June 2018 Month-in-Review Newsletter
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THREATENED: “
Fourth-Rate Design” Addition Proposed for Chicago Union Station Rooftop “W
ould Bring to the Forlorn But Grand Train Station All the Grandeur of a Holiday Inn.” (Chicago 7 2018)
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Proposed Rooftop Addition to Chicago Union Station, Rendering Credit: Solomon Cordwell Buenz
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Proposed Rooftop Addition to Chicago Union Station, Rendering Credit: Solomon Cordwell Buenz
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Proposed Rooftop Addition to Chicago Union Station, Rendering Credit: Solomon Cordwell Buenz
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Preservation Chicago included Chicago Union Station as a 2018 “Chicago 7 Most Endangered” based on conceptual rooftop addition renderings released by the development team as part of the Chicago Union Station Master Plan announced Mayor Emanuel and Amtrak CEO Wick Moorman in May 2017. The Chicago Union Station Master Plan anticipates the construction of five new super-tall high-rise towers estimated at over 1.5 million square feet on the blocks directly to the south of Chicago Union Station.
Significant recent preservation-sensitive restoration work at Union Station by Amtrak has reversed the long-term trend of decades of demolition and deferred maintenance. Several important interior spaces and features have returned to public use, such as the Women’s Lounge, now known as the Burlington Room, and the Men’s Lounge and Barber Shop, which now form a series of passenger lounges. The restoration of the Great Hall/Waiting Room is nearly complete, along with a comprehensive restoration of the Great Hall Skylight. Preservation Chicago has played an active role as a consulting partner in this process with Amtrak, the City of Chicago, and design teams, and we both recognize the challenges and applaud these amazing accomplishments.
However, the decision to include Union Station as 2018 “Chicago 7 Most Endangered” decision proved prescient when at a community meeting held on Monday, June 25, 2018, developer Riverside Investment & Development and joint-partner Convexity Properties presented architect Solomon Cordwell Buenz’s rooftop addition proposal. Surprisingly, the newer design renderings were even less compatible with the historic station than the earlier iterations. The only silver lining is that proposed rooftop addition has been universally panned as a profoundly inappropriate addition to Union Station. This strong and wide opposition makes approval by the 42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly and Mayor Rahm Emanuel more difficult without a significant rethinking. A sampling of the responses to the proposed design is below.
Blair Kamin, Pulitzer Prize winning architecture critic from the Chicago Tribune, laid out the existential challenge to Union Station, a Designation Chicago Landmark designed by Daniel Burnham and his successor firm in 1925 this way.
“When the City of Chicago granted [Union] Station official landmark status in 2002, it buttressed its case by noting that the station is the last great historic railroad terminal still in use in Chicago; that it’s one of the nation’s most architecturally and historically significant passenger railroad stations, and that its soaring Great Hall is one of the country’s great interior public spaces.”
So the stakes for this forlorn but beloved Landmark, designed by Chicago architects Graham, Anderson, Probst & White and completed in 1925, couldn’t be higher. Which begs this question: Are we stuck with this fourth-rate design or are Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Ald. Brendan Reilly, 42nd, in whose ward the station sits, going to exercise their considerable clout and push for something better?”
In his column, Blair Kamin described the proposed rooftop addition as one that
“would plunk a squat modernist box atop the existing structure’s neo-classical pedestal. They go together as well as Rauner and Pritzker, the City Council and ethics reform.”
“The seven-story addition and its 404 rental apartments would bring to the forlorn but grand train station all the grandeur of a Holiday Inn.”
“Worse, its exterior, a skeletal metal and glass grid is at odds with the station’s carefully-composed classical aesthetic. Despite the architects’ best efforts, it’s as though one era of architecture had been piled, willy-nilly, atop another.”
“The juxtaposition of past and present isn’t as violent as the spaceship-like seating bowl that’s plopped atop the classical colonnades of Soldier Field. It’s just banal, which Burnham buildings never are.”
“[The] addition design for Union Station does not inspire confidence. A building that’s part of the Burnham legacy deserves better, especially when it forms a gateway to Chicago.”
Additionally, Blair Kamin included some of the more colorful reactions to the proposed rooftop addition on social media and in response to his earlier column.
“On the web, architecture critics and sidewalk superintendents have been piling on with nasty metaphors: An ice cube for a colossal architectural headache! A self-inked address stamper! A suburban office building lifted off its foundations by a tornado and dropped atop the neo-classical station!”
According to prominent architect Edward Keegan in his review published in Crain’s Chicago Business,
“The SCB scheme looks like a banal government-issue office building of the 1960s has been plunked down on top of the original. And it's not the contrast that's the problem…The fact that this design has been publicly unveiled is an insult to Chicago's alleged position as a place that takes architecture seriously. It requires a complete do-over.”
Out-spoken architecture critic Lynn Becker released the following review on his twitter feed which is reprinted in its entirety,
“How can people with a proven track record of striking towers and graceful restorations come up with such a stinking rotten fish of a design?
Done by SCB in a style best described as Plop Architecture Revival, it perches atop the Burnham Company’s iconic Union Station like a gigantic vulture spaceship of mediocrity. It’s the poster child refutation of the increasingly unjustifiable old saw about Chicago as the city that “cares about architecture."
It should be called “The Viable" since that's the justification for the design that came up several times in last night's unveiling. The donut of space that exists along the perimeter of the Great Hall's giant skylight just wasn’t wide enough for double rows of pricey apartments along a central corridor. More depth. We need more depth! Hence, “The Viable” which has absolutely no justification as architecture, only as the rawest economics.
Which is doubly sad as the building it desecrates is given a masterful renovation in the SCB plan, preserving the grand entrances along Jackson and Adams and their view into the Great Hall even as they're repurposed them as entrances to a new hotel and the apartments, respectively. The deadened Clinton Street facade is opened up, the stoned-up spaces returned to windows, and a new entrance inserted into the long ago incinerated Fred Harvey restaurant at the mid-point of the Great Hall. New lighting would accentuate the building's best visual qualities.
Its great stuff. It's like they spent all their talent on reviving the original building, and were left running on empty when it came to designing the addition. The Elbphilharmonie it’s not. It's what you’d see in a dying, middle-tier rustbelt city desperate for development.
Are we that desperate?
If the Landmarks Commission doesn't reject this design, they should fold up shop and put a big “Just Kidding” sign next to their mission statement."
According to architecture reviewer Elizabeth Blasius in her column in The Architect's Newspaper,
“In 2004, Chicago watched historic Soldier Field become a toilet bowl. In 2019, Union Station will become a self-inked address stamper….If approved, the addition on Union Station could cause a paradigm shift in the way Chicago Landmarks are approached by potential developers, broadcasting a message that cultural and architectural resources are only of value if they are monetized to their fullest extent, and that the Landmarks Ordinance can soften in the face of economic motivators. The proposed addition is not only an imbalance in terms of design; it’s also condescending to the station itself, the architectural equivalent of a head patting, or worse. Ringing out like the 2004 renovation of Soldier Field (a project that curiously won an award for design excellence by the AIA the same year it was recommended to be stripped of its National Historic Landmark designation), this is new bullying old.”
Chicago Curbed editor Jay Koziarz questioned what the precedent of the potential rooftop addition construction would mean for the future of Chicago’s landmarks.
“Looking beyond the initial knee jerk reactions and pithy comments, the Union Station overhaul will be a key battle for preservationists with the potential to set future precedents with regards to what can be done to Chicago’s protected, historically significant buildings. The decision to move ahead ultimately lies with the city, so if you’re truly horrified give Alderman Brendan Reilly and the Chicago Landmarks Commission a call.” (Koziarz, Curbed Chicago, 6/27/18)
Preservation Chicago strongly opposes any rooftop addition to Chicago Union Station. And in this case, by building across the street, the development team can easily build the additional square footage for an apartment building without adversely affecting a world-class Chicago Landmark. Phase 2 and Phase 3 of the Chicago Union Station Master Plan contemplate five new construction high-rise towers equaling over 1.5 million square feet on the blocks directly to the south of Union Station. So by transferring the buildable air rights from Union Station, the development team could recover any lost square footage. In his column, Blair Kamin endorsed this as a possible solution to this problem.
