Former Montgomery Ward Administration Building, 1909 with tower addition in 1929, Schmidt, Garden and Martin, 618 W. Chicago Avenue. Photo by Joshua Mellin 

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Preservation Chicago seeks to nurture and support healthy, vibrant, diverse, and sustainable communities by leveraging the power of Chicago’s historic built environment. The path is long and steep, but we are making real and tangible progress.

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"The oldest house in the Austin neighborhood is on its way to becoming an official Chicago landmark. The 152-year-old Seth Warner house located at 631 N. Central Ave. — built in 1869 as a gentleman’s farm — received unanimous approval Thursday from the Commission on Chicago Landmarks in its bid for landmark status. Next stop is City Council’s Zoning Committee and then a full council vote.

"'It’s an integral part of the great Chicago story,' said Max Chavez of Preservation Chicago, who spoke in favor of the landmark designation.

"Apart from predating the Great Fire of 1871, itself a rarity among Chicago landmarks, there are layers upon layers of heritage associated with the opulent house. Warner himself was a fascinating figure, according to preservationists, establishing one of the city’s first music venues, Warner Hall, where he frequently hosted abolitionist meetings.

"In choosing Austin for his grand home, he lured other 'pioneers' to what was then the hinterlands. Today, the house stands as a reminder of the community’s rural roots. At one point, the house was converted to a hotel during the famed 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, and between the 1920s and 1970s served as the base for various music schools.

"Owner Jim Bowers said he and his wife 'probably bit off more than we could chew' in purchasing the house, which is in an ongoing state of restoration, with scaffolding visible on the second floor. Still, he said he remains 'blown away' by the beauty of the home’s original light fixtures, marble fireplaces and walnut woodwork. The hope, he said, is that the landmark status will draw attention to and spark further interest and investment in Austin.

"'It’s truly a slam dunk of a landmark designation,' said Lisa Dichiera of Landmarks Illinois, speaking in support of the building’s application. As Dichiera noted, the Warner house is one of Chicago’s few 'red-rated' buildings not already landmarked. The red rating was assigned to just 300 buildings in the 1995 Chicago Historic Resources Survey, denoting properties of architectural or historical significance in the broader context of the city, state or country." (Wetli, WTTW Chicago, 12/2/21)

We are thrilled by this outcome. Preservation Chicago has been diligently working towards the Chicago Landmark Designation of the Seth Warner House for many years. Our increased organizing and advocacy in Austin centered around the very early coach house at 710 N Lotus Avenue help to build the necessary momentum to galvanize the support of all stakeholders and decision makers. To accelerate the process, Preservation Chicago contributed to the research and writing necessary to generate the Landmark Designation Report.

Bravo to owners Jim Bowers and Cynthia Weaver for making the decision to pursue a Landmark Designation. They are outstanding stewards of this early and important Chicago home. Hopefully this Landmark Designation will support their ongoing restoration efforts. We also hope that their leadership will encourage neighbors in Austin to consider a Landmark District to protect many of the other early homes nearby.

"A Pullman church, a Kenwood synagogue and two homes associated with the Great Migration of Black Americans to Chicago are among 12 recipients that are tentatively selected for Adopt-A-Landmark grants, Department of Planning and Development (DPD), Commissioner Maurice Cox announced today.

"Valued at more than $4.3 million, the tentative grant awards are the largest to be allocated in support of planned restoration projects since the Adopt-A-Landmark program debuted in 2016.

"'Under the leadership of Mayor Lightfoot, this round of grant awards is focusing on neighborhood-scale buildings and structures that help define who we are as a city,' Commissioner Cox said. 'Whether it’s for a house of worship, a corner commercial building, or a neighborhood tavern, the grants will help preserve these structures for generations of neighborhood residents to come.'

"Financed by downtown construction projects through the Neighborhood Opportunity Bonus system, the awards are made available to individual Landmarks and Landmark District buildings on an annual basis. The awardees include:

"The selected recipients and their respective projects will be subject to additional review and approval by the Commission’s Permit Review Committee and the full Landmarks Commission. Grants that exceed $250,000 will also require review and approval by City Council.

"The 12 projects were selected from 16 applications received by DPD staff this summer. Awards were determined based on project viability, neighborhood needs, project scope, and other factors.

"Previous projects recommended for Adopt-a-Landmark grants include the On Leong Merchants Association in Chinatown, the Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church in Logan Square, and an artist loft development in Pullman." (City of Chicago, 11/22/21)

Preservation Chicago is thrilled by this news. We assisted in the landmark designation of several of these properties and advocated for others over a period of many years. Over the years, we have worked closely with man of the property owners and stakeholders with Chicago Landmark designation and supported them throughout the process. During landmark designation process, we organize community and decisionmaker support. We provided testimony in support of designation, and in some instances, even provided the research and writing for the Landmark Designation Report.

While we do everything we can to support property owners and stakeholders, the awarding of Adopt-a-Landmark grants is the responsibility of the City of Chicago. We fully support this important source of restoration funding for designated Chicago Landmarks. We strongly applaud the City of Chicago for increasing the total number of grants and total dollars awarded. These are essential funds to support some of Chicago's most cherished Landmarks. We encourage the City of Chicago to increase the funding eligible for Adopt-a-Landmark grants and to continue to increase Adopt-a-Landmark grants in the years to come.

"Key staff in Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration might concentrate on just two rules: Keep it simple, and keep it accessible. Those two factors will decide how quickly the city and its threadbare pension funds can start seeing revenue, and whether large crowds will hit the gaming positions and entertainment venues, maximizing the potential income. Officials are shooting for annual tax revenue of $200 million.

"On that basis, some insiders believe the casino competition boils down to Neil Bluhm versus Neil Bluhm.

"The head of Chicago-based Rush Street Gaming and owner of the lucrative Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, Bluhm is behind two proposals, either of which could benefit from few complications and a quick start. With the firm Related Midwest, Bluhm wants a casino on vacant acreage in the development site known as The 78, running southwest from Roosevelt and Clark.

"It’s close to downtown, and the land is shovel-ready. But Bluhm has hedged his bets, offering on his own a casino plan for the existing Lakeside Center at McCormick Place, the oldest building at the convention complex and the one least utilized. It’s got parking already there and vast floors ready for slots and table games.

"'I think everybody sees this as Neil Bluhm’s game to lose. Lakeside Center is probably the city’s lowest-risk choice,' said a developer with no direct interest in the casino outcome." (Roeder and Spielman, Chicago Sun-Times, 11/21/21)

"Chicagoans will get their first look at the details of the five proposals at a meeting set for Dec. 16 to give each team a chance to make their pitch for their proposal while a team of city officials from a cross section of departments and consultants weigh the plans and make a recommendation to Mayor Lori Lightfoot, setting up a final pick in early 2022.

"The Rush Street Gaming $1.3 billion proposal at McCormick Place would feature seven restaurants, a food hall, four bars and a renovated 4,200-seat Arie Crown Theater as well as at least 2,900 hotel rooms, officials said. In addition to access to the convention center at McCormick Place, the “dramatic Lakefront” casino will offer 2,600 slots and 190 table games.

"If that proposal is selected by Lightfoot — and approved by the Chicago City Council and ratified by the Illinois Gaming Board — there would be no need for a temporary casino, since it could open almost immediately, according to Rush Street Gaming." (Cherone, WTTW Chicago, 11/19/21)

"McCormick Place’s Lakeside Center would become the 'gem' of a south lakefront entertainment district under a proposal to transform the 50-year-old structure into Chicago’s mega-casino.

"A group of developers who are already behind a $4 billion redevelopment of the former Michael Reese Hospital site near Bronzeville said Wednesday they’re ready to go all in with another billion-dollar investment to turn the 'iconic' but 'sparsely used' convention space into an 'entertainment mecca.'

"For years, we’ve been talking about how do we revitalize this thing, even way, way, way before the casino was in the lexicon here,' said Scott Goodman, founding principal of Farpoint Development. 'Bringing more and more people to the lakefront has always been a goal of ours, and we think this is something that will help do that.'

"Goodman’s firm is partnered with McLaurin Development and the nonprofit Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives on the Lakeside Center proposal, which was one of five bids submitted to Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office last week to launch the big-city casino that officials and developers alike have coveted for decades. The developers say minority investors will have a 25% ownership stake.

"Also in on the Lakeside Center proposal is billionaire casino mogul Neil Bluhm and his Rush Street Gaming company, which already runs Illinois’ most lucrative casino — Rivers Casino in Des Plaines — and which is hedging bets with different partners on a separate casino bid at another South Loop site.

"'Clearly, [Bluhm’s] got competing interests because he’s in two bids, but we are very confident in our bid,' Goodman said. 'We think that with all objectivity, we check as many boxes as are capable of being checked.'

"Their Lakeside plan calls for 'significant capital improvements' to the aging facility, which has only hosted a handful of large shows over the past few years, but has the “perfect” dimensions for a casino, Goodman said.

"The so-called Rivers Chicago McCormick would include indoor and outdoor entertainment spaces plus bars and restaurants, as part of a roughly $1 billion plan that would create a 'tremendous residual domino effect' of economic growth for the Cermak Road district near McCormick Place, developer Zeb McLaurin said. (Armentrout, Chicago Sun-Times, 11/3/21)

"Financial experts have estimated the casino would generate up to $6.6 billion in annual revenue, with direct tax revenue of $3-4 billion to the city and state. All this new revenue could help lead Illinois and Chicago back to fiscal stability." (DeBat, Loop North News, 11/31/21)

If a casino will be built in Chicago, Preservation Chicago strongly supports the adaptive reuse of Lakeside Center for use as the Chicago Casino. Other complementary uses include and Park District fieldhouse, or arts and cultural center. If the Chicago Casino were to be located at Lakeside Center, perhaps the proposal could accommodate and support all three uses.

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 the 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 Hancock Building roof is 1,128 feet tall while Lakeside Center is 1,366 feet wide. 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 was, and perhaps still is, the largest space-frame structure in the world. To provide some relative scale, a football field, including end zones, is 1.3 acres. Lakeside Center's rooftop is 19 acres.

Lakeside Center was a model convention facility that influenced architect I. M. Pei, when designing the Javits Center’s glass convention halls in New York City, decades later. 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. Prior to the current Lakeside Center glass and steel building, the earlier convention building was a windowless exposition hall, dubbed the “mistake on the lake”, erected hastily in 1960 and destroyed by fire in 1967. In reaction to solid block walls on the lakefront, the replacement Lakeside Center building was a modernist steel and glass building designed to optimize the location. and construction grand opening was held on January 3, 1971.

Other proposed ideas for Lakeside Center by architecture critic and photographer Lee Bey in 2015 was the creation of a Veterans Memorial and Military Museum, similar to the successful Nationaal Militair Museum in a highly similar structure located in Soesterberg, Netherlands.

