July 2019 Month-in-Review Newsletter
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Chicago 7 Most Endangered Poster 2019. Image Credit: Preservation Chicago
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Tour hosted by Ward Miller, Executive Director of Preservation Chicago, and Jacob Kaplan of Forgotten Chicago
- Beverages and light snacks included with option to purchase lunch at one stop
- Air conditioned coach departs from 4410 N. Ravenswood Avenue
Learn why these Chicago buildings and sites are endangered and why they would be a significant loss to the city and community if they are not protected or landmarked. Some of the stops this year will include:
- Jackson Park, Midway Plaisance and South Shore Cultural Center in Woodlawn, Hyde Park and South Shore
- Laramie State Bank in Austin
- Loretto Academy/Institute of the Blessed Virgin in Woodlawn
- Justice Hammer/Lu & Jorja Palmer Mansion in Bronzeville
- Second Church of Christ, Scientist in Lincoln Park
- James R. Thompson Center/State of Illinois Building in the Loop
- Roman Catholic Churches throughout Chicago
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ADVOCACY
- Obama Presidential Center's "Adverse Effect"
- Obama Presidential Center Comments due Aug. 30
- St. Adalbert Downzoning
- Guyon Hotel Design Competition
- Lakeside Center Reuse Options
- Czech Athletic Club Buildings
- 3244-3250 W. Bryn Mawr Façade Saved
- Chicago Town and Tennis Club Threat
- Gately’s Peoples Store Fire
- St. Nicholas Church Emergency Demolition
- National Park Designation for Chicago Lakeshore
- Motley Elementary School Reopens as Residential Building
- Auditorium Theatre receives Outstanding Theatre Award
- 1308 N. Elston Warehouse Building Converted to Loft Offices
- Four Lakeview Buildings Demolished
- Maurice Cox to be New DPD Commissioner
- Lois Wille, trailblazing Chicago reporter, dies at 87
- 90-Day Demolition Delay List Highlights
- "Spotlight on Demolition”
NEWS
- Watch: What we lose when we lose the Thompson Center
- Watch: The Streetscape Symphony of Chicago’s Brick Buildings
- Read: The Chicago Bungalow's Enduring Legacy
EVENTS
• August 10 Woodlawn Walk
• August 11 Record Row Tour
• August 17 Chicago 7 Bus Tour
• August 24 Roseland Historic Property Survey
PETITIONS
- Petition: Make Chicago Vocational School a Historic Landmark!
- Petition: Halt the Demolition of One of Bronzeville's Historic Substations
LOST CHICAGO...BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
- Grand Central Station, Chicago
SUPPORT
- Austin’s Pink House GoFundMe Campaign
- Please Support Preservation Chicago!
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UPDATE: Section 106
Report Confirms OPC would have "Adverse Effect" on Jackson Park
(Chicago 7 2017, 2018, & 2019)
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Planned Obama Presidential Center. Rendering Credit: Obama Foundation
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Jackson Park. Photo Credit: Eric Allix Rogers
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A Chicago 7 Most Endangered in 2017, 2018 and again in 2019, Preservation Chicago has consistently advocated for the protection of Jackson Park, a world-class historic landscape designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux with contributions by Alfred Caldwell, May McAdams and others.
Preservation Chicago does NOT oppose the Obama Presidential Center (OPC) being built in Chicago, but for many important and valid reasons strongly prefers the private facility be constructed in a location other than historic Jackson Park. Many outstanding alternate locations have been identified, including the approximately 10 acres of mostly vacant land controlled by the University of Chicago and the City of Chicago in the Washington Park neighborhood located across the street from Washington Park on Garfield Boulevard and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.
Section 106
"Plans to build the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park will have an “adverse impact” on the park, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, according to a federal review released Monday, July 29, 2019.
"The proposed center would include a four-building campus, underground parking facility, plaza, play areas, pedestrian and bicycle paths and landscaped open space. But the federal review under the National Historic Preservation Act found the Obama Presidential Center would diminish “the historic property’s overall integrity by altering historic, internal spatial divisions that were designed as a single entity” by famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead to host the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition.
"The review, formally known as a Section 106 Assessment of Effects under the National Historic Preservation Act, studied the center’s potential impact on three dozen historic properties, and found it would have “an adverse effect” on the Jackson Park Historic Landscape District and Midway Plaisance.
"'The combined changes diminish the sense of a particular period of time within the historic property and impact the integrity of feeling,' according to the review. 'The changes impact how Jackson Park and the Midway Plaisance reflect conscious decisions made by the Olmsted firm in determining the organization, forms, patterns of circulation, relationships between major features, arrangement of vegetation, and views.'
"Those changes to Jackson Park would alter the 'characteristics of the historic property that qualify it for inclusion in the National Register,' and require “deviating from the simple formality of open space that reflects the historic design principle of informal symmetry and balance in design,' according to the review." (Cherone, 7/30/19)
At the Section 106 Consulting Parties meeting, Ward Miller said his organization could not see how the OPC and affiliated plans “will not have an extreme and profound adverse effect on Jackson Park — its location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling or association; also its viewsheds, its quality as a single work of art by Frederick Law Olmsted … How all these historic features in this park could be remediated by all of these actions,” from the OPC’s Museum tower and other buildings to the widening of Stony Island Avenue and Lake Shore Drive to the closure of Cornell Drive, “an original Olmsted feature that was widened in 1960.”
“I think that’s tragic, and I think it’s going to be a huge embarrassment to the City of Chicago. This complex belongs elsewhere nearby,” Miller said. “We’re talking about a lot of trees being cut here, and I don’t even know how we remediate this other than a relocation of the Center or a rethinking of it elsewhere.” (Gettinger, 8/5/19)
The report for the Section 106 Federal review hearings confirm that the current plan would have a substantial “adverse effect” on many aspects of historic Jackson Park. It is clear that “avoidance” is the only way to prevent an extremely profound and negative adverse effect. Preservation Chicago hopes that the National Park Service will choose to respect the findings of the published report and make their decisions accordingly.
POP Lawsuit
"On Tuesday June 11, 2019, U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey dismissed a lawsuit to block the construction of the Barack Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park. The ruling removes a significant hurdle that had prevented the $500 million project from breaking ground on Chicago’s South Side.
"Nonprofit environmental group Protect Our Parks filed the suit in May 2018, arguing that the city could not legally transfer 20 acres of the historic Frederick Law Olmsted-designed park to a private entity such as the Obama Foundation. Protect Our Parks says it will appeal the ruling." (Koziarz, 6/11/19)
The group behind the federal lawsuit challenging the construction of the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park got a big boost on March 27, 2019, with a $100,000 initial grant from The Reva and David Logan Foundation. The Logan Foundation money is to support the effort by Protect Our Parks (POP) “to stop the inappropriate allocation of public land at Jackson Park to a private foundation,” the Logan Foundation said in a statement. (Sweet, Chicago Sun-Times, 3/27/19)
“We believe that this ‘land grab’ is both legally and morally wrong, and that the City of Chicago, the Obama Foundation and their partners need to reconsider their choice of location for this project” said board chairman Richard Logan in the statement. “There are so many sites in the city that could benefit from the kudos, the opportunities for employment and the neighborhood regeneration without taking public land and destroying historic city parklands.” (Sweet, Chicago Sun-Times, 3/27/19)
“Make no bones about it. The proposed plans…will backhoe and destroy almost 20 acres of this legacy park land,” said Ward Miller, Executive Director of Preservation Chicago, warning of the dangerous precedent. “This green, leafy site will now be compromised…with three very large buildings, all on a concrete plaza, and a tall museum building which is over 200 feet tall. … No other presidential library is of this scale and magnitude.”
“New Yorkers wouldn’t allow this to happen to Central Park. We shouldn’t allow it to happen here,” said Miller. (Golden, Block Club Chicago, 1/18/19)
“Given this city’s rich and colorful history of graft, payola and insider dealing, Chicagoans are entitled to be enormously skeptical—and even maybe a tad bit cynical—when asked by our civic leaders to take certain things on faith,” according to the Crain’s Chicago Business Editorial Board on August 2, 2018. “But there’s another reason to wonder about the site selection: The University of Chicago-backed Jackson Park deal may not have been cut in the kind of smoke-filled backroom Chicago is notorious for, but it might as well have been. The public disclosures by the Emanuel administration, the Obama Foundation and the U of C have been about as transparent as cigar smoke.” (Crain’s Editorial Board, 8/2/18)
Additional Reading
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CALL TO ACTION: Letter and email comments on Obama Presidential Center “Adverse Effect” due by August 30, 2019
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Jackson Park. Photo Credit: Eric Allix Rogers
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The proposed Obama Presidential Center will have multiple adverse effects on historic Jackson Park in the Woodlawn and Hyde Park neighborhood.