During a well-attended community meeting on June 25, Ward Miller received an enthusiastic round of applause when he said, “Rooflines, elevations, and interior volumes are protected under the landmark ordinance and we think you’re going to step over these lines. We’d like to see no building on top of this amazing station, and instead suggested transferring the additional floors to the new high-rise buildings proposed next door.” (Koziarz, Curbed Chicago, 6/26/18)
Ward Miller suggested an alternate approach might be to build out an extensive rooftop terrace on the existing Union Station rooftop, which would be directly above the proposed 330-room hotel within the historic office floors. Rooftop restaurants and lounges, with both indoor and outdoor spaces, have proved to be incredibly popular and highly valuable assets for developers and building owners throughout the Loop. In some cases, the rooftop lounges have become so successful that they have become a primary income generator for the entire building and a powerful draw for the hotels within the buildings below. Examples of highly successful rooftop restaurant lounges include the Wit Hotel’s rooftop bar, Cindy’s rooftop restaurant on the roof of the Chicago Athletic Association Hotel, the London House rooftop restaurant, and the Peninsula Hotel’s newly opened bar. Activating Union Station’s historic rooftop with a use or series of uses that would be open to all could become a huge draw. Coupled with a hotel below, a series of rooftop restaurant, lounge, and event space would become a destination unto itself and powerfully reactive one of Chicago’s greatest landmark buildings.
The problematic architectural design came as a genuine shock to many as the developers and architect have completed many outstanding projects. Perhaps there was another silent partner that forced the hand of the design team… a fragile 100-year old building structure. While some additional building structure was included in the original building, as a step towards a contemplated possible future addition, no complete as-built column and structural drawings have been located. Therefore, knowing precisely what was constructed during the course of a sixteen-year design and construction period between 1909 and 1925, with multiple mid-project alterations, poses a significant challenge. Additionally, even if accurate as-built drawings existed, the condition and strength of these structural elements would be very hard to quantify with precision due to their significant age.
While there has been little focus on the building’s structural capacity, the current proposed design suggests that the existing structure is fragile. The 1998 Lucien Lagrange tower plan called for a pair of 17-story tower additions clad in limestone, but wisely relied heavily upon a large number of new structural columns to support the weight, which would have imposed of many new structural columns passing through the center of the Great Hall and skylight. Thankfully this plan never materialized.
The current proposed addition does not contemplate new structural columns through the Great Hall and will largely rely upon the existing structural system. To decrease stress on the existing structure, the differential loading caused by two towers has been scrapped for a donut ring design which more equally distributes the weight. A beautiful limestone façade appropriate for a neo-classical building has been scrapped and replaced with a lightweight glass and steel curtain wall. The building height has been dropped from 17 stories to seven, likely because there is legitimate concern that it is simply too risky for the building to handle any more weight.
So what level of risk is acceptable? How accurate are the engineering calculations? How real are the assumptions upon which they are based? To move forward safely, there must be absolute certainty that the building structure is sufficient to carry the new load of a new, seven story, 404-unit apartment building. However, with a nearly 100 year old structural system, it is impossible to achieve that level of certainty, unless the original structural system is either completely disassembled and rebuilt, or a new freestanding structural system is built to fully carry the entire load of the new structure. Neither option is feasible without major adverse impacts on the existing, recently restored interior spaces.
Considering the importance of this Chicago Landmark Building and its role as one of the busiest rail terminals in the United States handling approximately 140,000 passengers on an average weekday, the impact of a minor or major structural failure due to new the construction could be catastrophic in terms of impact to the building, to passengers life safety, and to the overall economy of Chicago.
Vastly simpler contemporary engineering designs have catastrophically failed, such as the FIU Sweetwater University City Pedestrian Bridge which collapsed in 2018, and much younger systems have failed such as the 41-year old I-35W Minneapolis Bridge collapsed in 2007. In the case of the I-35W, in multiple lawsuits cost tens of millions of dollars. The cause of the collapse was due to slightly undersized structural gusset plates, a flaw that had been overlooked for 40 years of inspections, and the additional weight resulting from two extra inches of concrete from resurfacing.
What level of risk is an acceptable level of risk? None.
Additional Reading
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WIN: After 35 Years of Advocacy, Uptown Theatre Restoration Announced!
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Uptown Theatre, 4816 N. Broadway, People line up to see the Uptown Theatre during opening week in August 1925, Photo Credit: Chicago Tribune Historic Photo
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Uptown Theatre Interior, 4816 N. Broadway, Photo Credit: Chicago Tribune Historic Photo
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Uptown Theatre Interior, 4816 N. Broadway, Photo Credit: Eric Holubow
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Uptown Theatre Balcony, 4816 N. Broadway, Photo Credit: Eric Holubow
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Uptown Theatre view from stage, 4816 N. Broadway, Photo Credit: Eric Holubow
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A Palace of Enchantment, Balaban & Katz Magazine, August 17, 1925, www.compassrose.org
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After 35 years, the Uptown Theatre will finally be restored! Shuttered since December 1981 following water damage from burst frozen pipes, the effort to save this outstanding building from demolition has been long, arduous, with many false starts, and unfulfilled promises, but the preservation community never gave up on the dream of one day seeing the Uptown Theatre restored. Most recently, Friends of the Uptown and Preservation Chicago sponsored an online petition to encourage the restoration of the Uptown Theatre that had generated 10,671 signatures to-date.
As Blair Kamin wrote in his Chicago Tribune Column,
“local preservation groups — Landmarks Illinois, Preservation Chicago and Friends of the Uptown [formed in 1998) — and the Washington, D.C.-based National Trust for Historic Preservation, which in 1996 put the Uptown on its list of the nation’s most endangered places, deserve credit for the tenacity they exhibited in fighting for what many assumed was a lost cause. City officials also get kudos for laying the infrastructure groundwork that could help a renovated Uptown succeed.” (Kamin, Chicago Tribune, 6/29/18)
“This is the fulfillment of a promise,” said Emanuel in an interview Thursday. “When I was still mayor-elect, I talked about creating an entertainment district in Uptown. Our investments in culture are one of our best drivers of economic growth and job creation in our neighborhoods.” (Jones, Chicago Tribune, 6/28/19)
According to Jerry Mickelson back in 2011,
“There is a new energy that has been infused by Mayor Emanuel, whose vision is to create an entertainment district that will provide an unprecedented economic and cultural development opportunity for this great neighborhood,” Mickelson said. He added that both 48th Ward Alderman Harry Osterman and 48th Ward Alderman James Cappleman are also working hard to see the Uptown reopen and be a catalyst for enlivening the district.” (Lynn Becker, ArchitectureChicagoPlus, 12/18/2011)
The developer is Chicago-based Farpoint Development in joint venture with Chicago-based promoter Jam Productions, which purchased the Uptown Theatre in 2008 for $3.2 million after a court-ordered foreclosure sale. Many of the details of the plan remain undisclosed. The restoration architect has not yet been selected. The repair cost is estimated at $75 million. Farpoint is led by Steve Goodman, a co-founder of Sterling Bay which is one of Chicago’s largest real estate development firms. Jerry Mickelson and Arny Granat are co-founders and co-owners of Jam Productions.
This effort is being significantly supported by the City of Chicago through city, state and federal sources. “
The mayor’s office said the piecemeal financing for the Uptown Theatre comes from an array of public and private sources: $14 million in financing through the State of Illinois’ Property Assessed Clean Energy Act; $13 million in tax-increment financing; $10 million in Build Illinois bond funding; $8.7 million in federal tax credits; and $3.7 million in the City of Chicago’s Adopt-a-Landmark funds. Jam and Farpoint are kicking in the remaining $26 million in a yet-to-be-determined mix of debt and equity. The restoration scheme also includes $6 million in streetscape improvements to portions of North Broadway, and Lawrence and Wilson avenues and Argyle Street, including a new pedestrian plaza and public stage, located just south of Lawrence and Broadway.” (Jones, Chicago Tribune, 6/28/19)
The Uptown Theatre in the Spanish Baroque Revival style is one of grandest and most opulent “Picture Palace” theaters ever built in America. It was the crown jewel of the Chicago-based Balaban & Katz theater chain and is one of Chicago’s greatest movie theaters. The Uptown Theater cost $4 million in 1925 and was “
Built For All Time.”