Lakeside Center is perfect site for pop-up casino, with the city drowning in pension fund debt and desperate for gambling tax cash, the only logical casino choice is Lakeside Center – the original McCormick Place East, Don DeBat, Loop North News, 11/31/21

More details on Chicago casino bidders—and how the Bears factor in: As the Bears eye the suburbs, several bidders propose putting a Chicago casino a stone's throw from Soldier Field. Here are the latest details on the gambling bids and how the NFL team's moves might make a difference. Greg Hinz, Crain's Chicago Business, 11/2/21

"In the coming years, the iconic Laramie State Bank building will be transformed into a museum, a business incubator and a café. But before that can begin, the building needs emergency repairs to protect its historical architecture from weather damage and deterioration from years of deferred maintenance.

"The redevelopment of Laramie State Bank, 5200 W. Chicago Ave., is meant to be an anchor for public and private investment in Austin as part of the Mayor’s Invest South/West initiative. The $37.5 million plan, led by Oak Park Regional Housing and Heartland Alliance, will preserve the vacant building while rehabbing it to suit the needs of the neighborhoods.

"But the building has been unused since it was foreclosed in 2012, and its interior has extensive water damage that has destroyed most ceilings, walls and floors, and it is littered with debris.

"To make way for the development, a Cook County judge ordered an emergency stabilization project on the 92-year-old building in October. The court appointed an asset management company, CNR Advisors, to complete the repairs and prevent losses in property value and negative impacts to the neighborhood. The work will cost $500,000, which will be funded with revenues from the Austin Commercial Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District.

"'The Laramie Bank building is a Chicago treasure,' said Maurice Cox, commissioner of the city’s Department of Planning and Development. 'The stabilization work will prepare the building for winter and ensure it remains a West Side icon for generations to come.'

"Redevelopment plans include several lots surrounding the old bank building, which will be developed into 72 units of mixed-income housing. There will also be a courtyard between the bank building and the housing complex that will include a community plaza, gardens and public art installations, developers said.

"Despite many deferred maintenance issues, the former bank’s art deco architecture and long history in the area has made it a designated Chicago landmark since 1995. The bank’s exterior features an Egyptian-style design with yellow and cream-colored terra cotta details on the facade.

"'There is literally nothing like it anywhere else in Chicago. … It will be a fitting anchor to the evolving soul city corridor,' Cox said. (Sabino, Block Club Chicago, 11/11/21)

"City officials today announced the winning bidders poised to develop a trio of mixed-use projects in the neighborhoods totaling $126 million. It's the third batch of developments chosen by the city's Planning Department under Lightfoot's two-year-old program to steer $750 million in public funding and resources into 10 designated South and West Side neighborhoods.

"A lack of financial backing has historically hamstrung projects like those selected as part of Invest South/West, given investors' reticence to plow money into neighborhoods suffering from population loss, poverty, inadequate housing and fleeting retailers. The city has lined up a menu of options to help grease the skids for Invest South/West projects, including tax-increment financing, public funds for small business grants and other sweeteners to help get developers to complete projects.

"Planning Commissioner Maurice Cox said he's been pleased with the 'pipeline" of projects lined up through Invest South/West, but "now our challenge is to get these projects ready," he said.

"'I think we've turned a corner on people's question of, 'If you solicit equitable development (in blighted neighborhoods), will they come?' The answer is they will come, and I think it's a new day for development on the South and West sides,' Cox said. 'We're trying to build the rooftops to support the locally serving retail that we're anchoring on the corridor,' he said.

"A group led by Chicago-based Park Row Development and JGMA Architects is behind 'Team Pioneros,' which plans to renovate the landmark Pioneer Bank building at North Avenue and Pulaski Road to include an entrepreneurial incubator space, a Latino cultural center and office space for JGMA.

"A parking lot immediately north of the building would be developed with the site's most striking feature: A nine-story, 75-unit apartment building made up entirely of affordable units, offices for Humboldt Park Family Health and a potential Chicago Public Library branch.

"The site is eligible for tax increment financing funding, and a developer could receive New Markets Tax Credits and historic tax credits related to the Pioneer Bank building. The full project is estimated to cost $53.9 million, which would be the most expensive project selected so far from Invest South/West RFPs." (Ecker, Crain's Chicago Business, 11/18/21)

Preservation Chicago strongly supports the City of Chicago's Invest South/West program which has proactively identified architecturally significant buildings located in communities of disinvestment. The program focuses the resources of the City of Chicago to stabilize communities and promote healthy communities by leveraging the power of historic preservation.

The final plans should include preservation and restoration of the interior main great lobby hall of the Pioneer Bank. It would be great to see a community or cultural use such as a library in this wonderful space.

This is an ideal development project for INVEST South/West and we strongly applaud Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Department of Planning and Development Commissioner Maurice Cox for selecting Pioneer Bank for the program. We recognize and applaud their strong leadership in ensuring a outstanding outcome for the building and community, and their commitment and efforts to strongly reinvest in Chicago's neighborhoods.

Preservation Chicago has been concerned about the cluster of historic buildings at the intersection of North Avenue and Pulaski for many years including the Pioneer Bank at 4000 W. North Avenue, the Pioneer Arcade at 1535 N. Pulaski Road, and the New Apollo Theater at 1536 N. Pulaski Road. All three architecturally significant buildings have suffered from deferred maintenance and long periods of vacancy.

Despite its lengthy vacancy, the Pioneer Bank was not included as a Chicago 7 Most Endangered because it was protected by a Chicago Landmark Designation. Neither the Pioneer Arcade nor the New Apollo Theater are landmarked and are at significant risk of demolition.

We hope the successful adaptive reuse of the Pioneer Bank is followed by successful renovation and landmarking of the Pioneer Arcade and New Apollo Theater. The Pioneer Arcade was designed by architect Jens J. Jensen in 1925 and was a Chicago 7 Most Endangered in 2015. The Pioneer Arcade’s façade is one of Chicago’s best examples of 1920s Spanish Colonial Revival style architecture with exuberant terra cotta work that rivals of some of Chicago’s finest 1920s movie palaces. The New Apollo Theater was designed by architect William A. Bennett in 1914 and was also a Chicago 7 Most Endangered in 2015.

"Rep. Robin Kelly (2nd) wrote in an October letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that she supports a 'true preservation approach' for repairing the limestone revetment at Promontory Point.

"'The Point's 2018 listing on the National Register of Historic Places mandates this approach and protects it as the only remaining stretch of the (Works Progress Administration) historic limestone revetment that once extended (along) the entire Chicago lakefront,' wrote Kelly in an Oct. 25 letter to Colonel Paul Culberson, Commander and District Engineer, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Chicago District.

"Repair work on Promontory Point will come after the initiation and completion of a preliminary study, the Chicago Shoreline General Reevaluation Report (GRR) by the Army Corps. President Joe Biden’s 2022 budget, which includes $500,000 for the GRR, is still in front of Congress. The Army Corps is the lead agency on the project.

"As reported in the Herald, Kelly also hopes that Promontory Point and DuSable Lake Shore Drive will benefit from President Biden's 'Build Back Better' $2 trillion social policy package.

"'I am aware that the City of Chicago and Chicago Park District have been advocating in advance for demolition and new construction,' continued Kelly in her letter. 'However, that approach has been rejected before and has no factual, legal or community support — while preservation will allow for rehabilitation of the historic revetment at comparable cost and maximum public benefit.'

"Kelly added that 'there's no emergency to support a demolition solution .... Although there was erosion and high water levels at nearby Morgan Shoal, South Shore and other places on the South Side lakefront, there is no such imminent danger at Promontory Point.'

Sundays at 10:30am

"Attempting to restore some of the city’s most architecturally significant but severely rundown theaters can be a dramatic affair.

"At the Uptown Theatre, Fairpoint Development backed out of the high-profile project led by Jam Productions that garnered $40 million in public money and enthusiastic support from elected officials. The Congress Theater fell into foreclosure after a major investor accused its developer of defaulting on $14 million in loans. And other ventures, such as the Ramova Theater in Bridgeport, stalled while the pandemic created uncertainty about the financial viability of entertainment and performing arts venues.

"Nevertheless, there’s a new campaign brewing, this time in North Lawndale, seeking to do what similar efforts have struggled to achieve for decades. And backers hope their vision is distinct enough to help finance an ambitious project that could cost up to $25 million and aims to transform the deteriorating Central Park Theater—the first “movie palace” built by cinema moguls Balaban & Katz and architects Rapp & Rapp in 1917—from a largely dormant 1,800-seat auditorium owned by a small church into a bustling community and commercial hub in the economically stunted West Side neighborhood.

"The multilevel theater with ornate balcony boxes is thought to be the first that offered mechanized air conditioning to guests—though it now lacks any HVAC system—and served as a blueprint for other luxurious movie palaces developed by Balaban & Katz including the Chicago, Uptown, Riviera and Oriental (now Nederlander) theaters. Rich red brick and intricate terracotta-lined towers adorn the Central Park’s facade, which sits in the 3500 block of West Roosevelt Road across from an abandoned liquor store and next to an empty lot overgrown with grass. Many of its original Mediterranean Revival features in the grand lobby and vast auditorium remain intact. Renowned performers such as clarinetist Benny Goodman and the Jackson 5 graced the stage during its better days.

"'It served a purpose in the past, it can serve a purpose in the future,' said Blanche Killingsworth, co-founder and president of the North Lawndale Historical & Cultural Society, one of the nonprofit organizations spearheading renewed efforts to renovate the theater, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

"Though a diverse coalition of advocates including Preservation Chicago, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Jewish United Fund have joined forces to uplift Central Park Theater, it faces the same precarious fate as theater restoration projects that haven’t come to fruition despite being better known and securing more funding, including desirable tax-increment financing (advocates say they haven’t yet explored what TIF money might be available). In addition to those challenges, Central Park Theater has its own unique hurdles. There are outstanding code violations, the building needs about $50,000 to make emergency repairs before winter conditions exacerbate water damage and it’s located in a blighted area that might be less attractive to investors.

"But those issues aren’t enough to spook the advocates, who’ve formed the Central Park Theater Restoration Committee and are rallying for the building to receive city landmark status, which would help raise awareness about its history and open the door to more grants and financial benefits. They say they’re also committed to ensuring that the House of Prayer, Church of God in Christ, which has controlled the property since 1971, retains majority ownership, even if that deters potential development partners, according to Mary Lu Seidel, director of community engagement at Preservation Chicago.

"Killingsworth, who helped bring the committee together, said the theater is more than just an architectural marvel and pointed to its cultural significance in a neighborhood that evolved from an industrialized center, anchored by the original Sears Roebuck headquarters, to a low-income Black community after the 1950s that suffered permanent damage in riots following Martin Luther King's assassination.

