

"A full investigation is required on the process that allowed the start of construction on a structure that looks so far like a dismal Soviet-era government building. Originally described as an archival facility, the far-larger building actually appears to be some sort of event space, critics say.

"The lack of proper approvals raises concerns the building might not have been constructed in a safe manner, said Mary Lu Seidel, director of community engagement for Preservation Chicago.

"Redo the project in a way that enhances the park and city — or don’t do it at all." (Chicago Sun-Times Editorial Board, 2/14/23)

"Unable to secure financing from the city or the state, the developers that planned to build 120 units of affordable housing in an empty McKinley Park warehouse have given up and put the property up for sale.

"The $41 million project might have been well underway and maybe even finished by now if it wasn't for a stinky neighbor: a controversial asphalt plant around the corner. Worried about emissions from the MAT Asphalt plant, first city and then state officials denied funding for the development, which is all but impossible without tax credits and other government subsidies.

"With a big park across the street and strong demand for low-cost housing in the neighborhood, the proposed project at 2159 W. Pershing Road, called Parkview Lofts, held promise. But it got caught in the political crossfire between community activists, MAT's owner and the city, which had been facing a backlash for allowing the facility to open in 2018. Now, nearly four years after filing its development plans with the city, the owner of the building and one next door, at 2139 W. Pershing Road, has had enough and hired a broker to sell them.

"Parkview's developers argued that the asphalt plant posed no health threat, citing a consultant's study to back up their position. And former Ald. George Cardenas, 12th, who represented the neighborhood until December, supported the development.

"But Marisa Novara, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Housing, caved into pressure from "environmental justice warriors," said Tom Brantley, one of the developers. In August 2020, the Mayor Lori Lightfoot appointee rejected about $8 million in city funding for the affordable housing project.

"They just yanked the DOH funding out from underneath us," said Brantley, president of Downers Grove-based Fifth Avenue Capital Partners. "No one at DOH pointed to anything that said, 'Here's why we can't do this.'"

"After consulting with the Chicago Department of Public Health and the city's chief sustainability officer, 'DOH ultimately concluded that funding Parkview Lofts would directly contradict our mission and values due to the site's close proximity to an asphalt plant," a spokeswoman for the department wrote in an email. 'The proposed location of the 120-unit project would diminish the quality of life of the residents due to truck diesel and asphalt odors/emissions.

"Though the DOH denied funding for the project, concerns about its location didn't prevent the Chicago City Council from approving a zoning change for it in May 2021.

"By then, the developers had moved on to the Illinois Housing & Development Authority, agreeing on a funding package with the state agency that included about $19 million in Low Income Housing Tax Credits. But in mid-2022, the IHDA pulled its funding at the last minute, citing environmental concerns."

"Residents have raised numerous concerns about MAT Asphalt, built across from the community’s namesake park, but many of those same neighbors support the housing project and now are doubly upset.

"'Not only is MAT Asphalt harming our quality of life and our park, but now it’s obvious they are sabotaging the type of investment our neighborhood deserves,' said Robert Beedle, a member of Neighbors for Environmental Justice. 'It’s frustrating to keep hearing about Chicago’s commitment to investing in neighborhoods like ours, but when it comes down to it none of these plans or promises materialize.'" (Chase, Chicago Sun-Times, 8/28/20)

Preservation Chicago strongly support the adaptive reuse of 2159 W. Pershing Road as affordable housing. The negative environmental impact of the MAT Asphalt plan is well documented. It was opened without public notice or public meetings in 2018 and has been operating without a permit since 2019. The City of Chicago should close the MAT Asphalt plant and allow developers and tens of millions of redevelopment dollars to revive the long vacant Central Manufacturing District.  (Gallun, Crain's Chicago Business, 3/6/23)

"Make a list of the city’s most historically important places and the buildings of the old Central Manufacturing District in the McKinley Park neighborhood probably wouldn’t make the cut. But they should. We’d be a different city had it not been for the CMD, among the country’s first industrial parks.

"The early 20th Century brick, limestone and terra cotta buildings formed a hard-working, well-designed mile-long backbone down Pershing Road between Ashland and Western avenues. And from 1905 through the 1960s, thousands of CMD workers from 252 companies helped supply the nation with everything from furniture to chewing gum. During the district’s salad days, players there included Goodyear Tire, Westinghouse and an assortment of others, including food processors, drug makers, oil refiners and furniture makers who made use of the shared costs of services provided by the CMD.

"The CMD represented a great deal of Chicago’s early industrial, economic and architectural might. But you wouldn’t know that by looking at the district today. The CMD has been largely uninhabited in recent decades, leaving many of these important buildings in decay — unused and unprotected.

"But that could start to change this month as the Department of Planning and the McKinley Park community begin vetting proposals from three developers seeking to reuse the CMD’s easternmost building, a vacant 571,476-square-foot city-owned warehouse at 1769 W. Pershing Road.

"The three short-listed proposals include a $121 million plan from IBT Group to convert the warehouse into 120 units of mixed-income housing, along with 200,000 square feet of offices, plus retail and lab space.

"Meanwhile, in its $95 million proposal, LG Pershing Sound Studios promises to turn the warehouse into a 40,000-square-foot movie studio and 130,000 square feet of retail and commercial space. The plan includes additional studio space on the truck lot.

"The developer Quartermaster Outpost seeks to build a 75,000-square-foot movie studio on the truck lot while putting 425,000 square feet of business space in the warehouse. The $90 million plan includes building 40 mixed-income housing units on a top floor that would be added to the warehouse.

"The McKinley Park Development Council is among the community groups that helped pick the three developers and will aid in selecting the ultimate winner.