The federal review process resumed on Monday, August 5 after the release on July 29 of the Assessment of Effects to Historic Properties report on the proposed Obama Presidential Center.
Comments to this AOE report are due back to the City of Chicago by 5 p.m. on August 30, 2019.
Preservation Chicago staffers Ward Miller and Mary Lu Seidel, along with Board member Jack Spicer, participated in the federal undertaking (or Section 106) meeting at the Logan Center on the University of Chicago campus. The meeting was inclusive and well-attended, including a broad spectrum of experts and neighborhood voices to consider the report.
The full two hour meeting can be viewed at this link.
There were many flaws in the process and report itself. The report does not consider perspectives on the visual impact of the 235-foot tower proposed for the OPC. City staff indicated they did not have the technology to provide those perspectives, but that is difficult to accept. Section 106 convenings around the country consider the visual impact of projects. The City’s own Landmark review process considers visual perspectives of what proposed improvements can be seen from the street.
Additionally, the City is only focusing on mitigating those adverse effects. In the Section 106 process, when an adverse effect is identified there are three courses to take. First and foremost, avoidance is the highest priority. The best way to avoid the adverse effect of the OPC on Jackson Park is to move it outside of Jackson Park.
If avoidance is not possible, the second approach to take is minimization of adverse effect. For the OPC, that would mean significantly altering its design, scale and height to minimize the adverse effect it has on historic Jackson Park.
The very last option to consider if both avoidance and minimization are not possible is mitigation -- replace or somehow make up for the adverse effect. The City’s examples of the mitigation it was focusing on was to update the National Register nomination for Jackson Park to reflect its adversely effected landscape after the OPC is built. The City also suggested developing multimedia educational and interpretive materials related to Jackson Park/Midway Plaisance, presumably to tell the story of what once was there but has now been lost.
Each term used in the Section 106 process has a very clear definition. When there is a federal undertaking (federal funds, federal approval, federal permitting) planned at a historic site (listed on the National Register of Historic Places), it triggers the Section 106 process under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. A report is produced which assesses the impact a project will have on a historic resource. The report details whether there is no effect, no adverse effect or an adverse effect. An adverse effect indicates that real harm will be inflicted by the federal undertaking.
The OPC report indicates a clear adverse effect on historic Jackson Park. Without the assessment of the visual impact of the proposed OPC tower, it is not possible to accurately assess its impact on other historic properties immediately adjacent to Jackson Park.
Call to Action
We encourage people to write comments to this report and submit them to the following people:
Address letters and emails to:
- Abby Monroe, City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development, abby.monroe@cityofchicago.org
Please send copies of the email to:
- Matt Fuller, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), matt.fuller@dot.gov
- Lee Terzis, National Park Service (NPS), lee_terzis@nps.gov
- Nate Roseberry, Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT), nathan.roseberry@cityofchicago.org
- Heather Gleasen, Chicago Park District, heather.gleason@chicagoparkdistrict.com
- Brad Kodehoff, Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), brad.koldehoff@illinois.gov
Preservation Chicago's Section 106 process priorities include:
1.
Avoidance first. The best way to avoid the adverse effect of the OPC is to move it outside of Jackson Park. Its location in Chicago and specifically the South Side is incredible, and there is no shortage of land there on which to accommodate such a development. The OPC would likely be under construction right now if the Obama Foundation had not chosen a nationally significant historic park site as its location.
2.
Road closures. The closure and realignment of roads throughout Jackson Park should also be avoided. Particular focus is on plans to close a substantial section of Cornell Avenue through Jackson Park. This will negatively impact the historic landscape design elements of the park. The road could be narrowed to two lanes with accessible pedestrian and bicycle lanes adjacent to it, and this would eliminate the road closure adverse effect to the park. The park was designed when horse and buggies were the primary mode of transportation, but historic places can be updated and modernized without destroying that history. The Museum of Science and Industry building has been adapted to be relevant in a modern world, and the historic character of that building was not adversely compromised.
3.
Viewsheds. Before a memorandum of agreement is finalized, there needs to be adequate time for the City to prepare visualizations of the impact the OPC will have on historic properties nearby.
4.
Park replacement. As the proposed OPC is projected to reduce the acreage of parkland, it is required by law to replace that lost park space. The OPC is proposing that acreage be replaced primarily by improving the amenities in an existing greenspace on the Midway Plaisance just west of Jackson Park. This proposal is unacceptable, and it does little to improve access to park land in Woodlawn.
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Trees. It is also unacceptable to destroy old growth trees for the OPC’s construction. Trees can be replaced, but taking down 125-year-old trees and replacing them with saplings is not an equitable replacement.
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Cost. The cost to the City to accommodate this undertaking and continue through this process is burdensome to the taxpayers of Chicago and ultimately the county, state and country. If the OPC were built on private land that is not historic, the cost burden would be significantly reduced.
Preservation Chicago commends the Obama Foundation and the University of Chicago for successfully securing a Chicago location for the Obama Presidential Center. We now encourage them to find an alternate location that does not have this adverse effect. If a site had been chosen on private land that did not have a national historic designation, this project could be underway right now.
Preservation Chicago cares deeply about jobs, economic development and safety on the South Side, particularly in the Woodlawn area around Jackson Park. We know that all of their priorities can be accomplished without destroying a historic park that is an incredible asset to Chicago and the country. People travel far and wide to experience an Olmsted-designed park. Imagine how incredible it would be if nearly adjacent to Jackson Park was a world-renowned Obama Presidential Center commemorating the great 44th president of the United States.
Additional Resources
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WIN: Alderman Introduces Downzoning Ordinance to Protect St. Adalbert Church (Chi 7 2014, 2016 and 2019)
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25th Ward Alderman Byron Sigcho Lopez announces plans to downzone St. Adalbert Church following the final services at the Pilsen church. Photo Credit: Mauricio Pena / Block Club Chicago
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St. Adalbert Church, Henry J. Schlacks, 1636 W. 17th Street. Photo Credit: Eric Allix Rogers
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St. Adalbert Catholic Church during it final mass on July 14, 2019. Photo Credit: Ward Miller / Preservation Chicago
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Rally to Save St. Adalbert Church, July 7, 2019, Henry J. Schlacks, 1636 W. 17th Street. Photo Credit: Mary Lu Seidel / Preservation Chicago
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Ward Miller Addresses Crowd at Rally to Save St. Adalbert Church, July 7, 2019, Henry J. Schlacks, 1636 W. 17th Street. Photo Credit: Mary Lu Seidel / Preservation Chicago
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"After its parishioners spent years fighting to keep it open, St. Adalbert Church in Pilsen held its final mass on Sunday. Now, the fight for the property’s future moves into a new arena as the neighborhood’s alderman said he plans to rezone the property to potentially block future plans for it.
"After a tear-filled mass, Ald. Byron Sigcho Lopez (25th) said he plans to push through a procedural move to get the upper hand over the Archdiocese of Chicago, which closed the hulking, twin-towered Catholic church amid shrinking attendance and changing demographics.
"Sigcho Lopez, elected earlier this year, argued the archdiocese hasn’t done enough to disclose what’s next for the 2-acre church property at 1650 W. 17th St.
"'We will downzone the property to protect it from any development to make sure that the residents and the parishioners … are at the table,' Sigcho Lopez said.
"Such a 'downzoning' could force the archdiocese or anyone who wants to buy it to go through heightened scrutiny for any future projects on the site. Officials with the archdiocese could not be reached for comment Sunday" (Pena, 7/14/19)
While the Archdiocese would not comment on it, there is widespread speculation in the community that a developer has made a successful bid to acquire the St. Adalbert site at 1636 W. 17th Street, which includes a church, rectory, convent and school building as well as a large surface-grade parking lot.