"Killingsworth, 69, reminisced about coming to the elaborate theater as a child after she moved to Chicago from Mississippi in 1962 during the Great Migration that saw Black families like hers lay down new roots across Northern cities. Unlike in the Jim Crow South, which relegated Black movie viewers to upper floors with inferior views, Killingsworth was allowed to sit on the main level of the Central Park Theater to watch films and live performances. 'I still feel that grandeur when I come in,' she said.

"In Avalon Park on the South Side, a massive structure sits, evoking memories of bright futures and immense pride. Nicknamed 'the Palace,' Chicago Vocational High School’s regal architecture and grand size seemed to fit the buzz about the place, former students say. Alums included Bears great Dick Butkus and comic Bernie Mac, and the school drew motivated students, many of them Black and Brown, from across Chicago.

"But that was then. Now, the building, and the school, are hurting. Enrollment has declined. The number of vocational programs at the school, now known as Chicago Vocational Career Academy, has been slashed. The school, which opened in 1940, once housed more than 4,800 students, alumni say. Now it’s about 730. For decades, the school boasted dozens of vocational programs, a nationally recognized marching band and top-notch sports teams. It was known as “the Pride of the South Side,” as alums are quick to remind you.

"Michael Mims, class of ’78, chairs the Chicago Vocational High School Restoration Project, which works to preserve the building. They also organized an online petition to obtain landmark status, which they hope will prevent the building’s demolition and prompt CPS to undertake extensive repairs — ideally, enough to attract more students and add more programs.

"'The push to save the building is also tied to a belief in vocational education, which alumni say has the power to lift many Chicago youth from underserved communities. 'I just want to see kids be excited like that again, saying, 'I’m going to learn something new,'' Mims said.

"The building, constructed in the late 1930s, was a project of the Depression-era Works Progress Administration. It blends art deco and art moderne design, and features fluted exterior columns, curved ceilings and wood inlaid murals. It’s also one of the largest CPS buildings. The school was built for 6,000 students, Sun-Times editorial writer Lee Bey noted in his 2019 book, 'Southern Exposure: The Overlooked Architecture of Chicago’s South Side.' It also has 800,000 square feet of interior space over a 27-acre site, the equivalent of 5.5 blocks, according to the Restoration Project.

"But today, the building is in disrepair, with water-damaged ceilings, a non-functional swimming pool and a shuttered 'Anthony Wing,' named for its location along Anthony Avenue, that housed many of the school’s vocational programs, alumni say. In 2015, $56 million in work was completed, including interior renovations and mechanical, electrical and plumbing upgrades. But lack of funds prevented a second round of work, which, among other things, would have included demolishing the 'Anthony Wing,' at an estimated cost of $7 million. Demolition of the wing hasn’t been included in any CPS capital plans since 2012.

"To alums, the funding crunch that inadvertently saved the Anthony Wing, for now, offers a glimmer of hope. The restoration group’s push for landmark status centers on saving the wing, as well as restoring the structure and its community to its prime. For Mims and other alums, the Anthony Wing was a key part in their robust vocational education. At one time, the school offered almost 30 vocational programs, including aviation, welding and tailoring. Today, the school has seven vocational programs.

"Mims says recognition from the Commission on Chicago Landmarks not only would help preserve the school’s storied architecture, but also be the first step in turning the school around. 'Once we get the landmark designation on the building, and can begin to look forward to having the property physically restored, that will create the space to reinstitute those vocational programs.'

"Lisa DiChiera, the director of advocacy at Landmarks Illinois, a historic preservation advocacy organization, said there’s 'no question' the school meets the criteria for a Chicago landmark. However, actually getting that status is more complicated. 'It really does come down to a political coalition that needs to make a push for this building to be designated as a Chicago landmark.' While a landmark designation often saves buildings from demolition and adds another layer of scrutiny to any alterations, it doesn’t force property owners to maintain or repair their buildings, she said. 'Landmarking is only one part of the entire endeavor to make this place better.'" (Beeferman, Chicago Sun-Times, 11/11/21)

"Chicago Vocational School is located at 2100 East 87th Street on Chicago’s south side in Avalon Park. The South Side is the largest of the City’s three sides.

"Chicago Vocational School (CVS) was constructed in 1938 and sits on a 27-acre campus with two contributing structures bordered by 87th Street, Anthony Avenue, 85th Street, and Chappel Avenue. The school is set in a residential community of Post WWII era, single-family dwellings.

"The campus, which encompasses 4.4 square city blocks, includes a World War II-era aircraft hangar that contributes to its historical integrity. CVS was one of only two structures in the Avalon Park community recognized for architectural distinction by the Chicago Historic Resources Survey.

"Chicago Vocational School is a strong candidate for Chicago Landmark designation. It is believed that the school meets six of the seven criteria, but more particularly Criterion 1 for its significance to Chicago history and Criterion 4 as an exemplary example of Art Deco-Art Moderne architecture.

"Criteria #1: CVS was designed as a male-only vocational high school, which included state-of-the-art shop rooms for classes like sheet-metal, engineering, printing, auto mechanics, electrical work, and architectural drafting. The monumental building was designed to accommodate 6,000 students – and remains one of the largest public schools ever constructed in Chicago history. It was designed and highly regarded at that time to be the largest, most modern and best equipped trade school in the entire United States of America.

"Financial support for the school’s construction came from the Works Progress Administration (WPA) program during the Great Depression. The school features a fourteen-panel wood carved mural in the auditorium completed by an artist for the WPA Federal Artists Project in 1939. Four of the panels depict architectural landmarks in downtown Chicago; like the Chicago Board of Trade building, while the other panels depict scenes of industry and commerce, relevant to the vocational programs offered at CVS. This is an exceptional example of WPA-era public art unique to Chicago due to its wood panel construction; most surviving public school murals are traditional fresco and oil paintings.

"Also, historically unique was the school’s conversion into a Naval Training School for Mechanics during World War II. The Board of Education gave the school over to the Department of Navy to train naval men and teachers to repair and assemble aircrafts. The school was occupied by the Defense Priority Board and Second Floor Anthony Wing served as barracks for naval students and personnel, and notably an aircraft hangar was constructed on campus in 1941 for students to study aviation mechanics, which still remains today. This was the only high school in the state of Illinois occupied by a branch of the U.S. Military during the war, and the only school in the country that trained teachers in aviation mechanics for the Navy during World War II.

"Criteria #4: Art Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture and design that first appeared in France before World War I. Its name stems from the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts held in Paris in 1925. In the 1930s a sleeker form of Art Deco called Art Moderne emerged featuring curving forms and smooth polished surfaces, giving way to more functional and unadorned styles of modern architecture.

"Chicago Vocational School is an architectural icon on the south side of Chicago and blends art deco and art moderne design. It’s mostly notable exterior features are dramatic curved limestone facades. Repeating vertical lines in the facades draw the eye skyward to suggest modernity and progress. This design is characteristic of Art Deco skyscrapers constructed in Chicago during the 1930s like the Chicago Board of Trade Building but is rare in low-rise schoolhouses. In fact, Chicago Vocational School is the largest Art Deco/Art Moderne building in Chicago that is not a skyscraper and is Chicago's best large-scale example of Art Deco-Art Moderne architecture.

"This wonderful, historical and architectural wonder should be preserved. Those who have signed this petition believe the historical value, aesthetic interest, and the developmental role Chicago Vocational School has played, not only for the city, but for our great nation is unmatched- and certainly worth saving.

"Please join us in saving, preserving, and LANDMARKING Chicago Vocational School." (Petition to Landmark Chicago Vocational School)

"Goettsch Partners has announced the completion of the Pepper Family Wildlife Center, a $41 million renovation, restoration, and expansion of the historic lion house at Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo.

"The new 54,000-square-foot facility nearly doubles the size of the previous lion habitat, providing increased transparency and a more immersive experience for visitors. Designed in collaboration with Seattle-based zoo exhibit specialists PJA, the habitat focuses on providing choices for the animals and enhancing wellbeing, from thermal comfort zones for heating and cooling to intricate rockwork and trees for climbing.

"The original lion house was designed by architect Dwight Perkins and completed in 1912. In 2005, it was designated a Chicago Landmark, celebrated for its decorative brickwork and terra-cotta ornament, lion mosaics, and grand hall with its vaulted Guastavino tile ceiling. The design team worked closely with the Commission on Chicago Landmarks to preserve, restore, and enhance the architecturally significant features of the original Arts and Crafts building, including the masonry, clay tile roof, copper gutter, windows, and doors.

“The renovation and restoration work revitalizes one of Chicago’s historic architectural gems,” said technical principal at Goettsch Partners, Patrick Loughran. “New features and functionality allow the facility to better serve the needs of the zoo and visitors well into the future.” (Bahadursingh, Archinect, 11/19/21)

Preservation Chicago worked in cooperation with the development team from the Lincoln Park Zoo and architect Goettsch Partners, to help to optimize the Kovler/Pepper Lion House improvements. Plan review and site visits resulted in dozens of observations, comments and suggestions.

The objective was to both accommodate the desired programmatic functionality including ADA accessibility and to be sensitive to the historic building design and elements. A good process yields a good outcome. Much of the design work to rethink this space is innovative, and the design team should be recognized for their success.

Preservation Chicago strongly supported the restoration of historic features on the principal facades of Lion House, its interior Landmarked features and other alterations. These changes have made significant improvements to the well-being of the animals and improved public access to the historic building. Preservation Chicago submitted a letter of support to the Commission of Chicago Landmarks and testified in support of the project who recognized our contributions.

Based on the wonderful success of this project, Preservation Chicago further encourages the Lincoln Park Zoo and the Department of Planning and Development, Historic Preservation Division, to consider a thematic Landmark District to incorporate the historic buildings forming the historic core of Lincoln Park Zoo. These buildings could include the Primate House (1927), the former Reptile House (now the Park Place Café cafeteria building), The Bird House (1904), the former Academy of Sciences Matthew Laflin Memorial Building (now the Lincoln Park Zoo Administration Building, 1893) and the rounded “Landmark Cafe” Building (1899).

A Landmark designation of these structures would be much in the spirit of Cafe Breuer (1908) and The Lion House (1912), both by Dwight Perkins, and would further ensure good preservation practices going forward. The Lincoln Park Zoo should also encourage a celebration of its landscape and the landscape design work of Swain Nelson and Olaf Benson to which the grand promenade or east-west access may be part of the original overall design.

"Developers who are planning to overhaul several properties in Old Town, including the site of the old Treasure Island Grocery Store, have launched an interactive website where people can submit feedback on the project.

"The website is hosted through coUrbanize, an online platform that aims to make civic participation more convenient. It will allow neighbors to offer feedback through any internet-enabled device, text message and voicemail.

"'We are excited to launch what we believe is a new approach to community engagement and to do so in Old Town, one of Chicago’s most historic and architecturally significant neighborhoods,' said Nick Anderson, founder and president of Fern Hill.