As described in the Balaban & Katz Magazine from August 17, 1925,
“By that they mean that rosy, romantic and beautiful plans of youth never come true. But here is the Uptown Theatre. It is beyond human dreams of loveliness, rising in mountainous splendor, achieving the overpowering sense of tremendous size and exquisite beauty – a thing that comes miraculously seldom.
Entering it you pass into another world. The streets, the clangor of iron on cement, the harsh outlines of the steel thickets we call the city, all disappear. Your spirit rises and soars among the climbing pillars that ascend six stories to the dome ceiling of the colossal lobby. It becomes gay and light under the spell of the warm coloring that plays across heavily carved and ornamented wall as myriads of unseen lights steal out from mysterious hidden coves to illumine the interior with romantic sundown colors.
The Uptown Theatre is like a castle in Old Spain upon which countless artists and sculptors have lavished their talents. Behind the carved Travertine marble, the colossal pillars that gleam with bright shields and deep rich efflorescence, behind the velvet hangings and Spanish shawls, behind the magnificent mural paintings, the curving ceilings with their griffins, their heads of laughing kings, behind the charming little windows of Hispaniola that open on the great auditorium behind all that carries you into the spirit and mood of quaint, rich, grand Old Spain…” (Balaban & Katz Magazine, 8/17/25, page 1)
The Uptown Theatre was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986, is a Designated Chicago Landmark, and is a contributing building to the Uptown Square Landmark District.
Located at 4816 N. Broadway, the Uptown and designed by the acclaimed theater architects C.W. Rapp and George L. Rapp. At the time it opened, the grandiose tagline used to advertise the Uptown Theatre was “An Acre of Seats in a Magic City”. At 46,000-square-foot, the Uptown is actually slightly larger than an acre! At the grand opening, the orchestra pit housed 60 musicians on an immense elevator platform, and the theatre was equipped with the most expensive Wurlitzer grande theatre organ built up to that time
“with 10,000 pipes ranging in size from smokestack of an ocean-liner to a lead-pencil hidden behind the walls on either side of the proscenium arch.” (Balaban & Katz Magazine, 8/17/25, page 6)
In its first five years of operation, more than 20 million Chicagoans passed through its doors. The massive Uptown Theater had 4,381 seats and is said to be among the largest movie palaces ever built in the US. Removable seating on the main level could enable people to stand at events, bringing the overall capacity to 5,800. It is larger than the seating capacity of most other large Chicago theaters including the Arie Crown Theater (4,250), the Auditorium Theater (3,901), Chicago Theatre (3,600), the Oriental Theatre (2,253), the Cadillac Palace Theatre (2,344), and the Majestic/CIBC Theatre (1,800). The Congress Theatre, which is currently being restored, is projected to have a capacity of 3,500 for general admission shows and 2,600 for shows with seating.
Jerry Mickelson of Jam Productions credits Chicago officials and longtime volunteers for the Uptown surviving decades of deferred maintenance and neglect through a succession of owners and receivership. Also, the City of Chicago invested in more than $1 million in court-ordered stabilization work and repairs, which removed and stored decorative terra cotta and replaced the system of pipes through which the rain and snowmelt from 12 roof surfaces drains. It was this system’s failure in the arctic winters of the early 1980s which caused water damage to some interior areas of ornate plaster ceilings and walls. (Lynn Becker, ArchitectureChicagoPlus, 12/18/2011)
"We've come very far in the 50 years since the demolition of the Garrick Theater and Chicago Stock Exchange building when your common citizen may not have been involved in architectural preservation," said Ward Miller, Executive Director of Preservation Chicago.
"But this is another example of a project that has so much good potential, in so many ways and something that could positively impact the entire Uptown Entertainment District." (LaTrace, 8/22/17)
If the Uptown really does wind up being reborn, it will mark a major change from 1961, which witnessed the destruction of Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan’s Garrick Theater, a masterpiece of the first Chicago School of Architecture, and its replacement by a parking garage. Along with the demolition of the Chicago Stock Exchange Building in the early 1970s, that traumatic event helped lead to the creation of today’s strong preservation movement in Chicago and the Uptown’s bright new prospects. (Kamin, Chicago Tribune, 6/29/18)
Additional Reading
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THREATENED: Historic Chicago Avenue Bridge Targeted for Demolition
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Chicago Avenue Bridge, Photo Credit: Steven Dahlman
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Chicago Avenue Bridge, Photo Credit: James Phillips
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Chicago Avenue Bridge Detail, Photo Credit: @ChEyeBall from Twitter
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Built in 1914 by the Ketler-Elliot Erection Company of Chicago, the historic Chicago Avenue Bridge is scheduled for demolition and replacement with a new non-movable, concrete bridge. As part of this process as the historic Chicago Avenue Bridge was determined eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, the City and the Chicago Department of Transportation are required by law to offer to give away the bridge to anyone interested in taking it. The underlying law was intended to protect valuable historic assets, but the offer rings hollow with the City of Chicago’s clear lack of genuine interest in seeing this iconic bridge protected, saved or reused.
The Chicago Avenue Bridge is a pony truss bascule bridge with an elegant symmetric span of riveted steel beams which taper towards the center. The exposed riveted steel references a heroic industrial age when Chicago was a manufacturing powerhouse, a leader in steel production, and a world-leading bridge design innovator. The bridge was operated from an elegant bridgehouse with a pitched roof, rounded corners, a ribbon of windows, and clad in a decorative copper, now oxidized green like the Statue of Liberty. In a past era when industrial traffic on the north branch was heavy, the bridge opened and closed frequently, but today that need no longer exists.
“Chicago has more movable bridges than any other city in the world, and the city is recognized as an international innovator in the engineering of bridges.” (Maggio, GapersBlock.com, 12/2/04)
According to the Chicago Architecture Foundation, there are 52 movable bridges in the city limits of Chicago. “The first trunnion bascule bridge in the country opened in 1902 over the north branch of the Chicago River at Cortland Street. Translated from French, “trunnion” means “pivot point” and “bascule” means “seesaw.” Also known as the “Chicago Style,” the bridge's leaves are suspended on axles (trunnions), with massive concrete counterweights located below the bridge, in the riverbank pit. There are single-leaf bascule bridges, which were constructed where the river was not very wide and often used for trains, and double-leaf bascule bridges, which could be compared to two seesaws across from each other.” (Chicago’s movable bridges, CAF.org)
The Chicago Avenue Bridge is a historic asset immediately adjacent to the Chicago Landmark Montgomery Ward Complex started in 1909 and designed by distinguished architectural firm of Schmidt, Garden, and Martin. Overlooking the bridge and river is the 22.5 foot bronze statue that originally topped the former Montgomery Ward Building on Michigan Avenue. Across the river, there are plans to redevelop the Chicago Tribune printing facility into a new residential community, to be called “the River District” which would be marketed as an innovation and tech district. This massive project on the current 37-acre site of the Chicago Tribune Printing plant calls for more than a dozen new buildings spanning more than 9 million square feet and 5,900 new homes along the north branch of the Chicago River, including an extended Riverwalk.
The elegant, human-scaled historic Chicago Avenue Bridge would be a visual benefit to these new residents, unlike the living adjacent to a highway scale, visual eyesore, highway-style bridge. It is even more ironic that at a time when the City of Chicago has invested heavily in creating and expanding river access through an increasing network of riverwalks, that an iconic river focal point will be demolished.
Tourism and the Film industry in Chicago are major economic drivers in Chicago. In 2017, over 55 million tourists visited Chicago which contributes to the Chicago economy with billions of dollars in direct spending, million dollars of tax revenue, and support hundreds of thousands of Chicago job. (
www.ChooseChicago.com)
From their perspective regarding Chicago’s international appeal as a tourism destination, The Financial Times called Chicago “perhaps the most architecturally aware city on earth” and the city’s Riverwalk “complex, urbane and intriguing;” (Noel, Chicago Tribune, 1/13/18)
Highly iconic bridges such as the Chicago Avenue Bridge are a value to tourism and the film industry and these economic factors should be included in the economic calculations when engineers study existing assets like historic bridges.