"'We’re looking for options that increase public access to the CMD — to make it pedestrian-friendly,” said the organization’s president, Kate Eakin. 'We want to be careful that it’s done well because it will set a standard for what comes next in the CMD,' she said." (Bey, Chicago Sun-Times, 2/4/23)

"Further details and renderings have been revealed for the finalist of the Central Manufacturing District RFP. Located at 1769 W Pershing Road in McKinley Park just west of the intersection with S Ashland Avenue, we last covered the project in January as the city narrowed it down to three finalists with mixed-use proposals featuring everything from housing to movie studios on the multi-site lot. The Chicago Department of Planning and Development is leading the selection process with the bids being presented earlier this week at a community meeting.

"Occupying 256 acres of land in the neighborhood, the Prairie-style complex is considered the nation’s first modern planned industrial district opening in 1905. Now the city’s RFP is hoping to repurpose the easternmost building holding 571,476 square feet of space along with the adjacent 3.2-acre site with a building as well, the following are the three bids in the order they were presented:

"IBT Group LLC - Proposing to redevelop only the main building of the complex and not the adjacent site, the proposal’s largest element is carving a massive new atrium into the 350-foot by 300-foot structure. The linear atrium would allow for sunlight to reach down all of the new office space and residential units that surround it with new balconies and foliage creating an active zone. This would be capped by a 105,000-square-foot green roof with a retail space for a cafe or office, playground, and massive running track over the adjacent two historical buildings.

"While not many other details were made public, if all three rooftops were converted to parks it would provide seven acres of land most likely open to the public. As for the program we can expect 50,000 square feet of retail, a 200,000-square-foot flex lab/office space and 120 residential units of which 24 will be affordable. The overall cost would be covered via $39-63 million in debt, $12-24 million in Historical Tax Credits, $18-30 million in C-PACE funding, and more, potential TIF funds are also expected.

"Outpost Studios LLC - Hoping to build a new creative mixed-use campus, the team is seeking to attract various production types while also providing affordable housing for actors and actresses. This would be achieved by a new rooftop addition holding 49 affordable residential units topped by solar panels and a rooftop park. For the ground floor a 50,000-square-foot flex space and public food hall on the ground floor is planned along with a food truck plaza along the main entry, which would boast a new entry gate sign.

"The second floor and above would focus on production with plenty of open workspace, set construction, and wardrobe workshop spaces along with large storage rooms for each. With the third to sixth floors containing sound recording studios, an animated video studio, medium studios ranging up to 15,000 square feet, large 20,000-square-foot studios and lounges as well. The adjacent building would also become a production studio, with the developers hoping to secure $12 million in TIF, $10 million in tax credits, and $50 million in debt among others to finance the development.

"Pershing Road Studios LLC - This team is proposing the most changes to the existing structure, demolishing around 300,000 square feet of the existing building while preserving the north and east sides to be repurposed. The roughly 228,000 square feet remaining would receive a new elevator core and have 13,500 square feet of commercial space added on the northern side topped by two floors of indoor parking holding 100 vehicles. The east side of the L would contain studio back of house space on the first three floors, with the full remaining footprint holding office space on the final two floors.

"The demolished area would be replaced by two large multi-story soundstages connected to the existing by a large multi-level 20,000-square-foot shop space. The grounds would hold 200 additional parking spaces and spots for 25 production trailers, with the adjacent building being completely demolished in exchange for four additional sound stages with air locks in between them. The high-tech filming spaces would benefit from Cinelease’s reputation as they operate other studios in California, New Mexico, Georgia, New York, and Pennsylvania." (Achong, Chicago YIMBY, 3/10/23)

"A project to transform a historical Bronzeville mansion into a digital archive center and members-only coworking hub for Black journalists and creators is finally moving forward.

"Obsidian Collection Founder Angela Ford is behind the $3.8 million plan for the famed Lu and Jorja Palmer mansion, 3654 S. King Drive.

"Ford received a $1.25 million loan to buy the mansion in April 2021 in hopes of a mid-2022 grand opening. But she struggled to get a hearing with the zoning board to change the property’s designation from residential to commercial, and she accused Ald. Sophia King (4th) of holding up progress.

"Now, the project is finally on the cusp of receiving City Council review. King introduced an ordinance Wednesday seeking a key zoning change for the mansion.

"Ford envisions a three-story facility where members can enjoy small bites and non-alcoholic beverages. Two apartment units on the top floor would serve visiting scholars, and the space would host events like film screenings and panel discussions.

"The Obsidian Collection recently entered a partnership with a university in London in which it’d host fellows and interns who would be scholars in residence, Ford said. The building would also be a physical home for Obsidian’s Black media archives, a venture Ford and her team launched in 2017 after starting it by organizing images from the Chicago Defender’s archives.

"The 135-year-old mansion was on Preservation Chicago’s 'Most Endangered Buildings' list four years ago after falling into disrepair. Completed in 1888 for Justice D. Harry Hammer, the mansion was bought by famed journalist Lu Palmer and his wife, Jorja, in 1976. Palmer remained in the house until his death in 2004.

"Ward Miller, Preservation Chicago executive director, has signaled his organization’s support for the effort, thanking Ford and her team for coming up with a creative way to keep the mansion in use.

"'We’re really excited to see this project move along. The building has been vacant for a long time, and it’s certainly one of Chicago’s finest Queen Anne buildings in the heart of Bronzeville,' Miller said.

"Ford told Block Club she’d begged the 4th Ward office to facilitate a public meeting for months about the project but received little to no response from King." (Nesbitt Golden, Block Club Chicago, 2/1/23)

"The New 400 Theaters navigated the pandemic and reopened in 2021 to continue its streak as the oldest-running movie house in the city. But crowds have not returned in droves to the movie theater at 6746 N. Sheridan Road. The downturn in business has all but ensured the theater has to close for good, owner Tony Fox said.

"The Loyola Phoenix student newspaper broke the news of the theater’s likely closure March 1. Since then, fans have flocked to the 400 and groups have organized to save it. But the fanfare will likely not be enough to keep the lights on, and it’s 'overwhelmingly likely' Fox will have to close the theater and find a new tenant, he said.