"Fern Hill held its first meeting last month, during which the team introduced architect David Adjaye, known for projects like the National Museum of African American History, as the lead designer.

"Adjaye told neighbors during a virtual community meeting Wednesday he and his team 'know Chicago very well and are big fans of the city.'

“Chicago has this extraordinary heritage of architecture, and Old Town was sort of the roots of that,' Adjaye said during the virtual community meeting. 'The neighborhood has beautiful two- to three-story, Victorian-style architecture, which is why that part of the city is so distinct.'

"The meeting was a chance for the developers and architects to introduce themselves to the neighborhood, Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) said. No design plans have been created.

"'This is a blank canvas right now as we start,' Hopkins said. 'You all are invited to pick up a paintbrush. Let’s decide together what we want to happen here in conjunction with Moody Church and Fern Hill.'” (Wittich, Block Club Chicago, 9/30/21)

Preservation Chicago would like to see many of the notable structures on this site landmarked and integrated into the proposed development plans by this much acclaimed architect, David Adaje. You can name them from North Federal Savings Bank/Wintrust Bank, Moody Church, Archway Standard/BP Service Station, Walgreen’s building by Stanley Tigerman and the two 1880s buildings on Wells Street, including the former “Earl of Old Town."

Preservation Chicago is concerned about the following sites which may be at risk of demolition and redevelopment

"Published reports and media show multiple large industrial properties in Chicago’s McKinley Park neighborhood recently changing hands or being placed up for sale, including the iconic faux clock tower at South Damen Avenue and West Pershing Road.

"Joining the historic Central Manufacturing District tower are three warehouses of the Clock Tower Industrial Center at 1919 to 1965 W. Pershing Road, Chicago, and adjoining land, all for sale for $12 million, according to a commercial real estate listing from property owner and manager Imperial Realty Company.

"Although the property is currently zoned for manufacturing and is adjacent to a Planned Manufacturing District and related industry, including the Norfolk Southern Railways rail yard and the MAT Asphalt plant, its real estate listing presents the property as a 'multi-family redevelopment opportunity.'

"The faux clock tower — a water tower heavily adorned with architectural elements of its period — is not protected from demolition or alteration, as it does not enjoy Chicago, state or federal landmark status.

"In 2020, Preservation Chicago named the Pershing Road section of the Central Manufacturing District, which includes the clock tower and warehouses, as one of Chicago’s most endangered historic places. In 2021, Preservation Chicago did the same for the Original East District.

"Historic Register - The entire Central Manufacturing district is on the National Register of Historic Places, which provides federal and state tax credits for historic redevelopment. The Clock Tower Industrial Center real estate listing also noted that the property resides within a TIF district and Enterprise Zone.

“This investment represents an exceptional opportunity to acquire an extremely well-located existing industrial-warehouse property with tremendous value-add and multi-family redevelopment potential,” the listing stated." (McKinley Park News, Justin Kerr, 11/13/21)

"After 115 years, the oldest Catholic parish on the Far Northwest Side will hold its last Mass this weekend — but neighbors hope it won’t be the last time they’ll be inside the historical building.

"The Our Lady of Victory Church, 5212 W. Agatite Ave., which was founded in 1906 and has been home to Irish, Polish and German congregations, will close Sunday as part of the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Renew My Church plan. Restructuring planned for the Northwest Side will group eight churches and schools into three new parishes.

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

"Susanna Ernst, president of the Northwest Chicago Historical Society and an Our Lady of Victory parishioner, said the church’s architectural significance, community outreach and growth in the 1920s to ’50s make it important to the area.

"'We have very, very few significant buildings in the area,' said Ernst, a longtime Jefferson Park resident who got married at the church. 'We don’t want to see this building have a question mark on it, because it’s one of the few [historical] things we have left here.'

"In March, Ernst helped found a campaign called Save OLV to bring attention to the closure. The group is gathering input on what neighbors want to see housed in the building. The group — made up of the society’s board members, Preservation Chicago and Our Lady of Victory alumni and parishioners — appealed the closing to the Archdiocese of Chicago via Canon Law. Their bid was denied.

"The group then appealed to the Congregation for the Clergy at the Vatican in April, stating the church was solvent, had no debt and had active parishioners paying the bills. The Vatican agreed but said the decision still lay in the hands of the archdiocese, Ernst said.

"After Sunday, the parish will no longer hold services but the building won’t immediately close. The group also appealed to the Vatican to not officially close the building itself and are waiting for a response.

"While their efforts to save the parish were not successful, Save OLV’s members now want the building to remain in the community and be of service in some way.

"Local aldermen and state representatives have joined in on the awareness effort, Ernst said. Earlier this year, Ald. Nick Sposato (38th) named North Laramie Avenue from West Agatite to West Sunnyside avenues as Honorary Our Lady of Victory Way.

"'A lot of people want to see it as a Catholic space moving forward [or] as a sacred space for any religion … [or] any particular use that would enable that building to survive and be a legacy for our community and a vestige of our past,' Ernst said.

"Archdiocese spokesperson Susan Thomas would only say 'options are being explored for the property.'" (Parrella-Aureli, Block Club Chicago, 11/18/21)

"Double Door is working toward a debut next year in its Uptown home, more than four years after the beloved rock club was evicted from its longtime Wicker Park location. The goal is to open 'within the year,' and work is underway transforming the historical Wilson Theater building at 1050 W. Wilson Ave. into a music venue, Double Door co-owner Pete Bruce said.

"Double Door will have a capacity of about 750 people, whereas the original club maxed out at about 500 people, Bruce said. There will be two mezzanine levels around the main floor, plus a balcony. Some VIP seating is planned. Because Double Door’s building most recently served as a bank, a downstairs vault is being transformed into a 'mini venue lounge' that will host smaller acts and be open daily, Bruce said.

"The basement vault has been excavated to reveal terra cotta believed to be from the 1920s, which will be restored, Bruce said. After demolishing walls in the basement, two staircases leading to the main floor were found. Those will also be restored, he said.

"Bruce came on and helped close the deal with Cedar Street, buying the Wilson Theater from the prolific development firm this year for $750,000, records show. Cedar Street, which bought the theater for $625,000 in 2013, is developing the parking lot neighboring the Wilson Theater into a 62-unit apartment complex.

"The Wilson Theater, built in 1908, was constructed to host vaudeville performers. Most recently, it was a TCF bank until 2011. It has sat vacant since then.

"'Every part of this deal has been working with people we like,' Bruce said. 'The energy around this has been really cool. Everybody is excited and really into it.' (Ward, Block Club Chicago, 11/9/21)

"More than two dozen South Shore neighbors pooled their funds to buy and renovate a blighted apartment building over the last year, offering a model for the neighborhood’s growth they say can benefit existing residents. The cooperatively owned 7051 LLC bought 7051 S. Bennett Ave. for $600,000 in November 2020. The company has since put nearly $300,000 into renovating the property, and its apartments became available for rent this month.

"The 97-year-old building is 'built like a tank' with 16 apartments, five storefronts and terra cotta inside and out — 'one of those ‘they don’t build them like they used to’ kind of buildings,' its owners said. With access to public facilities like the lakefront, the South Shore Cultural Center and nearby Jackson Park, “there’s no reason it shouldn’t be a stellar place” for a successful community property, investor Stephen Stern said.

"Stern, who’s lived in the area for about 30 years, sees it as an opportunity to 'bring back 71st Street.' The project can complement a proposal from developer Alisa Starks — also a Highlands resident — to build an entertainment complex at 71st and Jeffery Boulevard, he said.

"The 27 neighbors who pooled $282,000 upfront for the building’s purchase represent a diverse cross-section of the Jackson Park Highlands, South Shore’s landmark district of estates built on massive lots. All live within several blocks of the Bennett Avenue project.

"De facto project leader Michael Kelley moved to the 'tight-knit' community three years ago, and he said the project is a step toward realizing “the South Shore that we should have,” with walkability, amenities and fewer commercial vacancies.

"Geralyn and Art Thompson fell in love with the Highlands as high schoolers, when they’d make 'big money' clearing snow from the district’s big houses. The husband and wife moved to their current home from the Lake Terrace high-rise in 1985, realizing a dream years in the making.

"Tyriece Kennedy will celebrate six years in the community next month. When he learned of the project proposal last year, amid the uprisings following George Floyd’s murder, he jumped at the chance to leave a positive 'footprint' on 71st Street.

"Though cooperative housing faces numerous challenges to surviving in South Shore, the model maintains a presence in the dense neighborhood. 'Good intentions aside, you need the resources' to invest in a property while keeping rental prices manageable for existing residents, Kelley said.

"Beyond finances, the Bennett Avenue project benefited from its investors’ wide knowledge base. Among the neighbors are professional architects, building engineers, attorneys, real estate investors, computer specialists and marketers. 'You go back and forth between the idealism of wanting to make a change [and] the pragmatism of making an investment,' Kelley said. 'You have to balance those two things to make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons, but that you’re covering your bases so that it can be sustainable.” (Evans, Block Club Chicago, 11/16/21)

"City officials presented initial plans for renovation of the Iowa Building and construction of new baseball fields and a dog-friendly area (DFA) in Jackson Park at a Nov. 29 virtual meeting hosted by Ald. Leslie Hairston (5th) and the Chicago Park District (CPD),

"The three projects, which are scheduled to begin construction in the spring of 2022, were included in the South Lakefront Framework Plan finished in 2018, noted Heather Gleason, CPD Director of Planning and Development.

"The Iowa Building is a pavilion located in Jackson Park just southwest of the intersection of 56th Street and S. South Shore Drive. The pavilion was constructed in 1936 by the Works Progress Administration and has not been maintained for years. In 2014 it was the site of the shooting death of 34-year-old Ovadiyah Chandler.

"Gleason said that the community engagement process for the framework plan resulted in a strong recommendation to renovate the Iowa Building as a picnic pavilion.

"To that end, Gleason said the CPD is proposing to create an ADA-accessible concrete path to the north side of the building from 56th Street, restore the building's planters, repair the stone walls of the fountain in the building's center and of the building itself, add lighting, do other utility upgrades, replace the roof with a new shingle roof, completely redo the bathrooms and more.

"As is the case for all three projects, the plans for renovating the Iowa Building will need to be reviewed and approved by the Illinois State Historical Preservation Office (SHPO), given the state funding for the work." (Monaghan, Hyde Park Herald, 12/1/2021)

McNitt Building Garage, 1911, 5654 N. Broadway. Demolished November 2021. Photo Credit: Dan Miller twitter @dmi11sfresh

McNitt Building Garage, 1911, 5654 N. Broadway. Demolished November 2021. Photo Credit: Dan Miller twitter @dmi11sfresh

"Edgewater neighbors and preservationists are trying to halt Howard Brown Health’s planned demolition of a 100-year-old former auto garage on Broadway, asking the health group to reuse the historical building in its future plans for the site.