By replacing the Chicago Avenue Bridge with a non-descript, highway interchange style, non-movable bridge to save money, the project engineers are effectively cutting off the North Branch from ever being able to accommodate large or tall ships. This is shortsighted given the enormous investment likely to occur along the North Branch in the coming years. The City of Chicago should insist that new bridge be operable.
Additionally, the Chicago Avenue Bridge serves to slow traffic and prevent heavier traffic build up and gridlock on the pedestrian intensive streets east of the river on Chicago Avenue. At a time when city planners are attempting to make Chicago’s streets narrower to increase safety for pedestrians and bicycles, widening the Chicago Avenue Bridge is poor planning. Lastly, any widening of the bridge will directly and negatively impact the historic landmark buildings immediately east of the river including the restaurant Japonais and anchor tenants in the Montgomery Ward building such as Groupon.
Preservation Chicago calls on the City of Chicago to invest in renovating the existing Chicago Avenue Bridge. By avoiding the new construction, the savings could then be spent on renovating many of the historic bridges across the Chicago River that have been in need of repair from decades of deferred maintenance.
In the model of Montgomery Ward & Co. which was both a major Chicago corporation and benefactor for Chicago, we suggest that large, important current Chicago based corporations adopt nearby historic elements to assist with underwriting the cost of restoration and to encourage the City of Chicago to more responsibly maintain its historic assets.
While a number of historic rail bridges spanning the Chicago River are Designated Chicago Landmarks, Chicago’s Bascule Bridges have no protections against demolition. It is essential that these important icons of Chicago be recognized and protected by a Chicago Landmark Designation of bridges along the main channel of the Chicago River and North and South branches.
If we’re not able to maintain this bridge in place, Preservation Chicago supports the idea of reusing the Chicago Avenue Bridge and any other historic Chicago bridges targeted for replacement as pedestrian bridges along the riverfront development in the North Branch Corridor District or as an extension of the 606 elevated trail to allow it to span the Chicago River to neighborhoods to the east. By moving the Chicago Avenue Bridge three blocks to the south would allow the planned “the River District” direct and easy pedestrian and bike access to Montgomery Ward Park at Erie Street and the river and thriving restaurant district in River North. Considering the ten years that have passed since the Chicago Avenue Bridge was first targeted for demolition, it makes sense to wait a little while longer until the “the River District” plans advance and more is known about how this iconic bridge might make that project even more successful.
Additional Reading
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THREATENED: Wayman AME Church Sold for New Development
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Wayman African Methodist Episcopal Church, 509 W. Elm Street, Photo Credit Google Street View
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Wayman African Methodist Episcopal Church, 509 W. Elm Street, Photo Credit Google Street View
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Wayman African Methodist Episcopal Church and 2.72 Acre Site, Photo Credit: Google Maps
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After receiving multiple offers on the same day it was listed for sale, the Wayman African Methodist Episcopal Church and its 2.72-acre property has been sold. The listing price was $3.25 million, however, Angela Pettis, the Baird & Warner listing agent, told Dennis Rodkin of Crain’s Chicago Business that she couldn't disclose the contract sale price, the identity of the buyers or specifics of their plan for the site before the deal closes, but said that “
demolishing the church is a near certainty.”
Wayman AME Church is orange-rated in the Chicago Historic Resources Survey, so a demolition permit would trigger a 90-Day Demolition Delay.
"The value is all in the land," said Pettis, who has represented other property, both sanctuary buildings and empty land, for the AME council, which has about 20 churches in the Chicago area. A recent appraisal of Wayman AME determined that "the life of this building is gone," she said. "There's no sense in even trying to repair it" for a conversion to residential units or another use, she said. (Rodkin, Crain’s Chicago Business,
Preservation Chicago respectfully disagrees. Originally known as the First Swedish Baptist Church when completed in 1889, it was located in a dense Swedish neighborhood called Swedetown. Since 1920, the red-brick, Romanesque church building at 509 W. Elm St. has been home to the Wayman African Methodist Episcopal congregation. Essentially surrounded by the Cabrini-Green highrises, it served as a “spiritual haven” an African-American community for nearly a century. The congregation has dwindled from around 250 to approximately 100 congregants with significant recent changes to the neighborhood including the demolition of the highrises, the construction of a mixed-income community, new retail and new market-rate housing.
On October 13, 1992, seven-year old Dantrell Davis was holding his mother’s hand while crossing the street near Wayman AME Church, when he was struck and killed from a sniper’s bullet fired from an adjacent building. The shock and outrage surrounding Davis’s horrific death helped to galvanize support for the City of Chicago and Chicago Housing Authority’ to embark on two-decades long Plan for Transformation which has dramatically changed the Cabrini-Green neighborhood and many public and affordable housing communities across Chicago.
Preservation Chicago considers the Wayman African Methodist Episcopal Church/First Swedish Baptist Church an important historic church building that should be protected and adaptively reused. This building is an excellent example of the Romanesque Church construction and despite some deferred maintenance is in surprisingly good and stable condition. The historic buildings from the Cabrini-Green Neighborhood have almost all been demolished, so this is one of the last standing survivors and must be protected.
Additionally, the church building is located in one small corner of the large vacant lot. The church building occupies approximately 1/20th of the site, or 0.14 acres of the total 2.72-acre lot, so the developer could build extensively without the historic church building interfering.
Additional Reading
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WIN: Old Post Office Signs Walgreens as First Tenant
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Old Post Office, Rendering Credit: Gensler
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Old Post Office Lobby, Rendering Credit: Gensler
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Old Post Office Green Roof, Rendering Credit: Gensler
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The redevelopment of the Old Post Office has reached another important milestone with the signing of Walgreens to lease 200,000 square feet of office space. It was announced a joint press conference held by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, representatives of Walgreens and developer 601W. Though this lease only represents approximately 7% of the total rentable square footage available, the signing of a major national corporate tenant could “give the building a stamp of approval in the eyes of other prospective tenants.” (Ori, Chicago Tribune, 6/18/18)
Schedule for occupancy in 2019, Walgreens will move 1,800 corporate employees to the Old Post, including 1,300 employees from its north suburban Deerfield headquarters campus and 500 employees currently located in the Sullivan Center located in Louis Sullivan’s Carson, Pirie Scott Building on State Street. Walgreens’s headquarters will remain Deerfield where 3,200 employees will remain. This continues the trend of many major Chicago regional corporations moving some or all of their corporate operations from the suburbs into downtown Chicago including Motorola Solutions, Kraft Heinz, FTD, Peapod Hillshire Brands, GE Healthcare, Beam Suntory, and McDonald's.
"Investing in our infrastructure and building our digital and technical capabilities are essential elements of our business transformation strategy, as we work to improve access for our customers and enhance the customer experience," said Walgreens President Alex Gourlay in a statement. "The space in the iconic Old Post Office building allows us to attract and retain the best talent from all of Chicagoland.” (Eckner, Crain’s 6/15/18)
“We’re comfortable that we’re not going to be the only tenant here (in the Old Post Office),” said Joe Brady, vice president of real estate at Walgreens. “Frankly, we’re proud to be a catalyst to help this project go even faster.” (Ori, Chicago Tribune, 6/18/18)
Located along the south branch of the Chicago River, and straddling the Eisenhower Expressway, the anticipated contiguous 250,000 square foot office floor plates contributed to the site being frequently mentioned as one of Chicago’s top contenders for Amazon’s second headquarters. The massive building will deliver 2.5 million square feet of Class A office space and is estimated to be able to house approximately 12,000 employees once completed.
601W Companies is the project developer and Gensler is the architecture firm for the massive $600 million renovation plan. According to the Chicago Tribune, renovation of the Post Office represents the single largest redevelopment project in the country. Extensive new amenities will include a three-acre rooftop park/fitness center, a large food market, restaurants, a landscaped riverwalk and outdoor cafes lining the river frontage.