"'The problem is, we’ve lost too much money,' Fox said. 'I decided to give it a chance last year to see if [business] would come back. We did half the business we used to before COVID. Half is a very big drop.'

"The New 400 Theaters opened in 1912, when the city was dotted with neighborhood movie houses. It remained in operation even as many of those movie palaces have gone out of business.

"Fox, a real estate investor, bought the retail building housing the New 400 in 2007. He took over operation of the theater in 2009, after its then-owner stopped paying rent for more than a year. Fox will soon begin a search for an entity to take over the theater space. Once the space is leased, he will likely look to sell the building, he said.

"But neighbors and movie lovers are not letting the New 400 go without a fight.

"One neighbor started the New 400 Street Team, a group dedicated to keeping the theater in business. A website has been formed that includes a page on how to help the business. More than 75 people have signed up for the group’s communications, said lead organizer Rachel Jones. The group’s first meeting is scheduled for next week.

"Another neighbor, Eric Huebner, has organized weekly movie nights with neighbors. The first group outing is planned for Thursday with the hope the weekly event can gain steam and help the theater stay in business, Huebner said.

The fans’ efforts has driven up business, Fox said. He’s even fielded some inquiries from parties interested in buying the business.

"'I’m very grateful to the community for the good years we had,' he said. 'We can go out with a fizzle or out with a bang. Last weekend was more like a bang.'" (Ward, Block Club Chicago, 3/9/23)

"The Chicago City Council has approved the adaptive reuse of the All Saints St. Anthony Church at 518 W 28th Place in Bridgeport. Located on the corner with S. Wallace Street, the multi-building complex will see new life as a child and adult daycare facility led by developer T2 Opportunity Fund LLC with Vari Architects LTD serving as the designers of the new interior spaces.

"The church was originally built to serve the area’s German population in 1915, designed by Henry J. Schlacks who worked on other churches on the south and west side. The Romanesque style building is well known for its mosaic of the vision of St. Anthony over the entrance and a stained-glass window by Bavarian artist Franz Xaver Zettler.

"After closing in 2019, it was scheduled for demolition before being nominated for landmark status by Preservation Chicago in 2021. Now we know the historical four-building campus will be saved and restored.

"The existing church, rectory, school buildings will be receiving structural and facade repairs, while the rear convent structure is being demolished. The church and rectory will become a new adult-daycare facility, joining a handful of others throughout the city and roughly 4,600 others in the nation in 2016 serving over 286,000 elders.

"The church will see new walls added creating a library, reception, and office in the existing front entrance area, five activity rooms and a consultation room will be added in the linear nave, the crossing and transepts will become a multi-purpose space, and the choir/altar will be an exercise space.

"Many old churches that once served thousands across the city are rapidly deteriorating, with a few being converted to homes or other used, the approval of the reuse of All Saints St. Anthony is a win for the city’s architectural legacy." (Achong, Chicago YIMBY, 3/21/22)

Preservation Chicago has been working closely with the developer and architect to help achieve the programmatic requirements of the adaptive reuse which preserving and restoring as much historic material as is possible. Prior to the sale, workmen for the Archdiocese of Chicago removed all of the art-glass windows and other religious elements. During the hasty interior salvage efforts, Preservation Chicago reminded the Archdiocese leadership and their workmen that a permit would required to alter the exterior mosaic over the main doors. Fortunately, this extraordinary mosaic was left intact.

"Renovation permits have been issued for the adaptive reuse of the former St James United Methodist Church at 4601 S. Ellis. Located at the southeast corner of S. Ellis Ave and E 46th St, the church is being developed by Creative Designs Builders.

"Designed by ZED Architects, the project looks to renovate an existing vacant church into a mixed-use development that features residential and office space. The old church space will be transitioned into new coworking office space. The attached original support spaces for the church will be renovated into 29 residential units." (Kugler, Urbanize Chicago, 2/25/23)

“That’s down from the 43 originally planned, according to owner Ibrahim Shihadeh, who cut back after seeing the “beauty” of the church’s sanctuary, chandeliers and stained glass. Instead, the sanctuary will be restored to its original condition and used as a cooperative working space. Individual offices, long tables and cubicles would combine for a total of 15 co-working spaces.

“Ald. Sophia King (4th) hosted the developers as they gathered feedback at a community meeting Tuesday evening. King said she was pleased with the group’s “good ideas” for reusing the old church building.

“I’m just happy that they want to preserve everything,” King said. “If we deal with the parking and get the blessing to go forward … the co-working space would be an enhancement to the community.” (Evans, 9/18/19)

Preservation Chicago applauds the developer for his preservation sensitive adaptive reuse. St. James United Methodist Church is a beautiful building and Preservation Chicago encourages the developer to take the steps to designate this building as a Chicago Landmark. In addition to providing it recognition and long-term protections, it could make the building eligible for a variety of funding benefits.

"Chicago boasts some of the finest art and architecture in the world, resulting in throngs of tourists visiting historic homes and buildings every year. But one gem has been off-limits to scholars, architecture enthusiasts and lovers of art for several years because of a legal dispute.

"At issue is a condominium at 1734 N. Wells St., known as the Glasner Studio, that was a party house for wealthy Chicago industrialist Rudolph Glasner. Between 1928 and 1932, the unit was converted by Chicago artist Edgar Miller and developer Sol Kogen into the Kogen-Miller Studios, a new colony where artists were allowed to stay in exchange for their work on rehabbing the building.

"Kogen bought the building. Miller, a multi-talented artist who came to Chicago from his native Idaho to attend the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, made it his crowning work in a career spanning genres, styles and mediums. Miller died in 1993 at age 93.

"From 2016 to 2018, the unit was home to the Edgar Miller Legacy, a nonprofit that would host tours of the studio. Now, it is at the center of a legal dispute between the three condo owners in the building — Julie Bleicher, a co-owner of the Glasner Studio, and Glenn Aldinger and Ronald Cieslak, the two other owners of condos in the building.