"Howard Brown last week received a demolition permit for the building at 5650-56 N. Broadway, a 1911 building that sits on Edgewater’s former motor row. The LGBTQ-focused health group bought the building in April from the Bob Loquercio Auto Group, property records show, but Howard Brown has yet to make public its plans for the site.

"With no plans announced, preservationists hope they can — at least temporarily — prevent the building’s demolition. They have made renderings for how the building at the corner of Hollywood Avenue and Broadway can be reused in a development.

"Known as the McNitt building, the garage at 5654 N. Broadway was built in the Arts and Crafts style in 1911 as a parking garage with second-floor apartments. Back then, parking your car or your carriage on the street was not allowed, Remer said. Wealthy neighbors like lawyer Willard McNitt had garages built to park their cars.

"With glazed brick and ornate, arched brackets, the McNitt building is one of many auto garages turned car dealerships along Broadway in what was known as Edgewater’s motor row. In an inventory of historical buildings on Broadway conducted by the Edgewater Historical Society in 2019, at least nine auto garages or dealership buildings were considered significant. The building at 5654 N. Broadway does not have any historical designation from the city.

"'It’s an iconic neighborhood building that so many people pass exiting Lake Shore Drive,' said Ward Miller, executive director of Preservation Chicago. 'It’s a visual landmark to so many.'

"Preservationists said there are compromises that can meet Howard Brown’s needs while saving what they consider an important building in Edgewater. Retired architect Thom Greene drafted a mock-up of a development that includes the two-story structure . Building around the existing structure keeps the setback at the corner at Hollywood and Broadway, which is the gateway into Edgewater from DuSable Lake Shore Drive.

The building may be in poor condition, and holes are visible in its roof. If the building can’t be saved, there are ways to preserve its facade, or historical pieces of the property to be used in a new building, Remer and Miller said. 'They really should be embracing these buildings and the importance they have to the community,' Miller said. (Ward, Block Club Chicago, 11/8/21)

"An Italianate home in the West Loop, built about a decade before the Great Chicago Fire, is headed for demolition, likely to be replaced by condos.

"The three-story Italianate building at 116 N. Willard Court was built around 1860, according to the Cook County Assessor. The October 1871 fire stopped at the east bank of the Chicago River’s South Branch, and this building is several blocks west of the river. Thus, it's not quite a survivor of the fire, although it's very rare for the downtown parts of Chicago.

"The development firm that bought the red brick building from longtime owners in mid-November received a demolition permit from the city’s department of buildings on Dec. 2, 2021.

"Ward Miller, executive director of Preservation Chicago, said 116 N. Willard is one of about 200 'first-quality buildings,' still recognizable in their early form, remaining from the years just before and just after the fire in the downtown neighborhoods.

"'There’s a finite number of them, and they really should be honored,' Miller said. His group recommended that the city create a thematic landmark district this year in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the fire, but 'that didn’t go anywhere in City Hall,' he said.

"The Willard site is an unlikely one for a single-family home, as most of the neighbors on the block are warehouses, commercial buildings and parking lots. But in the fast-changing West Loop, with a short-street site that is half a block south of Randolph Street’s dining and drinking scene, anything is possible.

Developer "PLD initially applied for a demolition permit in November 2020, but because the building is rated orange in the city’s historical buildings survey, it was subject to an automatic 90-day delay. That delay expired in February." (Rodkin, Crain's Chicago Business, 12/7/21)

"The owner of the Medinah Temple is wrestling once again with the question: What’s the vacant River North landmark going to be next?

"Friedman Properties seemed to have an answer in April, when it disclosed plans to open a retail, food and entertainment bazaar in the four-story River North building. But Chicago-based Friedman, which bought the Medinah Temple in 2019, is again seeking tenants for the property, signaling the demise of that idea.

"The entire 138,000-square-foot building at 600 N. Wabash Ave. is available for lease, according to a brochure from retail brokerage ARC Real Estate Group, which is marketing the space.

"Filling a big space won’t be easy in a downtown retail real estate market struggling to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Few retailers or restaurants are expanding these days. Many, including Gap, Macy’s and Uniqlo, have closed stores on North Michigan Avenue, the city’s biggest shopping corridor, which has a 26% vacancy rate, according to Cushman & Wakefield. The Medinah Temple is just two blocks west of the Magnificent Mile.

"Built by the Shriners in 1912, the Medinah Temple stands out in Chicago with its Moorish Revival design and large copper onion domes on its rooftop. The building, which originally included a large auditorium with seating for about 4,200 people, fell into disrepair in the late 1990s but was saved from demolition when the city designated it a landmark in 2001.

"Friedman then orchestrated a major renovation of the entire block, including the Tree Studios to the west of the temple, assisted by $12 million in tax-increment financing from the city. The developer sold the building to Federated Department Stores, which opened a Bloomingdale’s Home Store there in 2003, but Friedman retained ownership of the land underneath it.

"The ARC brochure doesn’t specify potential uses for the Medinah Temple. It could offer potential beyond retail, with options including co-working or boutique office space, or some entertainment concept new to the city. But converting the building to another use would require an investment that could easily stretch into the tens of millions of dollars" (Gallun, Crain's Chicago Business, 11/29/21)

"Built by the Shriners and designed by architects Huehl and Schmidt in 1912, the Medinah Temple is Moorish style amphitheater replete with distinctive onion domes and beautiful stained glass windows. The building originally housed an auditorium with seating for approximately 4,200 people on three levels. The stage extended into the auditorium, with seating on three sides. The temple once boasted a 30,000 pound pipe organ, manufactured by Austin Organ Company and installed in 1915. The organ had 92 sets of pipes, ranging in length from several inches to 40 feet. Among the many events that took place in this venue was the annual Shriner’s Circus. The auditorium’s acoustics also made it a favorite site for recording; many of the Chicago Symphony’s recordings from the late 1960s (for RCA with then-music director Jean Martinon) through the 1980s (for Decca with then-music director Sir Georg Solti) were recorded there.

"Following a period of vacancy the building became dilapidated. In 2000 The World Monument Fund listed it—and Tree Studios—among its Watch List of significant endangered structures. Through a unique partnership between Friedman Properties, the City of Chicago, the State of Illinois and Federated Department Stores, the building was saved from demolition. Later the same year, the exterior of the building was restored and the interior redeveloped for use as retail space. The building’s key decorative elements—including the large central cornice and intricate balcony railings—were restored or recreated from original drawings. Plasterwork, proscenium arch, and jewel-colored stained glass were preserved. The building’s two 10,000 pound copper onion domes had to be constructed on-site in the adjacent Tree Studios courtyard and craned onto the rooftop.

"With its crowning feature in place, Medinah Temple re-opened in February of 2003 as the nation’s first Bloomingdale’s Home Store." (Medinah Temple Property Listing on Friedman Properties)

"St. George Church was established in 1903 to serve Slovenian immigrants who settled near the steel mills in South Chicago. This national parish was founded within the territorial parish of St. Patrick at 95th Street and Commercial Avenue.

"The origins of the St. George national parish were found in Slovenian and Slovak fraternal and benevolent organizations of the 1890s. The pastor of a Slovenian parish in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood celebrated Mass for the small South Chicago Slovenian congregation for a time in a German Catholic church at 91st and Exchange, and he encouraged the South Chicago congregation to form a national parish. The group bought land on 95th Street between Avenues M and N, and had secured the services of a Slovenian priest who began to work with the St. George parish in May 1903.

"Initial plans to build a small wooden church were revised when the parishioners acquired a new site at the northwest corner of 96th and Ewing Avenue. With the help of Croatian Catholics who were among the large numbers of Southern Slavs settling in the neighborhood, the large brick church of St. George was constructed in Gothic style with a prominent bell tower. Ground was broken at the end of June 1903, the cornerstone was laid at the start of August, and the first Mass was celebrated in the new church on December 6, 1903.

"In January 1904, the church bells were blessed. They had been a 'gift of the single men' of the parish. In June 1904, Auxiliary Bishop Peter J. Muldoon dedicated the church. In 1906, Andrew Carnegie made a 'sizeable donation toward the purchase of the church organ.'

"By 1911, the parish debt was reduced by $8,000. The following year, the membership of the church decreased when the Croatians decided to form their own national parish west of the Calumet River. After several changes of the pastorate, beginning in 1922, St. George parish was staffed by the Slovenian Franciscan Fathers from Lemont, Illinois. In the 1920s, the parish hall was enlarged, the Slovene artist John Gosar was commissioned to redecorate the church interior, and later, stained glass windows were installed in the church. From the end of the 1930s, worshipers other than Slovenians were encouraged to participate in parish life at St. George.

"Parish debt was liquidated in 1943 and shortly thereafter, a new fundraising campaign began for construction of a parish school and additional parish structures. Over the next 20 years, a community center, a school, and a new rectory were built.

"Decades before the 75th anniversary celebration of St. George parish in 1978, the parish was no longer exclusively Slovenian. By the 1970s, Masses were no longer celebrated in Slovenian. The parish had become ethnically diverse, serving a congregation that included a large number of Italians, among others.

"From its beginnings as a national parish for immigrant laborers of South Slavic populations, St. George Church grew to welcome worshippers of a variety of backgrounds. The gradual enhancement of its interior by parishioners of modest means manifests the depth of community devotion to this structure over many decades. Despite the history of caring stewardship and diversity of the community served, St. George Church was closed by the Chicago Archdiocese in 2020. It was one of four South Chicago parishes that were combined with only two churches, Annunciata and St. Kevin, remaining open. (Preservation Chicago 2021 Chicago 7 Most Endangered Book, Roman Catholic Church Chaper, pg. 77-78)

"A religious order quietly sold the Lincoln Park building it has owned since the mid-1960s to a developer, who plans to build on one portion of the site and sell off the rest as eight house lots suited for new homes of as much as 15,000 square feet. The Cenacle site has frontage on Fullerton, Cambridge and Cleveland avenues. Blahnik said each of those streets will be the address of some of the new lots.

"The Sisters of the Cenacle, an order that originated in mid-1820s France, focus on 'awakening and deepening faith,' according to their website. 'Our ministry is that of retreats, spiritual direction, adult faith formation and contemplative presence.' They have had a footprint in Lincoln Park for nearly a century.

"The Cenacle Retreat Center, a modernist red brick structure designed by Chicago architect Charles Pope, was built in 1967 to replace buildings the order had been using since the 1920s. It was the subject of city hearings about landmarking and demolitions for the past several months, since the order announced it would sell the property to fund the retirement and health care needs of their aged members.

"In June, the Commission on Chicago Landmarks approved demolition after concluding that the Cenacle building is not a protected piece of the landmarked Mid-North District, designated in 1974 to protect 19th century homes in the area.