Designed by Graham, Anderson, Probst and White building and completed in 1932, the reuse of this important Chicago landmark building has been a top priority for the preservation community, including Preservation Chicago and Landmarks Illinois, for over 25 years. Multiple schemes had been presented over the years, many which included partial demolition of portions of this massive building. Preservation Chicago testified in opposition to all of the previous development proposals that included partial demolition. We are thrilled that the ongoing restoration work will restore the entire historic structure.
After decades of preservation advocacy since it was shuttered in 1996, the Old Main Post Office was awarded Preliminary Landmark Status at the October 2017 meeting of the Commission of Chicago Landmarks. Preservation Chicago testified strongly in support of awarding Chicago Landmark Designation status to the building and its spectacular two-story lobby. Chicago Landmark Designation protects the 2.8 million-square-foot Art Moderne gem from future demolition or partial demolition.
The Preliminary Landmark Status designation came in the midst of an extensive $600 million renovation of the building and will allow the building to quality for Chicago landmark tax benefits. The Chicago Class L tax benefit is estimated to reduce the building’s $19 million annual tax bill by $4.5 million for the twelve year period of the incentive.
After the previous redevelopment plan by British developer Bill Davies failed, the Art Moderne building was purchased by a New York based developer 601W Companies prior to an eminent domain action by the City. Preservation Chicago testified on behalf of the historic structure at multiple hearings prior to the potential eminent domain noting the preservation community’s long-term commitment to a good outcome for the Old Main Post Office. Preservation Chicago testified strongly in support of the Preliminary Designation of Chicago Landmark status and its spectacular two-story lobby.
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WIN: Upper Four Floors of 208 S. LaSalle to be Repurposed as Luxury Hotel
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Continental and Commercial National Bank Building, Postcard Credit: Preservation Chicago Postcard Archive
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The four top floors of office space in the D.H. Burnham & Company designed Continental and Commercial National Bank Building, located at 208 S. LaSalle Street will converted into high-end hotel as part of Marriott's Autograph Collection. Built in 1914, the building became a Designated Chicago landmark on December 12, 2007.
The 234-room, $93 million, adaptive reuse hotel project will be called “The Reserve” with a reference to the adjacent Federal Reserve Bank Building. A white-tablecloth restaurant will be built on 21st floor to be called the "Reserve Club" and a 3,500-square-foot ballroom will be built on the 22nd floor penthouse.
"There's no small, five-star hotel in the Loop and we think there's a huge market for it," said Reschke, CEO of Chicago-based Prime Group. "So we shifted gears and changed the design to more the way we wanted to go." (Ecker, Crain’s, 6/27/18)
Prime Group is the developer led by Mike Reschke, the experienced Chicago developer responsible for the 610-room JW Marriott Chicago in the lower 12-floors of the building in 2010, which preserved the beautiful 8,500 square-foot Grand Ballroom, and the awe-inspiring 6,000-square-foot foot Burnham Ballroom with its original domed ceiling.
208 S. LaSalle Street was designed by D. H. Burnham & Co and Graham, Anderson, Probst & White in the Classical Revival style. The building is orange-rated in the Chicago Historic Resources Survey. Additionally, 208 S. LaSalle Street is a contributing building to the West Loop – LaSalle Street Historic District listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
“This 20-story building occupies a full half-block, bounded by LaSalle, Adams, and Wells Streets and with the Quincy Street alley to the south. The building is rectangular in plan, with no setbacks and is clad in gray terra cotta, with a gray granite base. All facades are treated as primary facades, with high quality finish materials and detailing; however, the LaSalle Street facade is the most prominent. The facades are arranged in a tripartite composition. At LaSalle Street, the building base consists of a multi-story, engaged Doric colonnade supporting a continuous entablature. This colonnade is expressed at all facades, although to a lesser scale at the side streets, with pilasters rather than columns. The Doric colonnade is also repeated at the top of the building. The facades are ornamented with classical detailing and projecting belt courses provide transitions between the base, shaft and top of the building. The shaft is composed of solid corners with individual window openings, while the center bays consist of paired windows separated by slim, continuous piers and framed by wider, continuous piers. The windows and ornamented spandrels are slightly recessed.
Designed by D. H. Burnham & Company, the building was one of the last designs supervised by Daniel Burnham and was completed after his death by successor firm Graham, Anderson, Probst and White. It was built for the Commercial National Bank, which become one of the country’s largest banks.
The first through sixth floors of the building were devoted to bank spaces, with related office and work spaces. The seventh floor and above were set aside for speculative office space. Exterior alterations include remodeled storefronts and entrances, within original openings, and removal of the cornice. Despite alterations the building clearly conveys its historic appearance and has a high degree of integrity.” (National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, West Loop – LaSalle Street Historic District)
Preservation Chicago applauds the developer Prime Group and Mike Reschke for continuing to recognize value and invest in an important Chicago building. The growing recognition within the Chicago real estate community of the inherent ability of historic buildings to drive greater profits has been confirmed by the highly successful JW Marriott Chicago in the lower 12-floor of the building, the London House Hotel in the London Guarantee Building, the Chicago Athletic Association Hotel in the Chicago Athletic Association Building and the Kimpton Hotel Gray in the New York Life Building.
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WIN: Congress Theater Renovation Receives TIF Support
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Congress Theater, 2135 N. Milwaukee Avenue, Designed by Fridstein & Company, Photo Credit By Eric Allix Rogers
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Congress Theater, 2135 N. Milwaukee Avenue, Redevelopment Rendering Credit by Woodhouse Tinucci Architects
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Congress Theater, 2135 N. Milwaukee Avenue, Historic Photo Montage by Woodhouse Tinucci Architects
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On June 12, 2018, the City of Chicago Community Development Commission unanimously approved for the renovation of the Chicago Landmark Congress Theater a $9.6 million subsidy from the surrounding Fullerton-Milwaukee tax-increment-financing (TIF) district. The support of TIF funds from the City of Chicago was an essential component of the financing package for the extensive, $69 million renovation of the historic theater located at 2135 N. Milwaukee Avenue in Logan Square. The project also includes $22.3 million worth of historic tax credits. Scheduled to be reopened in 2019, the theater is expected to host up to 125 live music events per year.
Built in 1926 for the Lubliner and Trinz theater company as a movie theater, the ornate Congress Theater was designed by architect Fridstein & Company in the Italian Baroque style. On its opening day, September 5, 1926, there were parades, band concerts, and a bathing beauty contest. It has an elaborate large domed auditorium and is covered with decorations in stone, terra-cotta, and plaster. It remains remarkably intact, down to the original light fixtures and marble wainscoting.
In 2000, the theater was threatened by demolition and replacement with condos but the neighborhood and preservation community rallied to its defense. With the extensive and persistent support of Preservation Chicago and Logan Square Preservation, on July 10, 2002, the Congress Theater became a Designated Chicago Landmark.
The theater operated until 2013 when it was closed due to a series of safety code violations. In 2014, it was sold to developer Michael Moyer of PalMet Ventures. Moyer was part of the ownership that bought and recently restored the Cadillac Palace Theatre, also built in 1926. In January 2018, the Congress Theater was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The Congress Theater will reopen as a theater venue. Led by architect Andy Tinucci from Woodhouse Tinucci Architects, the redevelopment will include 30-room hotel, as well as 14 affordable housing units in the 160,000 square foot historic theater building complex. According to Tinucci, “
the goal is to ensure the building lasts another 100 years.” (Chicago Tribune, Yerak, 10/12/17) Also, a 100-unit new construction residential building will be built on the adjacent lot.
From project architect Woodhouse Tinucci Architect’s project website.
“The Congress Theater (Fridstein & Company, 1926) is the most intact neighborhood movie palace from Chicago's boom years of the 1920s. It is a classic example of a "theater block," combining a movie theater with stores and apartments.
The block is dominated by an elaborate 4-story entrance pavilion designed in a combination of the Classical Revival and Italian Renaissance architectural styles and extensively detailed in terra cotta. Inside, the theater forms a grand progression of lavishly ornamented spaces culminating in a dramatic saucer-domed auditorium.
This project will include renovation of the theater’s historic lobby and auditorium as well as its adjacent buildings, which will house a small inn, affordable housing units and street-level retail serving the community.