"Bleicher inherited her condo from her brother Mark Mamolen, who was a close friend of Miller. Mamolen bought the studio in 2000; he died in December 2013 and willed it to Bleicher and her two sons.

"Julie’s son Zac Bleicher founded The Edgar Miller Legacy and lives in the unit. When the organization achieved nonprofit status in 2016, it listed the Wells Street address as its headquarters. That’s the same year it began to give tours to lovers of art, architecture and history.

"Zac Bleicher said the Edgar Miller Legacy hosted tours for 10 to 30 people at a time — and that the two other owners in the condominium complex attended several Legacy meetings, get-togethers and tours before having a change of heart.

"Aldinger and Cieslak contend frequent, large tours infringed on their lifestyle, and that Zac Bleicher took advantage of their willingness to overlook a condominium association rule against using a condo as a place of work.

"'Once we were out in the courtyard having a barbecue and this parade of people started coming through, taking pictures of us,' Aldinger said. 'It was very intrusive.'

"Bleicher contends Aldinger was initially on board, hoping the Legacy and its tours would boost property values. But, according to Zac Bleicher, Aldinger’s support waned after an appraisal came in lower than what he deemed adequate.

"Aldinger said although he has a second home, he has lived in the building for 50 years. He also is interested in selling, he added, and the appraisal had nothing to do with his opposition to the tours.

"'The Glasner Studio is truly a Chicago treasure,' said Ward Miller, executive director of Preservation Chicago, a group that fights to save historic architecture. 'It’s unfortunate that these legal conflicts are keeping people from visiting this remarkable house that is truly a work of art by a very well-known artist.'" (Bob Chiarito, Chicago Sun-Times, 12/26/22)

"A developer wants to overhaul two bank buildings at Damen and Lincoln avenues to bring apartments and stores to the busy North Center intersection.

"Developer Ravine Park Partners wants to renovate the existing bank building at 3959 N. Lincoln Ave. and construct a new eight-story building at 3950 N. Damen Ave. Both properties are near the three-way intersection of Lincoln Avenue, Damen Avenue and Irving Park Road.

"The rehab of the 3959 N. Lincoln Ave. building would include 5,000 square feet of retail on the first floor and 92 one- and two-bedroom apartments, according to plans shared with Martin’s office. (Hernandez, Block Club Chicago, 1/17/23)

Both the original Lincoln Trust & Savings Bank, located across the street at 3936 N. Lincoln Avenue and the Art Deco limestone bank building should both be considered for Chicago Landmark Designation.

"The prevailing image of Chicago public housing is that of blocks of big, grim brick-and-concrete towers. It didn’t start out that way, though.

"The first public housing developments, built under CHA Executive Director Elizabeth Wood, were humane, nicely designed, low- and mid-rise dwellings and townhomes with gardens and open space.

"For instance, the former Jane Addams Homes opened on Taylor Street in the Little Italy neighborhood in 1938 with a pool, a fountain and a play area where children could climb on giant Art Deco limestone animal sculptures designed by Chicago’s noted modernist artist and designer Edgar Miller.

"Most of all that is gone now, wiped away under the CHA’s Plan for Transformation, right along with much of the city’s old-school public housing.

"Most — but not all. A surviving portion of the Addams Homes at Taylor and Ada streets is slated to open next year as the National Public Housing Museum. And as part of the reactivated buildings, those limestone animal sculptures — now undergoing a $300,000 restoration — will return to their old home.

"'The animals were important,' said National Public Housing Museum Executive Director Lisa Yun Lee. '[They] were kind of the guardian angels of the space.'

"The Addams Homes, along with the still-surviving Julia C. Lathrop Homes on the North Side and the Southeast Side’s Trumbull Park Homes, were the city’s first public housing units.

"At each development, children’s playgrounds were important. The broad play area at Addams featured the Animal Court, with Miller’s large whimsical sculptures of various animals, including a buffalo, a lion, sheep, a bear and a bull.

"Pitted and worn from 70 years of play and Chicago weather, the animal sculptures were put in storage 16 years ago, awaiting restoration funding, Lee said. A grant from the Alphawood Foundation finally got the project started.

"Andrzej Dajnowski, founder of Conservation of Sculpture and Objects Studio, is handling the job. Among other work, his shop is responsible for last year’s refresh of the famed bronze lions outside the Art Institute of Chicago.

"Dajnowski said the animal sculpture restoration includes resculpting missing and worn parts and the equally painstaking task of making sure the colors of the fixes and the original portions match.

“What we do will last for years to come,” he said.

Lee said the sculptures should be ready for their return by summer. (Bey, Chicago Sun-Times, 3/9/23)

"New details have been revealed for the mixed use redevelopment of 465 W Cermak Road in Chinatown. Located directly on the south branch of the Chicago River and on the intersection with S. Canal Street, the multi-story structure has seen its fair share of redevelopment proposals in the last few years with none coming to fruition yet. Years after 465 W Cermak Road was proposed to be turned into residences, then into a hotel with a home furnishings store, now Aurora-based Windfall Group is set to try again with a change in plans as it now becomes known as Pacifica of Chicago.

"Rising six stories above ground, the massive W.M. Hoyt warehouse building was erected in 1909 for the namesake grocery wholesaler. Designed by Nimmons & Fellows, the Prairie-style structure is located within the Cermak Road Bridge District which houses the city’s only double leaf rolling bridge. Now the area is well known for the Jefferson Square marketplace and Radius Chicago music venue, all within walking distance from the heart of Chinatown.

"The 280,000-square-foot building will be cleaned and restored, with the installation of new windows having been started by the previous owner who planned for over 200 hotel rooms on the top floors.