"Preservationists argued for saving the building, but their case was hard to sell for a few reasons, as architecture critic Lynn Becker wrote in the Chicago Sun-Times. They include the provision that religious buildings cannot be landmarked without their owners’ assent, the only category of buildings in the city with that rule, and the fact that the Chicago Historic Resources Survey, which color-codes buildings by their historical significance, includes only structures built through the year 1939, almost three decades before the Cenacle Retreat Center." (Rodkin, Crain's Chicago Business, 11/8/21)

"It can be said that a church is a community, not a building, but it also cannot be denied that the souls of Chicago’s early immigrants reside in the often spectacularly beautiful expressions of faith they built. Like our secular historic structures, whether 19th century or 20th, they cannot be cast aside without injury to our collective memory and spirit. A landmark is more than a legalism. It is an enduring marker, a reference point, a reminder of where we came from, and who we are.

"The 20th century, and its architectural record, is now two decades in the past. It’s time, before more is lost, to weave it into the continuous fabric of Chicago history.

"Revisit the religious organization exemption. Update the Historic Resources Survey." (Becker, Chicago Sun-Times, 6/7/21)

"The development boom along Wells Street in River North could be adding another 178 apartments to the mix. Developer Vista Property Group has filed a zoning application with the City of Chicago to construct a 21-story tower on the east side of the street between Chicago Avenue and Superior Street.

"Under the plan, the single-story retail building that was home to Yolk restaurant and Jess Chicago as well as a vintage three-story Italianate at 739 N. Wells would be demolished. The three-story commercial building at the north end of the block would be spared from the wrecking ball. The older four-story building housing Brehon Pub is outside the boundaries of the development.

"Designed by Antunovich Associates, the 254-foot tower will feature 178 rental units and 21,000 square feet of retail.

"The proposed development will require a zoning change from the city of Chicago and will go before the Chicago Plan Commission, Committee on Zoning, and full City Council.

"Wells Street in River North has been a standout during downtown Chicago's ongoing apartment boom. Recent developments like Gallery on Wells, Exhibit, Marlowe, and 640 North Wells have delivered nearly 1,200 new rental units to the immediate area." (Koziarz, Urbanize Chicago 5/25/21)

Preservation Chicago encourages the developer Vista Property Group and architect Antunovich Associates to integrate the historic three-story Italianate building, into the new development. At a minimum, the historic c. 1870s post-fire building façade should be restored and incorporated into the new development. Perhaps its time to consider a River North Historic Landmark District to protect historic buildings like this from demolition.

"Decades of shifting from a single-family home to a 19-room boarding house to a three-flat hadn’t changed the stately exterior of this Cleveland Avenue building, but inside, “There was nothing redeeming left,” says Leslie Glazier, who bought it in 2007 with her husband, Josh Glazier.

"They knew they would do a complete gut rehab, but what they didn’t know was that the guts they’d get down to, historical brick walls, would captivate them and drive the course of the interior they built out.

"'The most important thing for this house was not to screw it up,' Josh Glazier says. 'We had uncovered all this beautiful brick, so the less we did to it, the better.'

"The interior became 'like a loft inside an old home,' Leslie says, with the brick walls, open living spaces and minimal casements on doors and windows familiar from lofts in Chicago’s countless converted warehouses.

"'You’d never know when you look at the outside what you’re going to see inside,' Leslie says. The loft look gives way at times to pop accents: keyhole-shaped doorways in the basement and vivid tile patterns in bathrooms.

"The house, on an oversized lot on Cleveland Avenue, is six bedrooms and 6,200 square feet, with a backyard and a three-car garage topped by a large deck. It’s in the core historical section of Lincoln Park, the blocks between Lincoln Park Zoo and Oz Park.

"The family of six is shrinking as the kids age out of their family home, so downsizing is imminent. Leslie Glazier, an @properties agent, has the home as a pocket listing, not on the multiple listing service. The asking price is $5.4 million.

"Brick walls, wood floors and tall windows give the open living spaces on the main floor an airy attitude that is likely the opposite of the long-lost original floor plan from 1885, when homes were typically cut up into series of rooms.

"Leslie Glazier grew up with parents who were habitual renovators, and with husband Josh, a real estate developer, had renovated past homes. This project became organic, he said, evolving as they discovered what was there.

"Because of its extra-wide lot, 40 feet as compared with the city norm of 25, the house originally had a portion that projected off to the side. In the rehab, the Glaziers pushed it out about 6 feet and lined the new walls with brick salvaged from the old garage they demolished.

To maintain the openness of the space, the Glaziers swore off upper cabinets and any 'big clunky things' suspended above the 14-foot island, Leslie says. Wood veneer cabinets and stainless-steel appliances continue the 'don’t screw it up' theme, providing a low-key contemporary look. The countertops are stainless steel, except on the island, where it’s granite." (Rodkin, Crain's Chicago Business, 11/18/21)

"The Commission on Chicago Landmarks today honored 12 exceptional development projects at the 2021 'Preservation Excellence Awards,' including the restoration of Union Station, the adaptive reuse of the former Cook County Hospital, the rehabilitation of two 19th century homes in the Old Edgebrook District, and the adaptive reuse of the former West Pullman School.

"The awards, established in 1999, are presented annually to individuals, nonprofit organizations, businesses, and public agencies that have worked to preserve Chicago's architectural and cultural heritage. Honored during a virtual award ceremony, the winners were chosen from dozens of projects reviewed by the Landmarks Commission’s Permit Review Committee over the last year.

"'Whether reimagining a Chicago icon like the Old Main Post Office, or awakening a ‘sleeping beauty’ like the shuttered 1894 school in Pullman, each of the projects honored today represents an enormous commitment to preserving Chicago’s past,' said Commissioner Maurice Cox of the Department of Planning and Development (DPD), which provides staff services to the Commission on Chicago Landmarks.

Established in 1999, the awards recognize a wide range of efforts to preserve, restore and promote the City’s architectural heritage.

More information at City of Chicago Landmarks Commission website

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

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

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

#100937830

Date Received: 12/02/2021

Ward: 27th Ald. Walter Burnett, Jr.

Applicant: PLD Holdings, LLC

Owner: Mark and Beverly Paulsey

Permit Description: Demolition of a 3-story, brick building and a detached garage.

#100945948

Date Received: 10/26/2021

Ward: 43rd Ald. Michele Smith

Applicant: Quality Excavation Inc. C/O Anne Quinn

Owner: Patrick Nash

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

#100945235

Date Received: 10/22/2021

Ward: 47th Ald. Matt Martin

Applicant: Precision Excavation, LLC C/O Angela Dillon

Owner: Angelico Two Series 3849, LLC C/O Jay I. Hausler

Permit Description: wreck and removal of a two-story, masonry and frame, multi-family residential building.

#100937432

Date Received: 10/15/2021

Ward: 41st Ald. Anthony Napolitano

Applicant: Dan Durkin

Owner: Nicholas W. Degnan

Permit Description: Substantial demolition, alteration and expansion of the two-story frame, single-family building.

Address: 2622 N. Dayton St., Lincoln Park

#100943432

Date Received: 10/08/2021

Ward: 43rd Ward Ald. Michele Smith

Applicant: Tir Conaill Concrete, Inc. C/O Charlotte McVeigh

Owner: David Hansen

Permit Description: Wreck and removal of a single-family, frame residential building and garage.

Status: Under Review

#100934954

Date Received: 10/01/2021

Applicant: Thomas Montgomery

Owner: Sam Brashler

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

#100937432

Date Received: 10/01/2021

Ward: 43rd Ald. Michele Smith

Applicant: JAR Corp.

Owner: Frederic Boyer

Permit Description: Partial demolition to accommodate third floor additions and a side addition.

Address: 4323 N. Paulina St., Ravenswood

#100941425

Date Received: 09/29/2021

Ward: 47th Ward Ald. Matt Martin

Applicant: American Demolition Corporation

Owner: GXSR, LLC C/O Josephine Cronnolly and Thomas Taylor, Managers

Permit Description: Demolition of a two-story, frame, single-family residential building.

Status: Under Review

Address: Commonwealth Edison Substation, by Hermann von Holst, 747-751 W. 82nd St., Auburn Gresham

#100937610

Date Received: 08/31/2021

Ward: 21st Ward Ald. Howard B. Brookins Jr.

Applicant: Alpine Demolition Services, LLC

Owner: Commonwealth Edison Company C/O Leon Guaquil

Permit Description: Demolition of a 1-story, masonry substation building Fieldhouse for the

Status: Released 11/30/2021

Address: Salerno Cookie Factory, 4450 and 4500 W. Division St., Humboldt Park

#100930920

Date Received: 07/15/2021

Ward: 37th Ward Ald. Emma Mitts

Applicant: American Demolition Corporation

Owner: Amazon.com Services LLC

Permit Description: Demolition of buildings.

"An Art Deco-era factory that has long anchored a stretch of Division Street in Humboldt Park is currently being demolished. According to preservationists, the building that spans from 4422 to 4500 West Division Street was listed on the city's 90 day demolition delay list, but was released before that period had been reached.

"The sprawling factory was once home to the Salerno Butter Cookie company, and similar to the old Wrigley Gum Factory and the Brach Candy Factory which have also been demolished in the last couple of years, helped make Chicago the 'Candy Capital of the World.' In a joint statement, Preservation Chicago's Ward Miller and Andrew Schneider reveal that preservationists were not made aware of the situation until it was too late.

"'The former Salerno Cookie Factory, home of that familiar and delicious butter cookie, at 4500 W. Division, an orange-rated building, has apparently been cleared for demolition, despite the fact that it is a rare example of famed architect Harold Zook in an industrial context,' Miller and Schneider state.

"'The building appeared on the city's mandatory demolition delay hold list, that typically requires buildings of significant architectural merit to be held for 90 days. That doesn't appear to have happened in this case. The application to demolish the building was received by the city on June 29 and was released little more than one week later, on July 8, 2015.'

"In addition, Miller says that there has been no word on why the city did not allow the full demolition delay hold to complete its cycle.

"The building is certainly a unique example of Chicago's history of a confection capital but also of striking Art Deco design of Harold Zook. After the Salerno company left the factory behind, the building was home to a graphic imaging company and then later a small parts supplier. While demolition has started on the factory, Miller hopes that the main entrance will be preserved and readapted." (LaTrace, Curbed Chicago, 7/24/15)

Address: 1851 and 1853 N. Leavitt Street, Bucktown

#100913335 and #100929919

Date Received: 07/13/2021

Ward: 32nd Ward Ald. Scott Waguespack

Applicant: Evergreen Solution USA Inc.

Owner: 1853-51 N. Leavitt LLC

Permit Description: Wreck and remove a 2-story masonry multi-unit residence.