Since the Archdiocese of Chicago officially stopped holding worship services at St. Adalbert Church in Pilsen, now is the time to encourage Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez to seek a Landmark designation for the historic Henry Schlacks-designed church. With its next owner and development plans uncertain, it is essential that a Landmark designation is secured to protect the church’s future.
Ald. Sigcho-Lopez is open to the idea and concept of a Chicago Landmark Designation for St. Adalbert, but wants to handle this process in an open and democratic way. He has requested that people send him letters of support regarding a Landmark Designation which would protect both the exterior and interior of the historic church. This is important to demonstrate strong support for this designation to both the City of Chicago and the Archdiocese of Chicago.
Ald. Sigcho-Lopez wants to hear from the community so please send him a letter. A sample letter is included below. Having been in office three months, he has been a strong advocate for his community and has been receptive to the importance of preserving Pilsen’s history.
The community of faith at St. Adalbert has received a proposal to acquire the campus of buildings, make repairs as needed, and reopen the church as a shrine and the other buildings as a retreat house. Preservation Chicago has been part of many conversations with the community and elected officials and we hope that Cardinal Cupich will invite a religious order to move to St. Adalbert.
The Archdiocese of Chicago closed St. Adalbert in Pilsen with the final service held on Sunday, July 14, 2019 attended by over 800 people with the church filled to overflow capacity. During that service, the Archdiocese deconsecrated the church, much to the distress of the faithful worshippers at the church who are hoping it remains a sacred place.
Parishioners were devastated and profoundly impacted by the news of the church closing. Preservation Chicago has worked diligently with the community and the Archdiocese over the years to broker an agreement to first and foremost save all the buildings from demolition and then work to keep the church building as a sacred space. Preservation Chicago has encouraged the Archdiocese to consider a Landmark designation of the building and a dozen others throughout Chicago that are architecturally and historically significant. These treasures, constructed by the faithful with pennies, nickels and dimes and given up to the Archdiocese of Chicago to steward, staff and care for more than a century in most cases, need to be saved. Preservation Chicago will continue to advocate along with the community to ensure any redevelopment is sensitive to the community’s needs and guidance.
The Renaissance Revival church was designed by architect Henry J. Schlacks. Its soaring 185-foot twin towers can be seen prominently in the Pilsen community. It is meets the criteria to become a Landmark, and the Archdiocese of Chicago and the City of Chicago should recognize that honor. Religious structures need the consent of owners to be designated Landmarks in Chicago, and that consent is often difficult to attain. This often separates these buildings from the surrounding Landmark Districts, and therefore creates different standards and changes the rules that everyone else must abide by. Perhaps even the 1987 ordinance requiring religious structure owner consent can be overturned or repealed with the help of our newly elected aldermen, City Council and Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
Additionally, Preservation Chicago supports a Chicago Landmark Designation and/or protections for the orange-rated historic All Saints--St. Anthony Church (Chicago 7 for 2019) designed by architect Henry Schlacks in the Bridgeport community which was also closed in June.
Sample Letter of Support for St. Adalbert Church Chicago Landmark Designation
Date
Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez
25th Ward
1645 S. Blue Island Avenue
Chicago, IL 60608
RE: Chicago Landmark Designation for St. Adalbert Church
Dear Ald. Sigcho-Lopez:
I stand with the St. Adalbert Preservation Society, the Society of St. Adalbert and Preservation Chicago to urge you to Landmark the interior and exterior of the St. Adalbert Church.
The historic significance of this grand church designed by Henry Schlacks meets a number of the criteria to become a Chicago Landmark.
Modeled after one of the four major basilicas in Rome, Henry Schlacks’ magnificent work on this church is impressive, and the Polish parishioners who worshipped at St. Adalbert invested the substantial funds needed to build such an incredible house of worship. The church holds high importance to the Polish community who built the church with its donations and volunteered labor. Both the Polish and Latinx parishioners have been a part of this church over the 105 years since it was built.
Parishioners see St. Adalbert as an anchor in the community – an anchor of faith, family and community. It is a testament to the strength and perseverance that embodies Pilsen.
As a community, we must act collaboratively to protect this architectural masterpiece. We need to make St. Adalbert a Chicago Landmark.
Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to working with your office to advance a Chicago Landmark designation for St. Adalbert.
Sincerely,
Additional Reading:
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THREATENED: Creative Design Competition reimagines long-vacant Guyon Hotel (Chicago 7 2013, 2014 & 2018)
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Hotel Guyon, Jens J. Jensen, 1927, 4000 W. Washington Boulevard. Photo Credit: Gabriel X. Michael
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"A plan to preserve and repurpose West Garfield Park’s 1927 Guyon Hotel building eluded preservationists and developers since it was abandoned in the 1990s. However, a recent design competition by Chicago-based architecture firm CallisonRTKL in collaboration with non-profit group Preservation Chicago hopes to turn things around by offering creative solutions for breathing new life into the historic Moorish Revival style building.
“There were plans to redevelop the building into affordable housing but it hasn’t worked,” said Nicholas Spoor of CallisonRTKL. “For this competition, we encouraged big ideas with the hopes that a developer would see it and consider incorporating a piece or an aspect into future adaptive reuse plans.”
“We want to raise awareness and encourage clever solutions,” said Ward Miller of Preservation Chicago, an organization that named the Guyon Hotel to its annual list of most endangered buildings three times in the last six years. Of the five design submissions, some concepts are more far-fetched such as a rooftop carousel or floors of marijuana grow rooms. However, “a little fantasy and humor is okay,” according to Miller." (Koziarz, 6/14/19)
In addition, a new potential buyer of the Guyon Hotel has emerged with a plan to renovate the structure, restore its exterior facades, and retrofit this building for housing. As one of the tallest and most visible structures in West Garfield Park, a restored Guyon Hotel would be a beacon of hope for the community.
Preservation Chicago is working with this developer to encourage restoration and reuse as part of ongoing efforts to seek a Chicago Landmark Designation for the building. Landmark status would allow access to a number of additional sources of redevelopment funding. We are encouraging city agencies and elected officials, in addition to 28
th
Ward Alderman Jason Ervin, to assist in prioritizing the restoration of the Guyon Hotel and take steps to fill gaps in the redevelopment budget for this important but also costly and challenging, neighborhood building.
Read the full story at Curbed Chicago including the design winners and their renderings
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THREATENED: Adaptive Reuse Options Offered for Lakeside Center at McCormick Place
(Chicago 7 2016)
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Lakeside Center at McCormick Place by C.F. Murphy and architect Gene Summers in 1971. Photo Credit: Lee Bey
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Lakeside Center at McCormick Place by C.F. Murphy and architect Gene Summers in 1971. Photo Credit: ChicagoArchitecture.org
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Lakeside Center at McCormick Place by C.F. Murphy and architect Gene Summers in 1971. Photo Credit: Google Maps
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Bridges at Chicago's Century of Progress World's Fair in 1933 and 1934. Postcard Credit: Chuckman Postcard Collection
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View from Proposed Rooftop Cafe at northeast corner of Lakeside Center at McCormick Place Photo Credit: Google Maps
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With little to no discussion, the Illinois State Senate approved an end-of-session bill that would allow the demolition of Lakeside Center at McCormick Place and the imposition of an expansive new $600 million tax on bars and restaurants in dozens of Chicago neighborhoods. A flurry of media and social media attention brought this issue to light. Fortunately, Mayor Lori Lightfoot quickly released a statement to oppose the proposal prior to the bill being taken up by the Illinois House of Representatives the following day where it was expected to pass. Exposed to light, the bill has been withdrawn. However, the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, the agency that oversees McCormick Place and Navy Pier, and its political allies plan to bring it up again in during the next session.
The loss of Lakeside Center at McCormick Place, situated at 23
rd
Street and the lakefront, would be tragic for Chicago. Lakeside Center is an extraordinary building by architecture firm C.F. Murphy and designers Gene Summers and Helmut Jahn, both acclaimed students of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe at Illinois Institute of Technology. In Lakeside Center they took Mies van der Rohe’s design principles and numerous published design studies by Mies, his office, and his graduate students and applied them on an enormous, convention hall scale. The construction of Lakeside Center was an amazing feat and is on par with the City’s other superstructures of that period, specifically the John Hancock Building and the Sears Tower. However, unlike the vertically oriented Hancock, Sears and Standard Oil Buildings, Lakeside Center is a mammoth horizontal long-span structure. The result was a monumental architectural achievement for Chicago which helped to reinforce Chicago’s title of convention city with the largest roof, convention hall and space-frame structure in the world. The first McCormick Place was destroyed by a fire in 1967 and was a windowless exposition hall dating from 1960 dubbed the “mistake on the lake.” The second and current modernist glass and steel building was designed for the site and construction grand opening was held on January 3, 1971. The building has been featured in the book "Chicago's Famous Buildings" in multiple editions by various editors and scholars over the past 50 years since its construction.