"The new plans, though vague, include a large retail component with riverfront access, education, dining, food hall, spa, and a grocer, all of which will be topped by over 100 residential units. Serving as a community destination like many of the developers other Pacifica projects, it will also include leisure activities, services, and cultural amenities.

"Currently there are nearby parking spaces visitors may use and the developer claims to have also purchased an additional structure on an adjacent parcel, to be used for a future second phase allowing for a comprehensive development.

"No budget nor building permits have been submitted to the city, and while the site won’t require a rezoning, it will need plan approvals and to secure funding. However it is worth noting that the Windfall Group’s website shows a groundbreaking date of spring 2023." (Achong, Chicago YIMBY, 1/13/23)

The four buildings that comprise the Cermak Road Bridge District include the Thompson & Taylor Spice Company Building at 465 W. Cermak, the W.M. Hoyt Building at 465 W. Cermak, the Western Shade Company Building at 2141 S. Jefferson and the Wendnagle & Company Warehouse at 2120-2136 S. Jefferson. This Chicago Landmark District was originally know as The Spice House District.

"Architects and maritime history lovers are raising money to restore the Chicago Harbor Lighthouse, which was built in 1893 for the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

"The red and white lighthouse was moved to its current location off of Navy Pier in 1919 and has fallen into disrepair. Now, nonprofit Friends of The Chicago Harbor Lighthouse wants to preserve, restore and celebrate the lighthouse so future generations can enjoy its history, President Kurt Lentsch said at a meeting at the Chicago Maritime Museum.

"Over the next two to 10 years, the group members hope to turn the lighthouse into a museum and event space that people can reach by boarding a boat at Navy Pier. They expect the entire project will cost $3-$5 million, Lentsch said.

"'We could really make this something special for the city of Chicago, for the Great Lakes experience, for historical preservation. It could really work out,' Lentsch said at the Feb. 17 meeting.

"Due to the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act, city officials are only required to maintain the light for navigational purposes and aren’t responsible for repairing the physical structure, which has remained largely the same as when it was built.

"Members of the nonprofit are in the initial stages of this project. They are mainly focused on raising money and awareness at this point, Lentsch said.

"The group has support from city officials and is consulting with a project manager about next steps, which include determining a pin number and address for the site as well as figuring out which ward oversees it.

"These things have to happen before building permits can be granted, said Edward Torrez, an architect who’s helping lead the venture.

"Ideally, visitors will eventually be able to visit the lighthouse, climb past exhibits detailing its history — complete with artifacts — and to access an observation deck at the top. Individuals and companies could rent the space for events.

"'You would never be able to see the city from this angle anywhere else,' Lentsch said. 'Everyone should be able to experience this view of our beautiful city. The city of Chicago is so rich in its history, in its architecture, so it’s just a shame that the lighthouse is sitting out there empty right now.' (Padar, Block Club Chicago, 2/27/23)

"The theme of the New Year’s Day service at Second Presbyterian Church was a call to parishioners about renewal in their lives. Titled 'A New Heaven and a New Earth,' it could have been about the historic church itself.

"The church at 1936 S. Michigan Ave. — both a Chicago landmark and a national historic landmark — recently restored a mural considered a treasure among lovers of both art and history.

"The church was designed by architect James Renwick and dates to 1874; the sanctuary dates to 1901 because it was rebuilt after being destroyed by a fire a year earlier. At the time, the Prairie District neighborhood was home to prominent Chicago industrialists and business people like the Fields, Kimballs, Pullmans, Armors and Swifts who expected nothing short of the finest.

"The rebuilt sanctuary met their expectations with an edifice modeled after the English Gothic churches of the early 15th century and constructed with rusticated Illinois limestone. The facade had a massive wall with buttresses and pinnacles, relieved by Gothic-arched windows, horizontal bands and four large sculptured medallions symbolizing the four evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

"As impressive as the building is, it’s what’s inside that makes it truly special.

"The church sports seven large Tiffany stained-glass windows and the 40-by-30-foot 'Tree of Life' mural high above the altar by renowned painter Frederic Clay Bartlett.

"'It’s one of Chicago’s most amazing arts and crafts interiors,' said Ward Miller, executive director of Preservation Chicago.

"After more than 100 years, the vibrancy of the windows and the mural were hidden by dirt, leading supporters of the church to embark on a campaign to restore the artistic treasures to their original glory.

"Two Tiffany windows were cleaned in October and there are plans to finish the rest over the next year, according to Linda Miller, president of Friends of Historic Second Church, a group dedicated to restoring Second Presbyterian Church.

"The largest project was restoring the 'Tree of Life' mural, which wrapped up in mid-December. Preservationists worked 10 weeks meticulously cleaning the mural, stripping layers of dirt and repainting to show it in its original splendor. The project cost about $500,000 and was financed by donations and a $256,364 Save America’s Treasure Grant received in 2021, Linda Miller said.

"The mural restoration was done by Chicago-based Parma Conservation, run by the husband-and-wife team of Peter Schoenmann and Elizabeth Kendall. Miller said watching the Parma team reminded her of stories about the Sistine Chapel. 'It was painstaking work that reminded me of Michelangelo, working millimeter by millimeter.'

"Schoenmann said there were several 'Christmas morning moments. Discovering what’s underneath all these layers of dirt and darkness is kind of like opening a present because you’re revealing a prize. This was one of the most satisfying wow factors because the change between what it was and what it became was so dramatic,' he said." (Chiarito, Chicago Sun-Times, 1/6/23)

"The National A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum will mark its anniversary this weekend with a gala and fundraiser to support its $30 million expansion and work to create the country’s first Black Labor tourism district.

"Leaders want to expand the museum inside three floors of a Pullman rowhouse at 10406 S. Maryland Ave. to include a new wing, a cafe and other features. It is part of several planned projects, including a research library, visitors plaza, community garden and women’s history museum.

"Eventually, organizers hope to rename the strip A. Philip Randolph Way, honoring the founder of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the country’s first nationally recognized Black worker’s union made up of Pullman Porters.