“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.

McNitt Building Garage, 1911, 5654 N. Broadway, Edgewater. Demolished November 2021. Photo Credit: Dan Miller twitter @dmi11sfresh

4863 N. Ashland Avenue, Sheridan Park. Demolished Nov 2021. Photo Credit:GoogleMaps

"This weekend I finally went to Wrightwood 659 to see Romanticism to Ruin, an exhibit about two lost works by Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright. It was my first time inside this building within a building, which opened in 2018. Pritzker Prize-winning Japanese architect Tadao Ando incorporated the shell of a 1920s apartment building, transforming the space into a multi-level art and architecture gallery. The mask-like facade perfectly blends in with the residential neighborhood street while the interior is a beautiful textural combination of Chicago Common brick and exposed concrete. Ando’s dramatic design is the perfect venue to host what proves to be a visually striking exhibition with its 3D architectural models and digital recreations of Sullivan’s Garrick Theater in Chicago and Wright’s Larkin Building in Buffalo.

"As a fan of Tim Samuelson and Chris Ware’s previous exhibits, I was excited to see the Louis Sullivan section, Reconstructing the Garrick, as I already had the two related books (I wrote a review about one of them) and co-curator Chris Ware had even invited me to its opening, which I unfortunately could not attend. No one knows Adler & Sullivan’s work better than Tim Samuelson and John Vinci, who assisted Richard Nickel on salvaging much of what was on display in this exhibit. Their expertise and attention to detail is what made the show so rewarding for someone like me aka number one fan of Louis Sullivan. They always do such a good job at putting the ornament into context by placing the pieces against old black and white photos.

"Beyond the salvaged architectural ornament and archival photographs, what stood out to me was the historical ephemera related to the tenants and performers of the multi-purpose building, which was Chicago’s tallest at the time of its construction between 1891-92. Originally known as the Schiller, during its seventy-year existence the Garrick Theater was also an office building that was home to everyone from the Illinois State Brewers Association to various architects like Frank Lloyd Wright and Harry Bergen Wheelock.

"There were some well-known people are who took the Garrick stage either for political or social causes like Jane Addams, Eugene V. Debs, and Clarence Darrow or for pure entertainment value like Sophie Tucker, Ethel Waters, or Mae West (although her 1930 performance of Sex had a political bent). The Garrick’s architectural design was certainly an achievement but looking through all the historical moments that took place there makes its demolition even more heart-breaking.

"Like the Joni Mitchell song “Big Yellow Taxi” the Garrick was demolished for a parking garage in 1961, but only after preservationist Richard Nickel and others tried in vain to save it. Not only did he salvage hundreds of pieces from the building which he recorded in “almost military precision” in a workbook, but he took extensive notes, diagrams, and photographs. After reading so much about him over the years, it was cool to see Nickel’s personal loose leaf binder, the various letters he wrote to people as he attempted to save other Sullivan-designed buildings, and his only surviving camera.

"The highlight of the show was Razin Khan’s animation of the Garrick, projected on a wall in a theater-like setting at the end of a long hallway displaying a recreation of the banquet hall frieze. Attendees sat on benches, many of them staying for its entire length as the building was shown from all angles-it even included the street car that once ran down Randolph Street-and then the visualization slowly panned through all parts of the remarkable interior. If you hadn’t already felt anger towards the tragic and unnecessary demolition of the Garrick, watching the film really drives it home. To see the Garrick living and breathing, even in animation form, left me feeling depressed and bitter, knowing that Chicago is still tearing down its architectural treasures.

"As someone who once studied and worked at a number of museums and art galleries, the Romanticism to Ruin exhibit was everything I could possibly want in a display like this one, from the building itself to the beautifully designed graphics to the meticulous information. If you are interested in Adler & Sullivan, Chicago history and architecture, and/or Richard Nickel and historic preservation, please go see this exhibit if you haven’t already gone. It [was extended until February 26.]" (Freundt, Architecture and History of Chicagoland Blog, 11/16/21)

"Like a scarlet pane of firelight shining from a brick-and-mortar facade, a red door on the 1700 block of North Wells announces the presence of a little piece of magic in the Old Town neighborhood.

"'You just walk beyond that barrier and you leave your life behind—a calm washes over you and you’re in this little village that Edgar Miller created,' says psych-folk singer-songwriter Ty Maxon. 'Being surrounded by that creativity woke something up inside of me.'

"Maxon is recalling his time as an artist in residence at the Glasner Studio in June 2018. The residency was arranged by local nonprofit Edgar Miller Legacy, which facilitates an exchange between the public and the works left behind by polymathic artist and designer Edgar Miller—they include paintings, stained glass, wood carvings, murals, and 'handmade homes' such as the Glasner (which can include all of the above). The future of these artist residencies is in doubt, in no small part due to the pandemic, but they began in 2017: several times per year, the owner of a home that Miller designed has granted a local experimental artist access to it as a workspace. Each residency has concluded with a performance or exhibition of the work conceived in the home.

"Born in Idaho in 1899, Edgar Miller moved to Chicago at age 17 to study at the School of the Art Institute and jump-start his career as an artist and designer. On a 1923 poster advertising an arts event called the Cubist Ball, Miller was described as 'the blond boy Michelangelo,' and he rapidly made a name for himself with his multidisciplinary approach to art and design. During the 1920s and ’30s, he helped build a handful of live-work spaces for artists on the north side of Chicago, including the Carl Street Studios and the Kogen-Miller Studios, of which the Glasner is a part—he arranged salvaged tiles in folksy mosaics, carved ornate figures into wooden joists, and painstakingly arranged pieces of found glass into geometric marvels.

"To 'Edgarize' these homes, Miller drew from a toolbox of influences that included Native American totems, Mexican modernism, art deco, and French impressionism. Though he was a master of confluence, his work remains largely overlooked by the fine-art world because of his uncategorizable style. Without Edgar Miller Legacy, it might have faded into obscurity after he died in 1993.

"Spurred by the untimely 2013 death of his uncle Mark Mamolen, a fierce Miller preservationist, Zac Bleicher partnered with like-minded art fans and family members to found Edgar Miller Legacy in 2014. This organization not only works to preserve Miller’s creations but also helps make them available as an educational resource for academic institutions." (Shreibak, Chicago Reader, 11/24/21)

"The Old Post Office sat vacant for two decades, but in the largest historical redevelopment in the nation, the building, erected in 1921 and spanning three city blocks, is now a thriving work hub.

"Nearly $1 billion has been spent restoring, replacing, replicating and cleaning significant architectural features and readying the 2.8 million-square-foot limestone structure to accept new tenants.

"The unprecedented overhaul was spearheaded by developer 601W Cos. in conjunction with design giant Gensler and general contractor Bear Construction, along with historical consultants, preservation experts and civil engineers.

"Since November 2019, companies such as Cisco Systems, CoinFlip, PepsiCo, Home Chef and Walgreens have taken up office and retail space in the iconic building. It is more than 90% leased, according to Jamey Dix, principal of leasing firm the Telos Group.

"Ferrara Candy was one of the earliest tenants to plant headquarters in November 2019. “It is obviously a very attractive place to bring prospective employees,” said Abbye Lakin, senior manager, corporate affairs, at Ferrara. “When we announced our move to the Post Office, we saw an increase in applications across the board.” The firm intentionally kept some of the historical features in their space, such as original scales and a package mail chute, while incorporating one of its iconic copper drums used to pan candy into the design.

"Cboe Global Markets was another early tenant. Its headquarters spreads across two adjacent structures with sculptural staircases connecting the spaces and invigorating movement throughout. At each staircase, massive, two-story murals attract attention, while rolling tickers create a sense of buzz. Cboe proudly displays its history with signature pieces, including historic trading jackets and cables symbolizing the technology and energy that fuel options trading. “The dynamic space inspires us all to be more creative, collaborative and innovative in everything we do,” said Marc Magrini, vice president, administration.

"For all occupants, amenities such as a concierge, 3½-acre rooftop park, rooftop bars, a stunning tenant lounge, expansive fitness center and event space were huge draws.

"'Tenants in the Old Post Office enjoy some of the best amenities of any office building in Chicago,' said Dix. 'Paired with the location, historic redevelopment and impressive tenant roster, these are some of the best things about the Old Post Office.' (Naumovski, Crain's Chicago Business, 10/14/21)

"I’m going to settle an old Chicago debate, one that usually begins when someone quotes the first line of the song 'The Night Chicago Died,' by Paper Lace: 'My daddy was a cop on the east side of Chicago.'

"It came up again on Reddit, a year ago, when a Redditor wrote, “TIL the song ‘The Night Chicago Died’ by Paper Lace references an east side of Chicago, which does not exist. There are North, South, and West Downtown Chicago, but the east is occupied by Lake Michigan. Songwriters Peter Callander and Mitch Murray had never been to Chicago.”

"Callander and Murray, who hail from Nottingham, England, may have known as much about Chicago’s geography as Steve Perry did about Detroit’s, but they weren’t wrong. Chicago does, in fact, have an East Side. It’s one of our 77 community areas. Located in the far southeastern corner of the city, the East Side is bounded by the Calumet River on the north and west, Lake Michigan on the east and Egger’s Grove on the south. That Redditor may not have heard of the East Side because it’s one of Chicago’s most remote neighborhoods: the ‘L’ doesn’t go to the East Side, the Skyway carries cars hundreds of feet overhead, and driving there requires crossing a lift bridge. (When the Bluesmobile jumped the 95th Street Bridge, it took off from South Chicago and landed on the East Side.)

"East Side native Robert Stanley, a former Wisconsin Steel worker, began his self-published memoir Once Upon a Time in South Chicago with a photo of a half-raised bridge and the legend, 'Oh shit! The bridge is up. (Quote from) anyone that ever went to the (East Side).'

"Here’s what Stanley had to say about his neighborhood:

"When ever people asked me where I was from I’d proudly say “The East Side.” They’d say where’s that? I’d say you know, down where all the steel mills are, the area where the big cloud of smoke is, look down off the Skyway Toll Road, that’s us underneath.

G"rowing up on the East Side you always felt isolated from the rest of the city, not just by the bridges over the Calumet River or Lake Michigan to the east but because nobody from the north side of down town wanted anything to do with coming down to the end of the south side, the Dan Ryan expressway, the Robert Taylor Homes projects, the steel mills and oil refineries that made the air have a red tint that smelled.