In addition to the building’s architectural significance, it presents a wonderful opportunity for a dynamic adaptive reuse that would return this prominent lakefront location to use by Chicagoans. This building could be an incredible museum site. Additionally, the Lakeside Center could be easily retrofitted into a Mid-South Cultural Center and Field House and anchored by the Arie Crown Theater for cultural and community events. The cavernous space could accommodate a wide variety of first-rate facilities all under one roof. The upper levels of the center could be used for indoor tennis courts, running track, yoga, Zumba and weights, and other recreational uses overlooking Lake Michigan, harbors and parks. The expansive lower level halls could be used for an Olympic-sized swimming pool, basketball courts, climbing walls, squash courts, roller rink, roller derby track and perhaps even a bike velodrome track. The massive rooftop could be greened and activated with a jogging path, tennis courts, and basketball courts. A café located at the northeast corner of the Lakeside Center rooftop would have such incredible, panoramic views of the city and lakefront that it would likely become a must-see destination for locals and tourists alike.
The Lakeside Center as a Mid-South Cultural Center and Field House would be anchored by the Arie Crown Theater for cultural and community events. The Arie Crown Theater is one of the largest theaters in Chicago with seating for 4,250. Only the long-shuttered Uptown Theatre in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood has a larger seating capacity. Additionally, the Arie Crown Theater has been well maintained with a significant renovation in 1997 which reduced the seating capacity, rebuilt the stage and improved the acoustics.
The building’s enormous terrace overlooking Lake Michigan is ideal for activation such as Chicago Summer Dance, music festivals and other outdoor activities under the broad overhang. The historic Humboldt Park Boat House is a great example of the type of successful programming that could activate and enliven this potentially extraordinary community resource.
Located along Chicago's Lakefront Trail, the Mid-South Cultural Center and Field House would be easily accessible to joggers, bikers, rollerbladers and others from Ardmore Street on the North Side to 71st Street on the South Side.
Additionally, Lakeside Center is directly across a narrow channel from Northerly Island Park. Despite its large size and incredible location on a peninsula, this 120-acre park is difficult to access and suffers from low attendance and poor maintenance. A bike and pedestrian bridge could be built directly from Lakeside Center’s expansive terrace to increase access to this neglected Northerly Island Park.
The idea of demolishing a first-class building of great architectural and historical note would be a huge embarrassment for the city and another drain on Chicago’s taxpayers to fund another and bigger windowless convention center on Chicago’s Lakefront. Preservation Chicago applauds Mayor Lightfoot’s decision to slow down the process and encourages McPier, the Chicago Park District and other decision-makers to find a creative way to better integrate the convention center into the daily fabric of Chicago. The Mid-South Cultural Center and Field House would accomplish this.
Other proposed ideas for Lakeside Center include an alternative site for the Obama Presidential Center which would give it a prominent lakefront site on the South Side without destroying or taking public parkland. Also, the idea of a possible casino site has been floated. Another idea is the creation of a Veterans Memorial and Military Museum, similar to a successful museum in a similar structure located in the Netherlands.
Additional Reading
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THREATENED: Czech Athletic Club Buildings Would be Protected by Pilsen Landmark District
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Sokol, 1436-1430 West 18th Street. Photo Credit: Debbie Mercer
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"It’s fitting that the words 'Plzensky Sokol' etched into the stone facade of a vacant building in Pilsen are now covered up by a temporary “For Lease” banner.
"The history and legacy of Sokols, which are buildings that housed Czech social, cultural, and athletic clubs and once thrived in the Chicago area, have largely been forgotten. As a result, dozens of the historic century-old facilities are gradually disappearing.
“A lot of them are being torn down and we’re losing a lot of history,” said Paul Lebloch, a past president of the World Sokol Federation. “It’s sad they don’t honor these historic places and the people who built them.”
"In rapidly gentrifying Pilsen, two endangered Sokol buildings remain: The Plzensky Sokol at 1812 South Ashland Avenue and the Czesky Slavonsky Americky Sokol (C.S.A.S is carved in the arched stone entrance to the building) at 1436-1430 West 18th Street. But they may have an ally in the city of Chicago. Last month, the Chicago Landmarks Commission voted in favor of establishing an official Pilsen Historic District to help preserve a wide swath of the aging Bohemian structures, including both remaining Sokols. The City Council has yet to rule on the final proposal, which would solidify protection for the historic buildings." (Smith, 6/14/19)
Read the full article at Curbed Chicago
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WIN: 3244-3250 W. Bryn Mawr Façade Will Be Incorporated into New Construction
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Proposed Development at 3244-3250 W. Bryn Mawr. Rendering Credit: Tony Trandai Development
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Historic facade of 3244-3250 W. Bryn Mawr, by architect Edward Steinberg in 1930. Photo Credit: Ward Miller / Preservation Chicago
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Historic facade of 3244-3250 W. Bryn Mawr, by architect Edward Steinberg in 1930. Photo Credit: Ward Miller / Preservation Chicago
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Historic facade of 3244-3250 W. Bryn Mawr, by architect Edward Steinberg in 1930. Photo Credit: Ward Miller / Preservation Chicago
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The historic facade of 3244-3250 W. Bryn Mawr Avenue will be saved as part of the new proposed four-story building at the site. The historic building is orange-rated in the Chicago Historic Resources Survey. This rating confirms the historic importance of the building but can only delay demolition for 90 days. The proposed development requires a zoning increase to build a four-story structure.
The Hollywood-North Park Community Association hosted a well-attended community meeting on Monday, July 29. No representatives from 39th Ward Alderman Samantha Nugent's office or City of Chicago were present, so Ward Miller from Preservation Chicago formally asked that the developer commit to saving, restoring and bonding the historic facade with a formal development agreement with the City of Chicago to insure its preservation and setback on the new building. Tony Trandai, the developer, agreed. Preservation Chicago will continue to advocate to the owner/developer to enter into a written agreement with the City to protect the facade and integrate it into the new development.
The architect of the building in 1930 was Edward Steinberg. Steinberg also designed the Bel-Park Theater 3231 N. Cicero Avenue, the now demolished State Theater at 5814 W. Madison, the Genesee Theater in Waukegan and numerous other smaller commercial structures, several of them orange-rated buildings.
Additional Reading
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THREATENED: Chicago Town and Tennis Club / Unity Church Threatened by Expansion of Misericordia Home, under the auspices of the Archdiocese of Chicago and the Sisters of Mercy
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Main Sanctuary, Chicago Town and Tennis Club/Unity Church, 1925 W. Thome Avenue, by George W. Maher in 1925. Photo Credit: Jason Marck / WBEZ
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Main Entry, Chicago Town and Tennis Club/Unity Church, 1925 W. Thome Avenue, by George W. Maher in 1925. Photo Credit: Jason Marck / WBEZ
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Main Foyer, Chicago Town and Tennis Club/Unity Church, 1925 W. Thome Avenue, by George W. Maher in 1925. Photo Credit: Jason Marck / WBEZ
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Gardens, Chicago Town and Tennis Club/Unity Church, 1925 W. Thome Avenue, by George W. Maher in 1925. Photo Credit: Jason Marck / WBEZ
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Chicago Town and Tennis Club Aerial View, 1925 W. Thome Avenue. Photo Credit: Google Maps
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The historic Chicago Town and Tennis Club/Unity Chicago, also known as Unity Church in Chicago and “Unity in Chicago” located at 1925 W. Thome Avenue behind Emerson Park in West Ridge is threatened with demolition. The 3.5-acre site sold in 2018 for $7.5 million to Misericordia Homes which plans to demolish the historic building and construct a residential building to accommodate approximately 100 people with developmental disabilities.