"The project could break ground this spring.

"Rep. Robin Kelly, whose district includes the museum, said honoring the history of the Pullman Porters is especially important.

"'That’s really where the labor movement and the union started, from the work and the strike and the bloodiness even of what the gentleman went through that worked for Pullman and were Pullman porters,' Kelly said. 'That’s where it all began. So that’s why it’s so important to highlight as part of not only Chicago history [and] Black history, but American history.'

"Established in 1995, the National A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum uses photography, archival material, videos and more to teach visitors about the porters, Black men who were an integral part of George Pullman’s railcar company.

"The museum expansion will help leaders tell the story of the Pullman Porters on a larger scale, Peterson said.

"'We’ve done so much work that spills outside of the community into the region, not just even our immediate community,' Peterson said. 'We’ve outgrown our space, frankly, and we have to now expand in order to protect, preserve and interpret. That’s our mission.'

"The first phase of the work will add the Jesse Jackson Civil Rights Wing to the museum, providing “the opportunity to tell some of the stories that are there and add a couple of more,' Peterson said. That work also will add an honorary wall to list notable or famous people who are descendants of Pullman Porters.

"A new youth and young adult wing will host the museum’s young historians program, Peterson said. There, attendees will be able to also enjoy the Green Initiatives Program Division and A. Philip Randolph Advocacy Training Organization, Program Division, Peterson said." (McDonald, Block Club Chicago, 2/23/23)

"Everything, when it comes to Pullman National Monument, which is now known as 'Pullman National Historical Park.' More than just semantics, the shift to 'park' grants the site increased protections.

"The monument was created in 2015 by then President Barack Obama, using powers given to the country’s chief executive by the Antiquities Act. It was an exciting moment for local leaders and residents who had long championed the significance of the former Pullman factory town as the birthplace of the American labor movement.

"But while monuments can be created by the stroke of a president’s pen, the concern is that they can be undone by the same. Bears Ears National Monument in Utah, also designated by Obama, was, in a rare instance, repealed by President Donald Trump.

"With that precedent in mind, U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly (2nd District) and U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth sponsored legislation — which is how national parks are created — to transform Pullman into a national historical park. The law passed both houses of Congress and was signed by President Joe Biden in December.

"'Anybody that wants to get their hands on Pullman has to come through Robin Kelly and Durbin and Duckworth and Congress,' Sen. Durbin said Thursday during a celebration of the new designation held at the park.

"The collective effort it’s taken to get Pullman to this point demonstrates a level of collaboration by local, state and national entities — in both the public and private sectors — not often seen, said Rick Clark, deputy regional director of the National Park Service, who flew in from Omaha for the festivities.

"Though Pullman’s rise to national historical park status may have seemed meteoric to Clark, it has been decades in the making, Kelly noted.

"There was a time when the Pullman factory, its grounds and much of the surrounding company town were viewed as ripe for the bulldozer, and the area's history would have been lost in the rubble.

"'The ground we stand on ... holds so much of our national story,' said Kelly, from the rise of the railroad and with it the Pullman railcar, to the Pullman Strike and Boycott of 1894 that touched off the labor movement (and ultimately led to Labor Day), to the formation of the country’s first Black trade union in support of the famed Pullman porters.

"Investment in the broader Pullman community has followed the attention drawn first by the national monument designation and now the national historical park." (Wetli, WTTW Chicago, 1/19/23)

The preservation advocacy efforts for Pullman have spanned decades. In 1960, residents organized to form the Pullman Civic Organization (PCO) to advocate for Pullman’s preservation. By 1969, Pullman was added to the National Register of Historic Places and in 1970 was declared a National Historic Landmark. By 1972, the southern portion of Pullman was designated as a Chicago Landmark followed by the northern portion in 1993. A significant milestone occurred in 1991, when the State of Illinois purchased the Administration Building, the Factory Complex, and Hotel Florence and created a state historic site. Then tragedy struck on December 1, 1998, when after surviving years of neglect and deferred maintenance, the Clock Tower and Administration was targeted by an arsonist and the building suffered extensive damage from the ensuing fire. Portions of the building were reconstructed in the following years.

Preservation Chicago has been working with community and civic partners and organizations for many years on this effort and we are delighted by the progress. We remain very active with conversations concerning rebuilding, renovation and restoration. We're also hoping for a complementary Chicago Landmark District in the neighboring Roseland community to include "the Pullman Lands" and to drive economic development on South Michigan Avenue in Roseland.

"In 2017 the Chicago Park District proposed a plan to redevelop the Jackson Park 18-hole golf course and the South Shore 9-hole course, combining them into a single 18-hole course. The new design was presented by Tiger Woods and his company TGR Designs.

"The proposal calls for the destruction of the existing holes at South Shore and a majority of the holes at Jackson Park, in addition to removing roadways that connect the neighborhood to South Lake Shore Drive. While Openlands agrees that these historical golf courses deserve a restoration to make them more enjoyable to play, we OPPOSE any plan that would destroy the South Shore Nature Sanctuary, take down thousands of trees unnecessarily, not provide diverse golfing opportunities, and increase the cost to play beyond reach.

"A true restoration of Jackson Park and South Shore Courses would create equitable and enjoyable opportunities for all residents and visitors to enjoy playing the two courses while protecting important habitat for wildlife, migratory birds, and humans alike.

"We need your help to make sure that a true restoration of the Jackson Park and South Shore Golf Courses that also protects the South Shore Nature Sanctuary is prioritized over the proposed TGR Golf Course. Please use this form to contact your Alderperson and Mayor Lightfoot to request their action on this issue."

"The shelves are barren, the Vitamin Vault is half-empty and the remaining employees are mopping and cleaning up as Walgreens prepares to close its flagship Wicker Park store Tuesday.

