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Preservation Chicago Working to Halt Demo Permit for Pilgrim Baptist Church/KAM Synagogue
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| Pilgrim Baptist, Courtesy of Ward Miller |
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Ten years after the fire that devastated the highly-significant Adler and Sullivan-designed Pilgrim Baptist Church/KAM Synagogue at 3301 S. Indiana Ave., the limestone and brick walls still stand behind scaffolding. Efforts to raise necessary funds to rebuild have been unsuccessful and there has been growing pressure from the neighborhood for forward movement. In an effort to stimulate action, the City took the church to housing court. Unfortunately, the outcome was the congregation's decision to apply for a demolition permit.
The congregation had been attempting to sell the building and adjacent parking lot, but shifted directions in the months prior to the demo application. The Commission on Chicago Landmarks will likely consider the demo application in November.
Preservation Chicago strongly opposes demolition. Far too much of the historic fabric of this incredibly significant landmark building has already been lost. Additionally, the demolition of a portion of the brick walls could jeopardize the integrity of the entire structure and trigger an emergency demolition of the entire site. According to an engineering report, the current structure remains stable with no imminent threat of collapse.
Recognizing the significance of the structure, even in its diminished post-fire condition, Preservation Chicago is in active communication with the congregation, the church trustees and representatives from the City to encourage the withdrawal of the demolition permit.
Last year, Preservation Chicago had proposed an adaptive reuse plan where the church would sell the property to the City, who would adapt the existing wall into a small outdoor amphitheater geared for gospel music managed by the Chicago Park District.
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800 People Celebrate St. Boniface Save
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| St. Boniface Church, Courtesy of Ward Miller |
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26 years after St. Boniface Church held its last mass and 16 long years of relentless preservation advocacy, St. Boniface is saved! Restoration will finally come for St. Boniface Church with its four square red-brick towers of that have visually dominated Eckhart Park and provided an emotional sense of place to the Noble Square/West Town community since 1904. The Romanesque church designed by architect Henry Schlacks located at 1348 W. Chestnut St., was nominated as a Chicago 7 Most Endangered Building in 2003.
With demolition imminent, two minutes before the hard deadline of Friday, 5 p.m. on September 23rd, all the dozens of moving parts were pinned down long enough to allow the impossible happen and the deal to transfer ownership to close. The new owner Michael Skoulsky with Stas Development is committed to a preservation sensitive restoration and adaptive reuse. The church will be converted into 15 residences and a new Chicago Academy of Music building on the adjacent lot will offer performances, music lessons, and recording facilities, and student and faculty housing.
"This is so beautiful, I had tears in my eyes as I rounded the corner here tonight," said Ward Miller, Preservation Chicago. "This morning in another meeting I was told that there was no safety net for this project. If the deal didn't close today, it was all over."
800 people came out to celebrate St. Boniface on October 15th. The event included open access to the church, live music, food trucks, free Lagunitas beer, many smiles and hugs and even a few tears of relief. A special thanks to Ward Miller, Brad Suster and Cathie Bond from Preservation Chicago for sponsoring the event.
The road to St. Boniface's preservation has been a long, complex, and difficult. Despite that the prospects for success were remote, Preservation Chicago never lost hope and never stopped advocating for a preservation-oriented outcome.
Preservation Chicago's leadership role was pivotal in this save, but many preservation partners worked tirelessly to support St. Boniface. Preservation Chicago wishes to recognize and celebrate Michael Skoulsky of Stas Development; David Ruttenberg of Marc Realty Capital, Skoulsky's equity partner in the project, and Michael Scott Carter, Executive Director, and Rory Dean Smith, Chief Operations Officer, of the Chicago Academy of Music (CAM). The courageous leadership of Eleanor Gorski, City of Chicago Landmarks Division and Lisa Misher, City of Chicago Senior Counsel was instrumental to this process. Persistent advocacy from Lisa Dichiera at Landmarks Illinois and the continued interest of local press kept the fight for St. Boniface in the public spotlight. Neighborhood organizations including Neighbors of St. Boniface lead by the intrepid Kevin Stawiarski, East Village Association's Bob Zwolinski and Gladys Anselmo never faltered and to all the Neighbors of St. Boniface including Claudia Sainsot, Jon Kulpit, Kathy Thalmann, Jim Boccarossa, and architect, Mike Vasilko.