The historic building was designed by Chicago architect George W. Maher in 1925, as the Tudor-Revival Chicago Town and Tennis Club overlooking 16 tennis courts and extensive gardens. The building is orange-rated per the Chicago Historic Resources Survey (CHRS). The tennis club closed and later became an Elks Club before becoming Unity Church. The building was carefully restored by Vinci-Hamp Architects for Unity Church which converted the club dining room into its sanctuary, and other rooms were converted into an art gallery and a social hall. The building has retained much of its original stained glass, tile and plasterwork. On the exterior of the building, original stone carvings depicting a pair of tennis rackets can be seen.
In more recent history, Unity Church was the location where 40 same-sex couples were married on June 1, 2014, the first day same-sex marriage became legal in Illinois. “Among the forty couples getting married or renewing vows…were included one couple that has been married for 60 years. Fifteen couples wed, as 25 renewed vows or expressed commitment. Over 500 people were in attendance to witness the ceremony.” (GoPride.com, 6/1/14)
Ward Miller, Executive Director of Preservation Chicago, has been advocating to convince Misericordia and former 40th Ward Alderman Patrick O’Connor and current 40th Ward Alderman Andre Vasquez to preserve the historic orange-rated building for reuse as a community center and dining hall. To date despite repeated efforts, no calls have been returned and it appears that in true Chicago-style “the fix is in” to destroy this landmark-quality building. We are hopeful that Mayor Lightfoot and DPD-Historic Preservation Staff will intervene and convince Misericordia to reuse this beautiful building as a dining hall and activity center for the many residents of Misericordia’s expansive adjacent facility.
Because the historic building takes up only a small percentage of the expansive 3.5 acre site, we are encouraging Misericordia to construct their new proposed residential buildings elsewhere on the site, specifically on the vast parking lots, tennis courts and, if absolutely necessary, on the gardens.
Hear the full article at WBEZ Chicago
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LOSS: Roseland's St. Nicholas Church/
St. James Temple Demolished
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St. Nicholas Catholic Church/ St. James Temple Church of God after demolition with only tower standing, July 2019. Photo Credit: Ward Miller / Preservation Chicago
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St. Nicholas Catholic Church/ St. James Temple Church of God
before demolition, March 2019. Photo Credit:Ward Miller / Preservation Chicago
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Originally known as St. Nicholas Roman Catholic Church, later known as St. James Temple Church of God, and more recently as Cathedral of Faith M.B. Church has been demolished following an emergency demolition order.
This beautiful church was designed by William J. Brinkmann circa 1901 and was located at 11336 S. State Street in Roseland. After years of vacancy and deferred maintenance, the church’s beautiful exterior brick cladding began to fail. Reports of falling exterior brick near the main entrance was reported in December 2018, January 2019 and again in March 2019. The City of Chicago Department of Buildings sent inspectors and cordoned off the front of the church and sidewalk with caution tape to prevent injury to pedestrians. On July 12, 2019 the building was added to and released from the 90-Day Demolition Delay list.
As of a new report in March 2019, “according to the Chicago Department of Buildings, the historic church is being considered for Landmark status. A representative for the department said there is a live order of demolition for the church, but it hasn’t been rushed because of the possible status.” (CBS 2 Chicago, 3/22/19)
Preservation Chicago had urged officials over time towards reuse ideas and possible protections. As part of any reuse project, Preservation Chicago would have encouraged a Chicago Landmark Designation which could have provided access to Adopt-A-Landmark funds to aid in the stabilization of the church’s masonry. Stabilization would have cost far less than demolition and the Roseland community deserves better than another vacant lot.
This historic church could have be repurposed as a community center, performing arts center, nonprofit incubator or a variety of other uses including supportive housing that would help to bring jobs and vibrancy to Roseland. The building was located in Alderman Carrie Austin’s 34
th
Ward and bordered Alderman Anthony Beale’s 9
th
Ward across State Street.
Additional Reading:
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Gately’s Peoples Store Demolished Following Heartbreaking Fire but Historic Sign to be Saved
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Emergency Demolition of Gately’s Peoples Store in Roseland following Extra-Alarm Fire, 11201 S. Michigan Avenue. Photo Credit: Chicago Fire Department
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"After fire gutted the old Gately’s Peoples Store in Roseland last week, Ald. Anthony A. Beale (9th) said he’s working with members of the Gately family to save the store’s historic neon sign.
“The sign deserves a place in a museum where it can tell our community’s story to present and future generations, and help inspire everyone to work together to make Roseland the thriving and bustling destination it once was,” the neighborhood’s alderman said Monday.
"Beale said he went to the fire Friday and saw Gately family members at the scene. He was already planning to preserve the sign, he said, adding that Gately family members said they would help raise the money to make sure the sign is taken down, preserved and put up at a later date.
"The alderman said he used to shop at the “iconic” store as a kid. It was a one-stop shop, he fondly recalled, calling it an anchor on the Far South Side.
“It’s the history,” Beale said. “We’re preserving history. It’s unfortunate that we had a fire, but we have to make lemonade out of the lemons that we were dealt.” (Boufford, 6/10/19)
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Preservation Chicago Recommends National Park Designation for Chicago Lakeshore
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Chicago Lakefront Parks. Photo Credit: Eric Allix Rogers
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Jackson Park Comfort Station at South Shore Drive and 67th Street by D.H. Burnham with evidence of deferred maintenance. Photo Credit: Eric Allix Rogers
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Chicago Lakefront Trail. Photo Credit: Eric Allix Rogers
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Is it time to designate Chicago’s Lakefront and adjacent parks a National Park?
Chicago’s Lakefront and parks are a precious resource and amenity valued by nearly all Chicagoans, but periodically, politicians mistake these open park spaces as empty vacant sites awaiting development. To protect these priceless green spaces in perpetuity, Preservation Chicago is advocating for a National Park designation for Chicago’s Lakefront and parks.
In 1836, Chicago founding leaders declared our park space to be ‘forever open, clear and free.” Yet precious resources are expended both publicly and privately each time a developer threatens to violate those protections.
The goals of the National Park designation are to:
- Protect our lakefront parks and the legacy of important landscape architects like Frederick Law Olmsted, Calvert Vaux, Daniel Burnham, Edward Bennett, May McAdams, Swain Nelson and Alfred Caldwell from insensitive and heavy-handed plans that could destroy the peoples’ parklands.
- Take the local "politics out of the parks" and redirect innovative development ideas to locations within the Chicago where the developments can be successful. This avoids squandering extensive, city staff resources administering ill-conceived plans that have failed after years of expensive time-consuming court challenges.
- Ensure the parks on the lakefront have good stewardship, and that the National Park Service carries part of the financial and maintenance lift with City of Chicago and Chicago Park District support. Funds are desperately needed to restore the buildings, bridges, roadways and pathways which have suffered from deferred maintenance for more than half a century.
- Protect Chicago’s lakefront parks as an urban retreat for the people of Chicago, Cook County, State of Illinois and national and international visitors.
- Protect the natural landscapes to support the plant, wildlife and migratory birds which inhabit the area.
- Provide protections against inappropriate developments that may adversely and negatively impact important vistas and viewsheds in our openlands and world famous parks.
Vacant land is abundant throughout Chicago, and developers – whether for-profit or non-profit – should be looking to these lands for their future development sites. From the previous attempt to build a George Lucas museum on lakefront property to the current and expensive efforts to build the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park, defenders of Chicago’s lakefront parks have to mobilize in a David and Goliath-like battle against well-funded and politically connected individuals, foundations and developers.
Additional Reading
Make Lakefront National Park, Group Urges, Samantha Smylie, Hyde Park Herald, June 5, 2019 (print only)
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WIN: Motley Elementary School Reopens as Residential Building (Chicago 7 2013)
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John Lothrop Motley School, 739 N. Ada Street, Designed by John J. Flanders in 1884 and with an 1898 addition by Norman Smith Patton. Photo Credit: Chicago Landmarks Designation Report
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"The hulking, red brick John Lothrop Motley School originally opened in West Town in 1884, helping to serve the influx of immigrants coming to the neighborhood. It was later known as Near North Elementary, and served exclusively special education students until 2013, when it became one of the 49 Chicago schools shuttered in the largest round of school closings in U.S history.
"The building is now entering a new chapter, becoming the latest of those shuttered schools to be redeveloped into apartments. It incorporates many pieces of the shuttered school; floors from the school gym, chalkboards from classrooms and transom lights above doorways remain today.