"For the past decade, the drugstore and pharmacy has operated out of the landmark Noel State Bank building, 1601 N. Milwaukee Ave., in the heart of Wicker Park. It’s become well known for its ornate interior and repurposed bank features — including the Vitamin Vault, which stores rows of vitamins in the former vault in the building’s basement.

"A music teacher at nearby Drummond Elementary, Sean Rholl stopped by the store with his class of seventh and eighth graders. The students took selfies in the Vitamin Vault and then all posed for a picture that Rholl took from the upstairs mezzanine, under the vaulted ceiling.

"'I said, ‘You’ve got to check out the vault and the ceiling and just how life could be this beautiful,’ and now they’re taking that away.'

"The Noel State Bank building was constructed in 1919 and was home to various banks throughout the 20th century, according to a 2007 report from the Commission on Chicago Landmarks. Since the building is part of the landmarked Milwaukee Avenue District, the city will require future tenants or owners to preserve its historical features. Walgreens opened the store in 2012 after two years of restorations.

"The employee said she’s only worked at the store since last summer, but specifically requested to work at the location because of its historic architecture. 'I hopefully think they will actually put something in place of the Walgreens and not let the building just go abandoned,' she said. 'This is one of the great buildings, they’ve got the vault and the architecture is just so beautiful. I’m kind of sad that a lot of people won’t be able to come in and see it.'

"Since the news broke about the store’s closure in December, the employee said the store has been inundated with visitors taking pictures, making TikToks and even a few people who came to draw sketches of the interior.

"'There’s a lot of different types of people that usually come in, with different types of accents. People from all over the world, just to visit and see how great it is,' she said. (Myers, Block Club Chicago, 1/31/23)

Preservation Chicago played an important leadership role in the creation of the Milwaukee Avenue Chicago Landmark District, which includes the Noel State Bank.

"CVS is closing its retail store and pharmacy at the corner of Ashland Avenue and Division Street in Wicker Park.

"The location in the historic Home Bank and Trust Company Building, 1200 N. Ashland Ave., will close March 7, spokesperson Amy Thibault said Thursday.

"The store’s closing is part of a larger plan CVS announced in 2021 to close around 900 stores over three years, Thibault said. The company considers several factors when deciding to close locations, including population shifts, the density of the surrounding neighborhood and “local market dynamics,” Thibault said.

"The Home Bank and Trust Company Building is a prominent landmark on Chicago’s Polish Triangle, which was once the epicenter of the city’s Polish community. Designed by Karl M. Vitzthum & Co., the building was completed in 1926. Additional tenants besides CVS occupy its upper floors.

"'Built in the heart of Chicago’s historic ‘Polish Downtown,’ this monumental Classical Revival-style building is ornamented with finely-carved low-relief sculpture and has a dramatic banking hall,' according to a landmark plaque attached to the building.

"The news of the closing comes less than a month after Walgreens announced it will close its flagship Wicker Park store in the historic Noel State Bank building, 1601 N. Milwaukee Ave. at the end of January." (Myers, Block Club Chicago, 1/19/23)

"The Home Bank and Trust Building, located at the prominent 'six-corners' intersection of Milwaukee Ave./Ashland Ave./Division St. on Chicago’s Near Northwest Side, exemplifies the critical role that banks played in the history and development of Chicago’s neighborhoods in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Focused on catering to, and reinvesting in, their surrounding communities, neighborhood banks provided mortgages, business loans, and checking and savings accounts for middle- and working-class Chicago residents and neighborhood businesses. Built in the heart of Chicago’s former 'Polish downtown,' this bank building illustrates the historic importance of the city’s neighborhood commercial centers to the development of Chicago, which allowed residents to do their banking, shopping, and most other business close to home.

"A handsome example of the Classical Revival style, the Home Bank and Trust Building (commonly known as the Manufacturers Bank Building) is one of the finest neighborhood bank buildings in Chicago and is a prominent visual landmark for its community. This imposing structure is readily distinguished from the surrounding streetscape due to its six-story height, which rises above the existing commercial streetscape, as well as its distinctive and monumental

Classical Revival-style design and finely detailed ornamentation.

"The building was designed by Karl M. Vitzthum, an important early 20th century architect in Chicago, whose firm designed some of the city’s most visible tall office buildings, including the One North LaSalle Building (1930). Vitzthum was especially noted for his bank architecture and designed over fifty banks throughout the Midwest, including several in Chicago." (Home Bank and Trust Building Chicago Landmark Designation Report, 12/1/2005)

Preservation Chicago was instrumental with the Home Bank and Trust Building Chicago Landmark Designation.

"The U.S. Soccer Federation has listed two adjacent South Loop mansions that it long has owned and used as its headquarters for a combined amount of $4.2 million, with one of them — the historic and French Chateauesque 14,734-square-foot William W. Kimball House — available for $2.3 million. The four-story, 12,648-square-foot brown sandstone mansion next door has an asking price of $1.9 million.

"The official governing body of soccer in the U.S. has been based in Chicago since moving from Colorado Springs, Colorado, to the South Loop in 1991. At that time, it moved its offices into the two adjoining mansions — the Kimball House, at 1801 S. Prairie Ave., and the house right next door at 1811 S. Prairie.

"The mansions were part of South Prairie Avenue 'millionaire’s row,' which was the most exclusive and fashionable neighborhood in Chicago in the late 1800s and early 1900s. For more than 75 years, however, the mansions have been used as office space, and with the soccer federation’s decision last year to vacate the two mansions and move its headquarters to the downtown high-rise office building at 303 E. Wacker Drive, the opportunity exists to convert the mansions back to single-family homes.

"Built between 1890 and 1892 at a reported cost of $1 million and designed by Pullman architect Solon S. Beman, the Kimball house, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971, stands three stories tall and has a Bedford limestone exterior, a slate mansard roof, a variety of steeply sloping roof shapes, dormer windows, and tall slender chimneys. The mansion was modeled after the 12th-century Chateau de Josselin in Brittany, France, and inside it has carved woodwork, onyx-adorned walls, a black onyx fireplace and leaded glass windows.