The theater, which has been closed since spring 2013, originally opened in 1926 as a movie palace. Eventually it grew to host such diverse musical acts as Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Lauryn Hill, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Billy Idol, Toots and the Maytals, ZZ Top, Zoe’, and Weezer.
Under New Congress LLC’s direction, the venue will reemerge as one of the finest live music venues in the nation managed by an experienced operator with local insight and national presence. The meticulous renovation of The Congress, already a Chicago Landmark, aims for listing on the National Register of Historic Places and will draw on both the diverse history and culture of the neighborhood as well as the innate character of the architecture. Its dynamic mix of new uses will reestablish The Congress as a vibrant community anchor on Milwaukee Avenue midway between Chicago's Logan Square and Bucktown neighborhoods.”
As reported in Crain’s Chicago Business,
“TIF subsidies are a city blight-fighting tool designed to help finance projects that wouldn't receive funding from the private sector. They have been criticized over the years as welfare for real estate developers, but the CDC staff report says the Congress Theater is a deserving candidate. Without the TIF funds, this project could not be financed and would not generate an acceptable level of return on investment," the report said.
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PARTIAL WIN: LGBTQ Legacy Walk in East Lake View to be Landmarked
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The Legacy Walk in Boystown is a collection of bronze plaques affixed to the distinct streetscape rainbow pylons,
Photo Credit: Eric Allix Rogers
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The Legacy Walk in Boystown is a collection of bronze plaques affixed to the distinct streetscape rainbow pylons,
Photo Credit: Eric Allix Rogers
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In recognition and celebration of Chicago’s trailblazing LGBTQ community, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced that the City of Chicago would seek Landmark Designation for the Legacy Walk along North Halsted Street. The half-mile Legacy Walk is comprised of the distinctive "Rainbow Pylon" along the sidewalk and the outdoor museum with its bronze plaques. First dedicated in 1998, the Legacy Walk is the only outdoor LGBTQ museum in the world.
The bronze plaques honor key LGBTQ figures throughout history, many of whom are overlooked by history books, including Texas Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, British mathematician Alan Turing and NASA astronaut Sally Ride. This year, the Legacy Walk will dedicate its 39th and 40th bronze memorials to fill the remaining two slots available in the museum.
"The Legacy Walk is not only a historically significant legacy of the LGBT community of Chicago, but a signal that the entire city is a safe and welcoming place for everyone," said Mayor Emanuel. "As we celebrate Pride Month, let's recognize the countless contributions made by LGBTQ Chicagoans and reaffirm our unwavering belief in equality for all."
"Twenty years ago the installation of the North Halsted Pylons gave rightful recognition to our neighborhood as a center of LGBT life, culture and entertainment," said Alderman Tom Tunney. "For the last six years, the Legacy Project has added real meaning to the pylons, educating our community and visitors on the lives and work of LGBT leaders in history. I am pleased to join with the Mayor today in landmarking these installations so that future generations can learn these stories and enjoy our neighborhood."
While Preservation Chicago applauds Mayor Emanuel and 44th Ward Tom Tunney in the recognition and appreciation of Chicago’s extraordinary LGBTQ community, we believe that this is only the first step in properly celebrating Chicago’s LGBTQ community. We strongly believe that Chicago should create a thematic Designated Chicago Landmark District to recognize and protect the places and spaces where Chicago’s LGBTQ community made history, both in Chicago and nationally.
The Legacy Walk will be submitted to the Chicago Landmarks Commission for consideration for Landmark Status. So too should the collection of the buildings and homes that play an important role in the telling the story of Chicago’s courageous and pioneering LGBTQ community.
The same steps would be taken to create a Designated Chicago Landmark District we encourage this step be taken simultaneously with the Legacy Walk process. The formal process to designate the Legacy Walk as a Chicago Landmark will be led by the Planning, Historic Preservation & Sustainability Bureau of the Department of Planning and Development. Historic preservation staff will spend the next several months researching the area's architectural and historical significance and provide a recommendation to the Commission on Chicago Landmarks. After a public review process, the Landmarks Commission will make its final recommendation and forward the decision to City Council for approval.
And if there is a concern that the City of Chicago historic preservation research staff doesn’t have the time or capacity to expand the scope of this designation, we fully agree that additional staff should be hired. Of the thousands of full time employees of the City of Chicago, Preservation Chicago believes that more capacity is necessary for the Landmarks Division. In comparison with other cities, Chicago’s Landmark staff is very small. For example, a city like San Francisco which is much smaller than Chicago, has over a dozen full time research staff, while a large city like Chicago has only an two full time research staff positions, one of which is currently vacant.
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WIN: Tremont Hotel to be Renovated by New Owners, Despite Being Marketed as Land
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Tremont Hotel, 1900 E. Chestnut Street, Photo Credit: The Tremont Hotel
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The Tremont Hotel will undergo a multi-million dollar renovation and remain a hotel. It was recently purchased by Hotel Capital, an Indianapolis-based for $25.5 million. Hotel Capital CEO Michael Collier acknowledged that Chicago hotel competition is robust, but he noting that the purchase price was “significantly less than what it would cost to build and what other competing hotels have invested in their properties."
The 15-story Tremont Hotel is located at 100 E. Chestnut Street and was built in 1926 and designed by architects Olsen & Urbain as the Mozart Apartment Hotel. The 135-room hotel has been on the market twice in two years, including being “sold as land” by broker CBRE, and there was significant concern that the building might be demolished as part of a larger new construction development.
Chicago developer John Murphy told Danny Ecker of Crain’s in 2017,
“The Tremont is likely to fetch a higher value as a teardown candidate if a buyer is willing to weather the lengthy process of rallying community and city approval for a high-rise project.”
Preservation Chicago wishes to reemphasize the important role that active community members and city officials play in helping to bring about good development projects.
The Tremont Hotel shares its name with one of Chicago’s great historic hotels. The original Tremont House, designed by John M. Van Osdel in 1850, was a leading hotel in Chicago in the late 19th century, on par with the Palmer House, the Sherman House, the Briggs House, and the Grand Pacific Hotel. In 1861, George Pullman did the impossible by raising the Tremont House six feet to match the new street grade, while the hotel was fully occupied! He promised that he could do the job without disturbing a guest or breaking a single pane of glass. Then during the 1860 Republican National Convention which was held at the Wigwam, the nearby Tremont House served as the Headquarters for the Illinois Republican Party from which they lobbied for the nomination of Abraham Lincoln. In 1865, Mary Todd Lincoln stayed at the Tremont House for a week following the assassination of President Lincoln.
Preservation Chicago applauds the developer Hotel Capital for recognizing the value of a historic building. The growing recognition within the Chicago real estate community of the inherent ability of historic buildings to drive greater profits has been confirmed by the highly successful JW Marriott Chicago Hotel in the Commercial National Bank Building, the London House Hotel in the London Guarantee Building, the Chicago Athletic Association Hotel in the Chicago Athletic Association Building and the Kimpton Hotel Gray in the New York Life Building.
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WIN: Historic Wicker Park Church School Building Reuse Proposal
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First Bethlehem Evangelical Church School, 1645 W. LeMoyne Street, Rendering Credit: Casagrande Architects
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The historic school building adjacent to the First Bethlehem Evangelical Church owned by the Franciscan Outreach Association and currently used as a soup kitchen will likely be adaptively reused for 16 residential apartments by Lakeview-based developer Anne Shutler.
The 3-story red brick building is located at 1645 W. Le Moyne and is orange-rated in the Chicago Historic Resources Survey. The words “Ev. Lutherische Bethlehems Schule” are inscribed in stone at the top of the building. The architect of the school building is not known.
According to the project architect Philip Casagrande of Casagrande Architects,
“the existing building has some really great brick masonry detailing which we intend to preserve, including jack-arches and belt courses in a variety of colors. Some of the existing brick openings will be infilled with brick” or more likely filled with frosted glass on the ground floor based upon comments from the Wicker Park Committee’s preservation and development subcommittee.