"Now called Motley School Apartments, the building contains 34 new apartments, many of which lie within the walls of previous classrooms. The apartment building is about a block south of Eckhart Park on Chicago Avenue at 739 N. Ada St.
"Svigos Asset Management, a Buffalo Grove-based firm, bought the school in 2015 for $5.1 million. Svigos also bought another shuttered West Town school, Peabody Elementary School, 1444 W. Augusta Blvd., for $3.1 million. The developer previously renovated Mulligan School Apartments in Lincoln Park.
"These developments aren’t easy,” Svigos’ Nick Vittore said. “They rely heavily on Historic Tax Credits and guidance from the city’s Commission on Landmarks." (Alani, Block Club Chicago)
The John Lothrop Motley School designed by noted Chicago architect and Chicago Public Schools Chief Architect John J. Flanders in 1884. An 1898 addition was designed by Norman Smith Patton. The historic building was designated a Chicago Landmark in 2016 as part of a reuse plan for the closed school in this highly desirable community and located across the street from Eckhart Park and Eckhart Park Fieldhouse. Preservation Chicago supported this development throughout the designation process including testimony before the Commission of Chicago Landmarks.
Additional Reading
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WIN: The Auditorium Theatre receives the Outstanding Historic Theatre Award from the League of Historic American Theatres
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Auditorium Theatre, Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler in 1889. Photo Credit: Auditorium Theatre
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Auditorium Theatre, Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler in 1889. Photo Credit: Auditorium Theatre
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"The historic Auditorium Theatre, designed by architects Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler in 1889, was recognized this year for its impressive restorations, which includes replicating Sullivan’s iconic gold stenciling that was painted over decades ago.
"The national and city landmark was presented the award at the League of Historic American Theatres’ annual conference, which is one of the largest gatherings in the industry. Notable past recipients of the award include New York’s City Center and Atlanta’s Fox Theatre.
“The historic Auditorium stood out among an impressive list of nominations to claim the award this year,” said Ken Stein, LHAT President and CEO. “Considering it is one of the great historic preservation projects in the nation, I am surprised it has taken us this long to bestow this award.”
"The 3,900-seat theater is known for its perfect acoustics and innovative architecture. The structure was almost lost after it went bankrupt and closed in 1941. A few years later, Roosevelt University saved the structure from demolition but kept it closed for two decades. In the 1960s enough money was raised to take on the massive restoration, what is now considered one of the largest historic preservation projects in the country." (Freund, Curbed Chicago)
Additional Reading
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WIN: 1308 N. Elston Warehouse Building Converted to Loft Offices
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1308 N. Elston Avenue Adaptive Reuse. Photo Credit: Jacob VanVooren, courtesy Baum Realty
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1308 N. Elston Avenue Adaptive Reuse. Photo Credit: Jacob VanVooren, courtesy Baum Realty
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1308 N. Elston Avenue Adaptive Reuse. Photo Credit: Jacob VanVooren, courtesy Baum Realty
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“The address 1308 N. Elston Avenue may not be familiar to most Chicagoans, but many people can picture the 100-year-old industrial structure standing between the Kennedy Expressway and the Morton Salt shed with its large south-facing billboard.
“It’s one of those buildings that we’ve all passed our entire lives,” says Regina Stilp of Farpoint Development, the Chicago-based firm that recently finished transforming the former light fixture factory into five stories of trendy loft offices.
"The company essentially ‘decorated with demo,’ reducing the old building down to its most basic—and attractive—elements: rustic brick walls, high beamed ceilings, and oversized windows.
“With an adaptive reuse project we always try to find the one key thing that sets a building apart,” explains Stilp. In the case of 1308 N. Elston this feature was the rear loading dock that Farpoint turned into a walled courtyard with new landscaping. The space serves as a building amenity and is a key part of its “unique entry sequence.” (Koziarz, Curbed Chicago)
Read the full article at Curbed Chicago
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LOSS: Four Lakeview Buildings Demolished for New Construction
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Four Buildings located on the 3300 block of Kenmore Avenue, from 1879 to 1898. Demolished July 2019. Photo Credit: Google Street View
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"A row of four 19th-century apartment buildings in Lakeview will be demolished, to be replaced by two 21st century-apartment buildings.
"Of the four buildings, all on the 3300 block of Kenmore Avenue, the oldest dates to 1879 (it’s second from left in the photo) and the youngest to 1898 (it’s at far left), according to the Cook County Assessor. They are all owned by entities associated with ICM Properties, a real estate investment and management firm based nearby on Lincoln Avenue.
"All four buildings were issued demolition permits July 22, according to Chicago Cityscape, which tracks permits and construction in the city. ICM executive Adam Winick has not responded to Crain’s requests for comment.
"Bennett Lawson, chief of staff for Ald. Tom Tunney, in whose 44th Ward the buildings lie, told Crain’s in an email that ICM plans to build two new six-flats on the site and is requesting no variance from the existing zoning. Lawson said “it’s our understanding” that ICM will own and operate the new buildings. Lawson had no other details on the buildings, such as exterior renderings." (Rodkin, 7/25/19)
Read the full article at Crain's Chicago Business
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Maurice Cox
to be appointed Commissioner of Chicago Department of Planning and Development
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Maurice Cox to appointed Commissioner of Chicago Department of Planning and Development. Photo Credit: City of Detroit
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"Mayor Lori Lightfoot made it official: Detroit’s director of planning and the former mayor of Charlottesville, Va., will lead Chicago’s “comprehensive growth and sustainability efforts” at City Hall's Planning & Development Department.
"Maurice Cox 'is uniquely qualified to help create a city where development addresses the fundamental needs of every neighborhood so that Chicago benefits and equitably works for all its residents,” Lightfoot said in a statement. His appointment will be formally filed at the next City Council meeting in September.'
"Cox replaces acting Commissioner Eleanor Gorski, who will continue as first deputy. Gorski replaced David Reifman, who served during Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s tenure." (Quig, Crain's Chicago Business, 8/7/19)
"Architect Magazine described Cox in October 2016 as "the Detroit's highest-profile planning director since Charles Blessing, who in the 1960s dreamed up a modernist remake of the city that was never implemented."
"In his time in the city, Cox came to be known in the development community as having a strong eye for design and a willingness to demand developers and architects to go back to the drawing board if he didn't approve of their concepts.
"I think Maurice was an advocate for the city and the city's aesthetic long-term in a way that a lot of people don't see. I think he has taken a long view of what the city should look like. He has also been an advocate for equitable development, ensuring that developers who have historically been ignored or pushed to the sideline have an opportunity and a voice," said Clifford Brown, managing partner of Detroit-based developer Woodborn Partners LLC to Crain's. (Crain's, 7/19/19)
Additional Reading
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Lois Wille, trailblazing Chicago reporter and editorial writer, winner of two Pulitzers, dies at 87
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Lois Wille, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and former editorial page editor of the Chicago Tribune. Photo Credit: Chicago Tribune archive photo
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“Her admirers too numerous to count and her influence on this city as deep and profound as that of any elected official, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lois Wille was a trailblazer of immense talent, fortitude and considerable charm.
“She worked for more than three decades as a reporter and editor for the Chicago Daily News, Sun-Times and Tribune. When she retired from the Tribune in 1991, her longtime close friend and colleague Mike Royko said, ‘Lois Wille has absolutely no weaknesses as a journalist.’
“She distinguished herself by her palpable desire to right wrongs and improve life for Chicagoans. To read her was to grasp that aim but also her intelligence, dogged reporting skills and stylish way with words.
“During these years she also found the time to write the definitive history of one of the city’s most cherished natural attributes, “Forever Open, Clear, and Free: The Struggle for Chicago’s Lakefront.” Highly praised when it came out in 1972 and again when reissued in 1991, it was called by Architectural Forum, ‘A thoroughly fascinating and well-documented narrative which draws the reader into the sights, smells and sounds of Chicago’s story.’
“Lois wrote brilliantly and insightfully about the lakefront, opening our eyes to its majestic beauty and the struggle it took to make it a great public space," said Pulitzer Prize-winning Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin. "She was an inspiration to me and to scores of Chicago journalists. We stood on her very broad shoulders.”
Read the full article at
Additional Reading
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90-Day Demolition Delay List Highlights
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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). 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.