"The mansion was built for Kimball, a piano-manufacturing magnate. He died shortly after moving in, and his wife sold it in the 1920s. It later was a rooming house and then was owned by an architectural club and a group care home before it became office space, starting in the late 1940s. Publisher R.R. Donnelley donated both mansions to the Chicago Architecture Foundation in 1991, which leased them to the soccer federation. The group bought the mansions outright from the architecture foundation in 1996.

"The three-story Romanesque Revival-style mansion at 1811 S. Prairie was built in the mid-1880s, and early owners included Miner T. Ames and Joseph Fish, who was the president of the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Co. — now known as Brunswick Corp. The mansion was sold to a textbook publisher in 1921 and has been used as offices ever since.

"The mansion at 1811 S. Prairie was designed by noted architects Henry Ives Cobb and Charles S. Frost. Features include carved woodwork, cast plaster, leaded glass windows and a billiard room with built-in cue holders.

“They are connected to essentially have close to 30,000 square feet of flexible space,” she said. “We believe that the end buyer may convert to luxury condos or rental apartments, create two separate single-family homes, (become) an Airbnb (or) VRBO, (become) an event space or continue with another office building with little work considering the … U.S. Soccer Federation was running at this building for over 30 years.” (Goldsborough, Chicago Tribune, 1/21/23)

"In the 1930s, when a Marshall Field’s executive tapped an innovative Chicago architect to design apartments for a site on North State Parkway, he very likely didn’t suspect that what resulted would be one of the city’s finest examples of Art Moderne architecture. But he did reserve the biggest unit for himself.

"At the Frank Fisher Studio Houses, as they were known when they opened in 1938, architect Andrew Rebori used curving white plaster walls, modern designs in stained glass and carved wood and a building material that was futuristic for its time — glass block — in artful ways that still stand out today.

"'It’s really magical,' says Greg Gochanour, who with his wife, Lynne Gochanour, bought the unit Frank Fisher originally kept for himself. Set at the rear of the lot, with views over the courtyard that the other units line, Fisher’s former home has a curvaceous staircase, hand-carved wood ceiling beams and walls of glass block, one of them two stories high.

"The Gochanours, who are both attorneys, bought a package of Fisher’s unit and a smaller one above it, and connected them with a new staircase that matches the sensuous curve of the original.

"Now looking for 'another architecture adventure,' as Greg Gochanour puts it, the couple will put the three-bedroom unit on the market in the next few weeks. Priced at a little over $1.28 million, it’s represented by Brad Lippitz of Compass." (Rodkin, Crain's Chicago Business, 2/16/23)

"One of the city's finest pre-World War II modern designs, this is an exceptional-and rare-example of the Art Moderne style of architecture, which was influenced by European modernism. The unique layout of the 12 units and their common courtyard--which, together, occupy an extremely narrow site running perpendicular to the street--has contributed to their desirability as residential apartments. Further distinguishing the building is its handcrafted ornamentation by prominent artist Edgar Miller. The building was commissioned by Frank Fisher, Jr., an executive of Marshall Field & Co." (Chicago Landmarks)

"This one-of-a-kind property is a work of art by Edgar Miller and Sol Kogen at Carl Street Studios.

Nestled behind a secure iron gate in a picturesque courtyard in the heart of historic Old Town, Studio 2 of Carl Street Studios stands out as an artistic gem. This property, one of only thirteen condos converted from a Victorian home in 1927, is a true masterpiece that has been carefully modernized for contemporary living, while still preserving its original artistic charm.

"The property boasts a dramatic two-story living room and a wealth of intricate embellishments, including mosaic and stained glass windows, Art Deco tiles, carved doors, parquet floors, and painted ceilings.

"The property also features a tremendous hosting kitchen and breakfast room, a spacious dining area, three bedrooms, two full baths, two half baths, a second-floor sitting room, and a large private roof deck. Just off the main living space sits a separate 745 square foot duplex studio, makes for a perfect guest suite or in-home office, is also available for purchase. With its unique blend of contemporary comfort and timeless artistry, Studio 2 of Carl Street Studios is truly a one-of-a-kind property, a work of art in its own right."

155 West Burton Place 2 at Carl Street Studios

$1,095,000

3 Beds 4 Baths 4,500 SqFt

This One-of-a-kind Property Is A Work Of Art By Edgar Miller And Sol Kogen At Carl Street Studios..

"Rarely does one of the premier homes in all of Beverly become available. Originally commissioned to architect for George W Reed, vice-president of Peabody Coal, and later owned and occupied by The Columban Fathers, this magnificent estate will enthrall the most discerning of buyers.

"The majestic front portico leads to the grand marble foyer, to the palatial living room with intricate custom plaster ceiling and mouldings. This home will not disappoint. "Old World Craftmanship" is evident throughout this estate. Stately formal dining room leads to bright sunroom, perfect for relaxation and quiet occasions. Enormous kitchen features the original Jewett custom built-in refrigerator, impressive sized pantry, and breakfast room. Peaceful library, powder room with private sitting area, and laundry room round out the first floor.

"The second level boasts 7 bedrooms and 6 baths- including a master suite with fireplace in the adjacent sitting room. Set on nearly an acre of tranquility and beautifully landscaped grounds with mature trees and generous flower beds, this home was recently featured in the "Beverly Garden Walk". This can be your quiet escape within the city and only 20 minutes from downtown.

"The striking slate roof, sunlit drenched rooms, custom woodwork, dentil crown mouldings, medallions, sconces, ornate fixtures, and wrought iron by noted blacksmith Samuel Yellen, are reminiscent of a bygone era. The 3 car detached garage sits below a one bedroom separate coach house. Walk up attic with roughed in plumbing, plus full basement with fireplace and 2 half baths. Don't miss this once in a lifetime opportunity."