"The one thing that we had on the East Side was Cal[umet] Park, two miles of lake front, a beach and the 'rocks,' a place where it was a no swimming area so everybody swam there. That was the place in the summer where everybody that was anybody was there, checking out the chicks, drinking quarts of beer in paper bags so the police didn’t see it and diving off top rock to impress the girls." (McClelland, Chicago Magazine, 11/23/21)

Schiller Building / Garrick Theater, 1890-1892, Adler and Sullivan, 64 W. Randolph St. Demolished 1961. Photo credit: Richard Nickel / Ryerson & Burnham Archives Archival Image Collection

Schiller Building / Garrick Theater, 1890-1892, Adler and Sullivan, 64 W. Randolph St. Demolished 1961. Photo credit: Richard Nickel / Ryerson & Burnham Archives Archival Image Collection

"Why are buildings designed by architects Louis H. Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright so haunting, especially those that have been destroyed? More than simply creating a physical structure, both architects had rare gifts for engaging the human senses and emotions through the power of space, color, light, and motion – all qualities that can never quite be conveyed by photography or drawings. Their buildings demanded to be experienced.

"This exhibition attempts to conjure the essence of two long-gone masterpieces. Louis Sullivan’s Garrick Theatre Building in Chicago stood for only sixty-nine years and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Larkin Building in Buffalo lasted only forty-four years, and yet, these buildings continue to resonate, far outlasting their physical presence.

"Reconstructing the Garrick: Adler & Sullivan’s Lost Masterpiece, Curated by John Vinci with Tim Samuelson, Chris Ware,

"Reimagining the Larkin: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Modern Icon, Curated by Jonathan D. Katz

"The Chicago Jewish Historical Society, in partnership with the Caxton Club, is excited to present a much-anticipated Zoom program.

"Andrew Feiler, author of A Better Life for Their Children: Julius Rosenwald, Booker T. Washington, and the 4,978 Schools that Changed America (University of Georgia Press, 2021), will talk about the joint partnership between Rosenwald and Washington that led to the establishment of the Rosenwald Schools, high-quality schools geared toward improving the education of Black children in the South in the early part of the twentieth century. Rosenwald, a Chicago philanthropist, pillar of the city’s Jewish and commercial communities, and a president and part-owner of Sears, Roebuck, and Company, served on the board of the Tuskegee Institute, the prestigious Black university of which Washington was president.

"A Better Life for Their Children is featured in the November 2021 Jewish Book Month section of Jewish Chicago: The JUF Magazine, and Feiler’s December 19 CJHS-Caxton presentation is his first Chicago-based talk about the book. Learn about Andrew Feiler on his website.

"Sunday, December 19, 2021

2:00 PM

Via Zoom

Zoom presentation is free and open to all.

Registration is required.

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

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

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

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

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

"Between December 3 and December 19, 2021, MAS Context and the Goethe-Institut Chicago are hosting the digital screening of Helmut Jahn: In A Flash, a documentary by Nathan Eddy. The film will be available on this page. Helmut Jahn: In A Flash had its world premiere in Chicago on December 1, 2021, presented by MAS Context and the Goethe-Institut Chicago.

"Helmut Jahn was an endlessly inventive, persistently evolving architect in possession of astounding nerve and unflagging creative exuberance. An interview from June 2016, conducted in Jahn’s Chicago office, sheds light on his approach to design, his personal evolution as an architect, and the challenges facing the contemporary city.

"Nathan Eddy is an award-winning American filmmaker and journalist specializing in architecture and urban planning issues. His first two films, The Absent Column and Starship Chicago, document the struggle to protect Chicago’s architectural heritage. In 2017, Eddy organized and led the successful protest movement to landmark New York City’s epochal postmodern skyscraper, Philip Johnson and John Burgee’s AT&T Building." (MAS Context)

Louis Sullivan’s Idea by Tim Samuelson. Rachel Freundt @chi_geek on twitter

"The story of Louis H. Sullivan is considered one of the great American tragedies. While Sullivan reshaped architectural thought and practice and contributed significantly to the foundations of modern architecture, he suffered a sad and lonely death. Many have since missed his aim: that of bringing buildings to life. What mattered most to Sullivan were not the buildings but the philosophy behind their creation. Once, he unconcernedly stated that if he lived long enough, he would get to see all of his works destroyed. He added: “Only the idea is the important thing.”

"In Louis Sullivan’s Idea, Chicago architectural historian Tim Samuelson and artist/writer Chris Ware present Sullivan’s commitment to his discipline of thought as the guiding force behind his work, and this collection of photographs, original documentation, and drawings all date from the period of Sullivan's life, 1856–1924, that many rarely or have never seen before. The book includes a full-size foldout facsimile reproduction of Louis Sullivan’s last architectural commission and the only surviving working drawing done in his own hand."

384 pages, 300 color plates

$45.00 cloth/jacket

'Modern in the Middle; Chicago Houses 1929-75, by Susan Benjamin and Michelangelo Sabatino with foreword by Pauline Saliga. Image Credit: Modern in the Middle

Modern in the Middle

Chicago Houses 1929-75

Susan Benjamin and Michelangelo Sabatino; foreword by Pauline Saliga

THE FIRST SURVEY OF THE CLASSIC TWENTIETH-CENTURY HOUSES THAT DEFINED AMERICAN MIDWESTERN MODERNISM.

"Modern in the Middle: Chicago Houses 1929–75, a book co-authored by Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture Professor and Ph.D. Program Director Michelangelo Sabatino and preservationist Susan S. Benjamin, has received a prestigious Docomomo Modernism in America Award. The award program, now in its eighth year, recognizes and celebrates work that documents, preserves, or reuses Modernist architecture in the United States.

"The book presents 50 Modernist houses in the greater Chicago area including examples by Frank Lloyd Wright, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Stanley Tigerman, John Moutoussamy, A. James Speyer, Edmond Zisook, and John Vinci, several of whom were Illinois Tech graduates. The book’s detailed histories include information about the clients in order to show how modern social aspirations transformed the residential realm. Modern in the MIddle also examines how Chicago’s modern homes played a role in the development of the single-family home across the U.S., while helping to establish a unique Midwestern Modern design language.

"'The histories of Chicago’s built environment that focus on the accomplishments of only a handful of architects inevitably overlook the vital contribution made by a host of architects, and their clients, in shaping the city’s distinctive residential architecture,” says Sabatino.

"The jury, chaired by Marcel Quimby, principal of Quimby Preservation Studio, bestowed Modern in the Middle with an Award of Excellence, citing the variety of subjects within the publication and calling it 'a dynamic and engaging book that is a useful resource for the public.'

"'The brilliant thing about Modern in the Middle is that it focuses not just on the architects and their buildings, it also focuses on the clients, the real-life women and men who took a chance and commissioned these buildings,' says Pauline Saliga, executive director of the Society of Architectural Historians and the author of the book’s foreword. 'Because of that more personal focus, the public can better relate to these remarkable homes, and better understand how cutting edge these designs were. These were the teams—clients and architects—who helped shape the Midwest’s own unique brand of Modern residential architecture.'

Praise for Modern in the Middle

"Modern in the Middle significantly expands our understanding of modern architecture in the Chicago area by bringing to light a number of lesser-known yet talented architects. The houses and interiors designed by IIT graduates like myself demonstrate that the Miesian legacy was more complex than it might appear at first sight."

—JOHN VINCI, FAIA

"Modern in the Middle looks beyond Chicago’s iconic skyscrapers to show us that this city’s residential buildings have also been paradigmatic in shaping modern architecture. The book’s scope goes beyond just “midcentury” making the “Middle” a signifier that explores Chicago’s central place in the nation’s geography and the essential role of the American middle class in defining the idea of “modern housing.” Every piece of this carefully assembled volume is insightful and still resonant in our lives today."

—GWENDOLYN WRIGHT, COLUMBIA GSAPP

"This rich and fascinating compendium places the modern houses in and around Chicago in historical and philosophical context. In addition to the descriptions not only of the houses and architects but also the crucial role of the clients, the accompanying original photographs and plans are important parts of the thorough documentation. There is much to be discovered here!"

—CYNTHIA WEESE, FAIA

"Nothing epitomized the glamour and excitement of Chicago’s jazz age and war years like the fabled Edgewater Beach Hotel. Much more than a hotel, the Edgewater Beach was a world unto itself—the only urban resort of its kind in the nation. Located on the shores of Lake Michigan on Chicago’s North Side, it offered swimming, golf, tennis, dancing, theater, fine dining, exclusive shopping, fabulous floor shows, unique watering holes, and, of course, some of the best jazz and swing music of its era. It even had its own pioneering radio station, which broadcasted across the nation and burnished its fame. Many of the legends of the big band era played its stages, and many of Hollywood’s leading stars crossed its footlights. It was a stomping ground for both the rich and famous as well as ordinary people who wanted a small taste of the high life. The Edgewater Beach Hotel was world renowned. But the social upheaval of the 1960s, the ascendance of automobile culture, and rapid urban change led to its demise." (ArcadiaPublishing.com)

"Fifty years ago, the last remnants of Edgewater’s most famous building came down, ending an era for one of the most storied hotels in Chicago history. Now, the Edgewater Beach Hotel is being remembered in the first book on the subject, written by two neighborhood historians.

"'Remembering Edgewater Beach Hotel' was published this year under Arcadia Publishing’s popular 'Images of America' series. It was written by Kathryn Gemperle and John Holden, members of the Edgewater Historical Society.

"The Edgewater Beach Hotel opened in 1916 in the 5300 block of North Sheridan Road. It quickly became the crown jewel of Edgewater, which was known for its wealthy residents and leafy mansions. With its own beach, the hotel quickly became a destination for well-heeled Chicagoans and dignitaries of the day, including Babe Ruth, Bing Crosby and Marilyn Monroe.

"'The hotel was that rarest of birds, perhaps without equal anywhere in the world: a full-service beachfront resort hotel located in the heart of one of the world’s great cities,' Holden and Gemperle write in the book. 'To find its rivals in the mid-20th century, one would have had to travel outside the Midwest to Atlantic City, Palm Beach, or the islands of California.'

"Aside from its lavish amenities, the hotel was the first home of WGN, which placed its broadcast antennas atop the hotel. The hotel also helped popularize jazz and big band music in the 1920s, with radio broadcasts beaming live performances from the hotel.

"The Edgewater Beach Hotel played a pivotal role in the founding of the Zenith Radio Company. It is also considered to have built the world’s first indoor parking garage.

"In 1947, the city approved a plan to extend DuSable Lake Shore Drive from Foster Avenue to Hollywood Avenue, cutting off the hotel from its private lakefront.

"The Edgewater Beach Hotel closed in 1967 and was demolished in 1971. All that remains is the Edgewater Beach Apartments, the historic building at 5550 N. Sheridan Road built in 1928 as a companion to the hotel.

"Despite its demise, the Edgewater Beach Hotel retains a special place in the memory of longtime Edgewater residents, Gemperle said. The authors hope the new book will help preserve the hotel’s legacy for future generations of Chicagoans.

"'The community of Edgewater has a nostalgia for the hotel, especially after it was torn down,' Gemperle said. 'It really was a big deal.' (Ward, Block Club Chicago, 8/5/21)