Additional Reading
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Address:
16 W. Maple St.
#100817848
Date Received: 05/23/2019
Ward: 2
Applicant: Taylor Excavating & Construction, Inc.
Owner: Twelve West Maple, LLC
Permit Description: Demolition and removal of an existing four-story, multi-unit, mixed-use masonry building.
Status: Under review
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LOSS: “Spotlight on Demolition”
1739 W. Julian Street, Wicker Park
3755 N. Grace Street, Irving Park
1928 N. Cleveland Avenue, Old Town
2224 N. Halsted Street, Lincoln Park
1141 W. Lill Avenue, Lincoln Park
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“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
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3755 N. Grace Street. Demolished July 2019. Photo Credit: Marc Goostein
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1928 N. Cleveland Avenue. Demolished July 2019. Photo Credit: Realtor.com
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1928 N. Cleveland Avenue. Demolished July 2019. Photo Credit: Realtor.com
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3630 N Claremont Avenue. Demolished July 2019. Photo Credit: Google Maps
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1141 W Lill Avenue, Lincoln Park, Demolished July 2019. Photo Credit: Coldwell Banker
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1141 W Lill Avenue Foyer, Lincoln Park, Demolished July 2019. Photo Credit: Coldwell Banker
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Watch: What we lose when we lose the Thompson Center
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VIDEO: What we lose when we lose the Thompson Center, A video portrait by AJ LaTrace, June 20, 2019. Photo Credit: AJ LaTrace
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"The James R. Thompson Center, also known as the State of Illinois Building, is one of Chicago's greatest public spaces, and one of the most ambitious and awe-inspiring postmodern buildings in the world. Completed in the mid-1980s, the dynamic building was designed to inspire confidence and optimism for a more transparent government and represents a reimagined take on the traditional civic space with a grand contemporary atrium that stirs the imagination and soul. The site is being sold by the State of Illinois for redevelopment, which many understand to mean a likely demolition of the building."
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Watch: The Streetscape Symphony of Chicago’s Brick Buildings
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Chicago Tonight: The Streetscape Symphony of Chicago’s Brick Buildings. Photo Credit: WTTW Chicago Tonight
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"From houses of worship to working class homes and apartment buildings to park field houses, brick built Chicago. And brick enthusiast Will Quam believes Chicago is one of the nation’s best showcases for all that a brick can do."
"'I like to say bricks are like brushstrokes or like pixels: the more bricks you have and the more varied colors, it’s like having a huge painting full of all these diverse little brushstrokes, like a Van Gogh'.”
"Chicago’s status as a railroad hub meant that, once brick manufacturing became increasingly industrialized across the country, all sorts of bricks passed through Chicago, allowing it to become a center for brick architecture. 'To me the real golden age of brick is from about 1905 to 1930, and that’s when you start seeing Chicago pulling in a lot of brick from all around the country, so you get these buildings built in the 1920s that just have incredible brick work, incredible brick design and brick colors all over them'.”
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Read: The Chicago Bungalow's Enduring Legacy
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Chicago Bungalow Belt.
Photo Credit:
Debbie Mercer
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"Chicago’s neighborhoods each have a unique character, yet there are common threads running throughout that make them look and feel like a distinctly Chicagoan community. The bungalow is one of those threads.
"Chicago bungalows were largely influenced by the Prairie School, a style of architecture associated with Frank Lloyd Wright and a number of his contemporaries. The homes were affordable, yet they were reflective of an emerging American style, distinct from other styles that drew heavily upon European architecture for inspiration. From 1910 to about 1929, bungalows were built all over the city.
“[Bungalows] are the bulk of our housing stock,” says Tom Drebenstedt, a Chicago Architecture Center docent. “There are 80,000 of these scattered throughout the city." Many of these homes are nearly a century old, and they remain a significant piece of Chicago’s architectural legacy.
“The bungalow represents the beginning of a modern movement toward bigger and accommodations with a little more volume and scale to them, but still took advantage of the standard Chicago lot,” says Ward Miller, executive director of Preservation Chicago.
"'The Chicago bungalow first entered the scene around 1910. Its predecessor, the worker’s cottage, was slightly more utilitarian, according to Miller. 'It became so economical and so popular that entire blocks of the city, especially in areas of the South Side, Northwest Side, and Far West Side, found themselves to be almost block after block of these bungalows'.” (Pallardy, 8/1/19)
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Mark your calendars for upcoming
Preservation Chicago Events
- August 10 Woodlawn Walk (SOLD OUT)
- August 11 Record Row Tour
- August 17 Chicago 7 Bus Tour
- August 24 Roseland Historic Property Survey
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Preservation Chicago Woodlawn/Jackson Park Historic Walking Tour
Saturday, August 10
8:30 to 11:30 a.m.
Join Woodlawn historic Mike Medina and Preservation Chicago's Ward Miller on a historic walking tour of the Woodlawn and Jackson Park.
Free Tickets - SOLD OUT
Preservation Chicago does having a waiting list for this tour in the event any registered participants cannot attend. Email Mary Lu Seidel if you would like to be added to that waiting list –
mseidel@preservationchicago.org
Record Row Tour
Sunday, August 11
3 to 6 p.m.
This tour will share some insight and discuss the music history during the 1950s and 1960s in Chicago which was a major influence in the development of rock and roll, R&B and soul music. Originally located on South Cottage Grove, Chicago’s Record Row was relocated to South Michigan in the 1950s where record labels and up to 21 record distributors where located and up to half a dozen independent recording studios included companies such as Chess Recording (founded as Aristocrat in 1947), Chance (1950), United (1952), and Vee-Jay (1953), who helped to spread urban blues, rhythm and blues, and soul music popularity nationally and internationally.
Chicago’s Record Row also became the production, distribution and marketing center for a new sound and style of music. One notable studio, now a museum, included Chess Records which created a unique sound of recording called the “Chess Sound.” Recording artist such as Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, Little Walter and Jimmy Rogers produced a number of hits. Other artists were the great Etta James, Willie Dixon and The Rolling Stones.
The tour will also discuss other early independent recording studios and record distributors and share some of the stories on how they influenced the music industry and in some ways provided an avenue for Black professionals to emerge within the industry and a segregated society.
Tour guide Edward Torrez is an architect and president at Bauer Latoza Studio Ltd., located in Chicago and has been specializing in historic preservation, adaptive reuse, rehabilitation and urban planning projects in Indiana, Texas, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Illinois for almost 30 years. Coincidently, his firm restored the site of Chess Records (now Blues Heaven Foundation) over 20 years ago. Ed also studied music and is a professional musician having toured and performed in numerous venues both locally and nationally.
Email Mary Lu Seidel if you would like to attend – mseidel@preservationchicago.org
Roseland Historic Property Survey
Saturday, August 24
Roseland’s incredible history has been slowly erased by demolition, deterioration and fire. Join us on August 24 as we organize to change that.
The event will take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. starting off at The Ware Ranch at 11147 S. Michigan Avenue.
We will survey properties along Michigan Avenue, State Street and Indiana Avenue between 103rd Street and 116th Street.
Volunteers need a smartphone to download the
surveying app for quick and easy surveying.
https://roseland20190720.eventbrite.com
It is important that you register for this event so:
1. We know how much food to order; and
You can make a difference in Roseland. We hope to see you on August 24!
For more information, please contact Andrea Reed at 773-785-4000 or Mary Lu Seidel at 224-622-1375.
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Chicago Vocational School, 2100 E. 87th Street, Architect John Christensen, 1941. Photo Credit: Lee Bey
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Chicago Vocational School, 2100 E. 87th Street, Architect John Christensen, 1941. Photo Credit: Lee Bey
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A Chicago Landmark designation for the Chicago Vocational School will significantly help the Avalon Park neighborhood:
- Create tourism revenue and increase their property value to allocate for development and community upgrades.
- Validate the rich history that our district and school had while educating the nation of their unique role in World War II and contribution to American Architecture.
- Support the potential eligibility for grants, tax credits, and other opportunities to maintain its historic character and contribute to beautifying the neighborhood.
Construction began on the Art Moderne Chicago Vocational School in 1939, and it was opened in 1941. Costs for construction were funded by the Works Progress Administration. During World War II the vocational school served the war effort and it trained many United States Navy mechanics.