Christian Ficara from 2nd Ward Alderman Brian Hopkins office said,
“as a preservation and landmark advocate, Alderman Hopkins agreed with the WPC that the preservation and restoration of this historic building façade is in keeping with the integrity of the beautiful Wicker Park neighborhood,” (Hauser, Block Club Chicago, 6/20/18)
Preservation Chicago is thrilled that this important orange-rated building will be sensitively adaptively reused. We applaud the developer Anne Shutler for choosing this direction for the development. We also applaud 2nd Ward Alderman Brian Hopkins for his continued leadership to help protect historic buildings within the 2nd Ward and throughout Chicago.
Preservation Chicago wishes to acknowledge the important contribution to the community from the Wicker Park Committee and the Wicker Park Committee’s Preservation and Development Subcommittee. The oversight from advisory committees like these play an important role in helping to encourage sensitive development, helping to improve specific development proposals, and creating a constructive public process to assist the local aldermanic office to fully vet proposed development well before it reaches the alderman’s desk. We encourage every community in Chicago to organize their own advisory committees in partnership with the local aldermanic office to improve the quality of proposed new development.
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THREATENED: Historic Route 66 Included on National Trust’s 11 Most Endangered Sites List
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Historic Illinois US Route 66 Sign
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Route 66 was dubbed as America’s “Mother Road,” by novelist John Steinbeck in 1939 and is an internationally recognized symbol of our nation’s romance with the open road, yet it was included on the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s annual list of most endangered historic places. The legendary 2,400 mile roadway starts in Chicago and passes through Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, and California before terminating in Los Angeles. Despite being an international icon, many Chicagoans aren’t aware that Route 66 actually begins in Chicago at the familiar intersection of South Michigan Avenue and between Adams Street and Jackson Boulevard just south of the steps of the Art Institute at the South Garden near the Fountain of the Great Lakes sculpture by Lorado Taft.
In 1989, the National Park Service designated the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program, but this designation is set to expire in 2019, and there is no option for extension this time. To meet this challenge, Illinois Representative Darin LaHood, (R-Peoria) is leading the effort for Congress to designate Route 66 a National Historic Trail. Representative LaHood’s bill has already passed the House, but needs the approval of the Senate and the signature of the President before the end of 2018. If this effort is successful, Route 66 would become the first National Trail from the 20th Century and be recognized alongside the Oregon Trail and the Lewis and Clark Trail.
“The threat to Route 66 has really been a slow burn. It has been tough for these smaller businesses all along Route 66, and over the years there have been different authentic elements that already have been lost. People have this vision of taking the iconic road trip along Route 66, and it would be a shame if they did only to find too many places were lost and can’t be revitalized,” according to Amy Webb, senior field director for the National Trust for Historic Preservation (Rosenberg-Douglas, Chicago Tribune, 6/26/18)
To support Route 66 becoming a National Historic Trail, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has set up an online petition at
www.preserveroute66.org and included Route 66 as one of its 2018 11 most endangered.
Within Chicago, Preservation Chicago encourages the City of Chicago and Choose Chicago to increase their efforts to recognize, appreciate and protect the important historic significance of Route 66. Perhaps new signage with a more original appearance, many more signs along the historic route, and greater efforts around promoting tourism would help to raise the profile of a national icon in Chicago.
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WIN: Time Capsule Discovered in Logan Square Landmark Church During Adaptive Reuse
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Episcopal Church of the Advent, 2900 W. Logan Boulevard
, Photo Credit: Mina Bloom, Block Club Chicago
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Manuscript Discovered in 1906 Time Capsule, Episcopal Church of the Advent, 2900 W. Logan Boulevard
, Image Credit: Logan Square Preservation
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Dating back to 1906, a time capsule was discovered in the cornerstone of the Episcopal Church of the Advent at 2900 W. Logan Boulevard. The decommissioned church is being converted into nine-residential units by developer JAB Real Estate. Church of the Advent is one of Logan Square’s oldest churches and the time capsule provides a fascinating insight into what the neighborhood and church were like in the early 1900s.
Upon opening the metal box time capsule, Andrew Schneider, president of the neighborhood group Logan Square Preservation, found it to be filled with historic church documents in near-perfect condition, including a pages-long scroll from the cornerstone laying ceremony. Mina Bloom’s Block Club Chicago article includes greater details and many photos of the contents.
The historic Church of the Advent at 2900 W. Logan Boulevard in Logan Square closed in 2016, almost exactly 110 years after first occupying the church building in 1906. It was designed by Elmer Jensen, a senior partner in the highly respected architecture firm of Jenney, Mundie & Jensen, who also served as the church’s choirmaster.
Because of the religious building exemption in landmark districts without owner consent, the historic church building was not protected from demolition as part the surrounding Logan Boulevards Landmark District. When the building was listed for sale, it received significant interest from developers with plans for demolition and new construction.
After a community-driven preservation effort, the building was ultimately sold to JAB Real Estate, who will preserve the exterior and convert the building into nine residential units. The stained glass windows will be saved and the building will be added to the surrounding Logan Square Boulevards Chicago Landmark District.
Ward Miller, executive director for Preservation Chicago, described the building as
"a very important structure that is tied to the early history of Logan Square. This is a wonderful reuse of a religious building.” (Bloom, DNAinfo, 9/7/17)
This successful preservation-oriented outcome is due to the advocacy efforts of Logan Square Preservation, Preservation Chicago, Logan Square community members, and a special thanks to 32nd Ward Alderman Scott Waguespack for his support and leadership.
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LOSS: “Spotlight on Demolition”
Small 19th Century Commercial Buildings in Jeopardy:
The Demolition of 1144 18th and 168-172 N. Halsted Street.
Photos by Gabriel X. Michael
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168-172 N. Halsted Street, Pre-Demolition, Photo Credit: Gabriel X. Michael from Twitter
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168-172 N. Halsted Street, Mid-Demolition, Photo Credit: Gabriel X. Michael from Twitter
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1144 W. 18th Street in Pilsen, Built in the 1880's with Cast-Iron Storefront and Pressed Metal Cornice
Orange-Rated in Chicago Historic Resources Survey. Demolished June 2018.
Photo Credit: Gabriel X. Michael from Twitter
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1144 W. 18th Street in Pilsen, Built in the 1880's with Cast-Iron Storefront and Pressed Metal Cornice
Orange-Rated in Chicago Historic Resources Survey. Demolished June 2018.
Photo Credit: Gabriel X. Michael from Twitter
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FEATURE: Artist Lynn Basa to Create Art Installation to Honor the Chicago Workers Cottage
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Rendering of Lynn Basa's ‘Worker Cottage Parklet’ Art Installation, Rendering Credit by project artist Lynn Basa
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The frequent target of “wreck and replace” developers looking to cash in on Chicago’s strong housing market, the humble Chicago workers cottage will be celebrated in a permanent art installation by Chicago artist, Lynn Basa. Basa has designed over 50 site-specific art commissions, taught in the sculpture department at the Art Institute of Chicago and authored an artist’s guidebook to public art.
But it got personal when the Wicker Park Bucktown Special Service Area #33, issued a Request for Proposals for a large installation to be located at the corner of Wood Street and Milwaukee Avenue, in the artist’s neighborhood. The installation will be the largest public art commission in the history of the Wicker Park and Bucktown neighborhoods.
“I was just determined when they had this competition that I was going to win it, because I [did] not want to have to go through this neighborhood and see some piece of crap on that corner that doesn’t honor this neighborhood,” said Basa to Jane Recker of the Chicago Sun-Times. (Recker, Chicago Sun-Times, 6/20/18)
“The sculpture will incorporate the form of a Chicago “worker cottage” — a historical staple of the Bucktown and Wicker Park neighborhoods. Beginning in the late 19th century, these bungalow-style houses (generally around 1,100 square feet) became the first standardized affordable housing in the city. For the first time, working-class people could have luxuries like a parlor and separate rooms for the adults and children, which previously were only accessible to the rich folk, Basa said.” (Recker, Chicago Sun-Times, 6/20/18)
“Basa said it was imperative that the sculpture be as true to the worker cottage as possible. The sculpture itself will be simple: the frame of a house constructed of glass bricks held together by a steel casing. The frame will be the exact dimensions of a worker cottage, and the glass bricks the same dimensions as the clay bricks used to construct the houses. Underneath the frame of the house, granite cobblestones excavated from Milwaukee Avenue will create a pathway for pedestrians, with two limestone benches carved with designs commonly found on cottage lintels flanking either side” (Recker, Chicago Sun-Times, 6/20/18)
“Sometimes my partner, Doug, [and I], we just go on dates with Chicago, and we’ll just walk and let Chicago provide.” These dates are often along Milwaukee Avenue, an avenue where immigrant workers would come after their shifts to eat at the restaurants and drink at the bars, Basa said.