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Interior and Exterior Landmark Designation Likely for Historic Trumbull School
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| Trumbull School, Courtesy of James Iska |
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40th Ward Alderman O'Conner has been actively involved in promoting a good outcome for Trumbull school. He has been a strong advocate for preservation and has insisted that the developer landmark both in the interior and the exterior of the historic school building. Preservation Chicago applauds Alderman O'Conner's leadership for his determination to protect historic interiors as well as the historic exterior.
Three years after the highly-significant Dwight Perkins designed Trumbull school was permanently closed as part of the mass closure of 50 Chicago Public Schools, the building is expected to be sold to Svigos Asset Management on November 4th. Landmark designation is a requirement of the redevelopment plan and preliminary landmark status is anticipated in November. Preservation Chicago strongly supports landmark designation for Trumbull School.
Svigos was the firm chosen from a number of prospective developers as their redevelopment plans accommodated the community's reuse preferences. Their plans include landmark designation, the use of historic preservation tax credits, the adaptive reuse of the building for a maximum of 49 residential units, and to engage a local theater group to use the auditorium.
Despite earnest efforts, the Timeline Theatre group has withdrawn from the project. Challenges arouse when it became clear that Timeline's desire to convert the historic auditorium into a flexible, black-box type theater with leveled floor was contrary to preservation standards and would jeopardize historic tax credits. The circa 1913 Christopher Columbus murals and highly significant auditorium rotunda were never considered for significant alterations. Svigos is actively seeking new theater groups to operate the auditorium.
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Urgent Threat: Demolition Permit Request for Historic Lakeview Mansion
The Serbian American Museum & Club St Sava has been in operation since 1952 from a historic 11,400 square foot mansion in Lake View East. This extraordinary Prairie Style home at 448 W. Barry Ave was designed by Frederick Perkins and completed in1902. Its graceful proportions, broad porch, intricate classical ornament, unique and highly-ornamented arched third floor dormer and fine detailing with Roman brick make it a natural candidate for consideration as a Designated Chicago Landmark.
The Serbian cultural organization listed the building for sale in the July citing the inability of the non-profit to cover the costs for some needed repair work. Membership has dwindled as much of the Serbian community has moved out to the suburbs. The museum board wishes to relocate the museum operations to a new location with easy expressway access and with ample parking.
The property was listed for $3.85 million. The building includes 8 bedrooms, 5 and 1/2 baths, 12-foot ceilings, a theater, a full basement and a coach house. The Serbian cultural organization hoped for a preservation buyer, but chose to accept an offer from a builder with plans to demolish the building and build multifamily housing.
On October 18, a demolition permit application was submitted on behalf of the Serbian American Museum to "wreck and remove" the building and coach house.
This orange-rated building is architecturally outstanding and has served an important cultural resource for the Chicago Serbian community for over 60 years. Preservation Chicago would fully support a historic landmark designation. Preservation Chicago urges the City, 44th Ward Alderman Tunney, Lake View neighborhood organizations and Lake View neighbors to take steps to protect this important historic landmark.
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We Need You! Join Preservation Chicago
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| Marshall Field's Clock, Courtesy of Ward Miller |
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Preservation Chicago is a 501(c)3 organization dedicated to protecting the architectural fabric of the city.
The organization participates in advocacy via public testimony, education, including walking tours of historic areas and looks for partner organizations and developers to ensure our great architectural legacy.
But we can only do it because of our committed staff, board and, of course, our members.
Please consider joining or giving to Preservation Chicago. Donations or membership renewals can be sent to Preservation Chicago, 4410 N. Ravenswood Ave., Chicago IL, 60640. You can also fill out our online form here.
Donors of $1,500 and above are invited to join our Preservation Circle level membership. There are exclusive events available for members at this level including tours of noted buildings and private residences not open to the public. For additional information on the Preservation Circle and Corporate Sponsorship of Preservation Chicago, please contact Ward Miller at 773-398-6432 or at
[email protected]
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Preservation Chicago is an activist organization that advocates for the preservation of historic architecture, neighborhoods and urban spaces throughout the city of Chicago.
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