"Chicago Vocational's original concept was revolutionary. The school system figured out the world of the 1940s and beyond would need more machinists, auto mechanics, electricians, architectural draftsmen, food service experts, sheet metal workers, complex printing machine operators–and more–so they built a school to fill the need. The school was built for 6,000 students, all male, originally, who would graduate with certificates proving they were work-ready." (WBEZ, Bey)
"The interior ornament incorporated Art Deco influences, while the exterior was fashioned in the Art Moderne style. The mostly unadorned stone façade incorporated a series of bas relief sculpted panels depicting individual trades taught at the school. Chicago Vocational School would lead an era of modernism in the Chicago Public Schools." (Context Statement, Bauer Latoza Studio)
Additional Reading
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Petition: Halt the Demolition of One of Bronzeville's Historic Substations
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ComEd Substation, Herman von Volst, 626 E. 40th Street, 1931. Photo Credit: Google Street View
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Built in 1931, the ComEd substation at 626 E. 40th Street once provided power for the now-defunct Kenwood L line. Designated as possessing potential significance in the context of the surrounding community during the Chicago Historic Resources Survey, the substation’s demolition permit reached
the end of its 90-day hold on January 31, 2019. ComEd has not yet confirmed its intentions for this site.
Without intervention, Bronzeville could lose another beautiful monument to its rich history. Preservation Chicago is actively engaging in conversations with ComEd, the community and decisionmakers to save this historic building and return it to a vibrant use.
We urge ComEd to halt the demolition of its Herman von Volst-designed substation at 626 E. 40th Street in Chicago and work with the community and neighborhood leaders to find a preservation-sensitive use for the historic building.
Additional Reading
Crain’s Chicago Business published an op-ed in where an elevated linear trail similar to the 606 is proposed for the South Side on abandoned railway embankments. It suggest that this ComEd substation as an access point and park space.
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LOST CHICAGO...BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
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Grand Central Station, Chicago
by Solon S. Beman
Built 1890, Demolished 1971
Photos by Richard Nickel
Art Institute of Chicago Archival Image Collection
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Grand Central Station Tower, Chicago, by Solon S. Beman. Built in 1890. Demolished in 1971. Historic Photo Credit: Richard Nickel Archive, Art Institute of Chicago Archival Image Collection.
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Grand Central Station, Chicago, Harrison Street Facade, by Solon S. Beman. Built in 1890. Demolished in 1971. Historic Photo Credit: Richard Nickel Archive, Art Institute of Chicago Archival Image Collection.
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Grand Central Station Tower with 13-foot dial grand clock, one of the largest in the US, Chicago, by Solon S. Beman. Built in 1890. Demolished in 1971. Historic Photo Credit: Richard Nickel Archive, Art Institute of Chicago Archival Image Collection.
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Grand Central Station, Chicago, Harrison Street Facade, by Solon S. Beman. Built in 1890. Demolished in 1971. Historic Photo Credit: Richard Nickel Archive, Art Institute of Chicago Archival Image Collection.
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Grand Central Station, Chicago, Harrison Street Facade, by Solon S. Beman. Built in 1890. Demolished in 1971. Historic Photo Credit: Richard Nickel Archive, Art Institute of Chicago Archival Image Collection.
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Grand Central Station, Chicago, Base of Tower, by Solon S. Beman. Built in 1890. Demolished in 1971. Historic Photo Credit: Richard Nickel Archive, Art Institute of Chicago Archival Image Collection.
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Grand Central Station, Chicago, Harrison Street Entrance, by Solon S. Beman. Built in 1890. Demolished in 1971. Historic Photo Credit: Richard Nickel Archive, Art Institute of Chicago Archival Image Collection.
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Grand Central Station, Chicago, Waiting Room, by Solon S. Beman. Built in 1890. Demolished in 1971. Historic Photo Credit: Richard Nickel Archive, Art Institute of Chicago Archival Image Collection.
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Grand Central Station, Chicago, Entrance to Restaurant, by Solon S. Beman. Built in 1890. Demolished in 1971. Historic Photo Credit: Richard Nickel Archive, Art Institute of Chicago Archival Image Collection.
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Grand Central Station, Chicago, Train Shed, by Solon S. Beman. Built in 1890. Demolished in 1971. Historic Photo Credit: Richard Nickel Archive, Art Institute of Chicago Archival Image Collection.
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Vacant lot at SW corner of S. Wells Street and W. Harrison Street at the site of Grand Central Station, Chicago. Following demolition in 1971, the Grand Central Station site remained vacant for nearly 50 years until 2019. Photo Credit: Google Street View
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Grand Central Station, Chicago
Architect: Solon S. Beman
Location: Southwest corner of S. Wells and W. Harrison Streets
Built: 1890
Demolished: 1971
"Architecturally, no other Chicago station approached Solon S. Beman's monumental Grant Central of 1890. Its Norman tower, rising 247 feet at the corner of Harrison and Wells Streets, contained an 11,000-pound bell to warn travellers of the time, and its iron-and-glass train shed was one of the marvels of nineteenth-century engineering. The station also housed a deluxe hotel and was the departure point for the Baltimore & Ohio's all-Pullman Capital Limited, the favored transport of Washington-bound Midwest politicians. The prominent Chicago architect Harry Weese called the razing of Grand Central Station in 1971 an act of "wanton destruction"." (Lost Chicago, David Lowe, page 57)
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Austin’s Pink House GoFundMe Campaign
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Austin's iconic pink and white house in the 500 block of N. Central Avenue. Photo Credit: Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune
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Built in 1894, the Pink and White House sits on the corner of Central and Ohio, in Chicagoland’s Austin neighborhood, on the city's West Side. The home was purchased in 1986 by a Minister and a Chicago public school teacher, the parents of current resident Yolanda Anderson. When the Anderson's purchased the home, they dedicated endless efforts, both financially and physically, to restore the property to it's fullest potential. As a family, the Anderson's decided on the dynamic color of pink, because they believe it signifies love. This home color has made it the unique staple in Austin.
While the home was in great despair when it was first purchased, the family worked diligently to update the home to fit their needs, while preserving the integrity of the original construction. Yolanda's father, Reverend Anderson, tended to the many needs that this older home required. However, in 2015, his heath unexpectedly declined, shifting the family's focus and support to his needs, and not the needs of the home. The Reverend's passing in 2017 prompted the home's quick and significant decline, diluting the home's historic integrity.
Now, unfortunately, Yolanda Anderson and her mother, Wilhelmina, have found themselves in a very difficult position as they are not in the financial position to tend to the copious repairs that this iconic home needs.
The famous home is recognized on social media outlets as a must see. "You have not been on the West Side of Chicago, until you have seen the Pink and White House." The controversy the unique color creates has led the home to be a landmark of creativity and curiosity in not only the Austin community, but the entire City of Chicago. The Illinois Humanities Association featured the house at the Austin Town Hall, and the Cultural Center in a Creative Expo, as one of the homes showcasing Chicagoland’s creative buildings, that have inspired the community. The pink and white house was covered on a 91.5 F.M WBEZ radio broadcast, and has been a featured article in the Austin Weekly. It was also used as a location for a photo shoot which is featured in “The Fall,” a UK magazine.
Despite having applied for several grant programs, the family has had no success in their public pleas to preserve the home. While this has been undoubtedly discouraging, the tight knit family has depended on their faith, and one other to maintain positive.
I humbly ask that you contribute anything you can to preserve this iconic neighborhood staple. Every little bit helps, and I can not think of any family more deserving of help than the Anderson's. It has been an absolute pleasure to work with them as their real estate agent when they made the difficult and emotional decision to sell their family home. Now, as a friend, as the home is taken off the market, I hope to aid them in finding the funding to restore this one-of-a-kind home.
Thank you for your time and consideration. Let's save the pink and white house!
Jeanne Keating, Realtor
Nora Thompson, unlicensed assistant
The Anderson Family (Yolanda & Wilhelmina)
Additional Reading
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If You Value Preservation In Chicago...
Please Support
Preservation Chicago
!
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Demolition of Crawford Power Station, by Graham, Anderson, Probst and White, built 1926. Demolished May 2019. Photo Credit: Mary Lu Seidel / Preservation Chicago
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- Be Heard! Attend community meetings and make your voice heard!
THANK YOU from your friends at Preservation Chicago!
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