“Sound familiar?” she said. “Milwaukee Avenue is still sustaining the worker. Maybe the worker is working at Google, or in a law firm downtown, but there’s a continuity there of history that I’m hoping this sculpture, this memorial to the worker cottage can remind people of.” (Recker, Chicago Sun-Times, 6/20/18)
“[This sculpture isn’t] just a ghost,” she said. “It’s a hopeful symbol of how the worker cottage and Wicker Park can go into the future, hopefully by embracing the future and honoring the past.” (Recker, Chicago Sun-Times, 6/20/18)
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PRESERVATION ON THE MEDIA
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RADIO: Dave Plier’s of WGN Long Format Interview with Ward Miller Regarding Chicago Avenue Bridge and more.
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WGN RADIO Pride Parade Float. Photo Credit: WGN Radio
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“Dave Plier speaks with Ward Miller, Executive Director of ‘Preservation Chicago’, about the announcement that the 100 year old Chicago Avenue Bridge is up for sale, what that means for other historic bridges throughout the city, and how we can better preserve our architectural history.”
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TELEVISION: Chicago’s Iconic Water Tanks Are Disappearing From the Skyline, by Lourdes Duarte, Chicago’s Very Own WGN 9 TV
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Chicago’s Iconic Water Tanks Are Disappearing From the Skyline, by Lourdes Duarte, Chicago’s Very Own WGN 9 TV, Photo Credit: WGN TV
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“WGN Investigates - From Bucktown to downtown, water tanks have dotted the Chicago skyline for decades. Once there were thousands standing, but now there are only about 120 left.
While originally put up as fire suppression systems, the tanks are now mostly empty. Maintenance costs and safety concerns have forced building owners to tear many of them down over the years.
Ward Miller with Preservation Chicago sees the ones that remain as worth saving.
"These images that were so much a part of Chicago for generations are really fading fast," Miller said. “There were ordinances in place to protect them and that was repealed due to the liability with these tanks."
There was a push to help save the remaining water towers, but that changed in 2013, when one came crashing down in Lakeview. Ordinances were strengthened to make sure building owners were maintaining the tanks if they chose to keep them. The City now requires a critical exam be performed by a licensed structural engineer to make sure the tanks are safe about every two years. In most cases, building owners are choosing to demolish them instead of spending the dollars to keep them maintained.”
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VIDEO: Gertrude Lempp Kerbis: Modern Architect, A Short Film by Karen Carter
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Rotunda Building, O'Hare Airport, Designed by Gertrude Kerbis, Photo Credit C.F. Murphy and Associates
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Rotunda Building, O'Hare Airport, Designed by Gertrude Kerbis, Photo Credit C.F. Murphy and Associates
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Rotunda Building, O'Hare Airport, Designed by Gertrude Kerbis, Photo Credit C.F. Murphy and Associates
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Gertrude Kerbis was a groundbreaking architect and was one of the first women at the forefront of Chicago architecture working the modern style during the 1960s.
She studied with Mies van der Rohe at IIT in Chicago. She later worked with Walter Gropius and Mies van der Rohe at Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill and at C. F. Murphy before opening her own architectural firm, Lempp Kerbis, in 1967. One of the first women architects working in the modern style, Gertrude Kerbis, studied with Mies van der Rohe at IIT in Chicago. Kerbis was a founding member of Women in Architecture and received the AIA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008.
This short film produced and directed by Chicago-based filmmaker Karen Carter details the life and career of groundbreaking Chicago architect Gertrude Lempp Kerbis. The film was created for the AIA Chicago when Kerbis received the 2008 AIA Lifetime Achievement Award.
Preservation Chicago suggested Gertrude Kerbis’s Rotunda Building at O’Hare Airport to be considered for Chicago Landmark Status in an effort to recognize, appreciate and protect this important historic building and the trailblazing architect.
The Circular Rotunda Building at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport was designed by Gertrude Kerbis during her time at C. F. Murphy Associates. It was built in 1962 and is structurally unique with more than one mile of steel bridge cable integrated into its complex program as terminal, concourse, and restaurant facility. It is largely intact today; however, it’s largely faded from public use due to the closing of the original restaurants and the difficulty of accessing the building beyond modern security.
It is one the few remaining elements of O’Hare’s “Jet Age” design and represents C.F. Murphy’s contributions to this important airport design, in one of the world’s busiest airports.
Unless there is a greater appreciation for this iconic building, there is concern that it could be lost the massive $8 billion O’Hare modernization effort getting underway.
A few times per year, the City of Chicago Commission on Chicago Landmarks welcomes ideas and suggestions from the public for potential future landmark buildings and districts. Preservation Chicago looks forward to these opportunities to elevate well deserving, underappreciated Chicago historic assets into the conversation.
By ordinance, Chicago Landmarks must meet at least two of the seven criteria for designation, as well as the “integrity” criteria. The seven design criteria include Outstanding Heritage, Significant Event, Significant Person, Exemplary Architecture, Significant Architect, Distinctive Theme, and Unique Visual Feature.
Additional Reading
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PETITION: Save Historic Route 66!
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I Support a National Historic Trail Designation for Route 66! Photo Credit: National Trust for Historic Preservation
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I Support a National Historic Trail Designation for Route 66!
Route 66 is known as America’s “Mother Road,” Route 66 is an internationally significant symbol of our nation’s romance with the open road. While Congress has taken important steps to designate Route 66 a permanent National Historic Trail, which would bring national recognition and economic development to the route's historic sites, legislation must be passed by the U.S. Senate and signed by the president before the end of 2018. Otherwise, a vital preservation opportunity may be lost.
There’s nothing quite like Route 66.
It’s the most culturally celebrated and internationally recognized stretch of highway in America, where generations of open road seekers got their kicks and experienced the quintessential road trip.
But Route 66’s history runs much deeper than that.
As our nation’s first all-paved U.S. Highway System connecting the Chicago to California, it was the “road to opportunity” for hundreds of thousands of Americans escaping the devastation of the Dust Bowl in the 1930s. It also provided thousands of road crew jobs for workers unemployed during the Great Depression. Throughout World War II, critical troops, equipment, and supplies were transported on Route 66 to military bases across the country. And when the war ended, thousands of those troops traveled Route 66 back to their homes and families.
Over time, travelers began bypassing Route 66 for the Interstate, causing the independent businesses, rich roadside architecture, and kitschy landmarks and attractions that the roadway was known for to slowly diminish. By the 1960s, many communities and businesses along the route fell into deep decay…or disappeared entirely.
Today, this same threat persists as motorists opt for faster and more direct routes. That’s why we need your help.
Please join the National Trust, the Route 66 Road Ahead Partnership, and dozens of statewide and local partners in seeking a National Historic Trail designation for Route 66. This permanent designation will bring greater public interest and investment to the communities along the iconic highway and encourage their economic revitalization. And most importantly, it will help preserve Route 66 as a vital, iconic, and evolving piece of Americana for generations to come.
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Hundreds Celebrated the Logan Square History Book Release
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Logan Square: Images of America, Authors Dan Pogorzelski, Andrew Schneider, Jacob Kaplan, and Ward Miller (from left to right) Photo Credit: Matthew Kaplan Photography
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Logan Square: Images of America, by Andrew Schneider, Ward Miller, Jacob Kaplan, and Dan Pogorzelski , Photo Credit: Acadia Publishing
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Approximately 300 people came out to The Logan Square Auditorium on June 19th to celebrate the publication of “Logan Square: Images of America” co-written by Ward Miller of Preservation Chicago, Jacob Kaplan of Forgotten Chicago and Preservation Chicago, Andrew Schneider of Logan Square Preservation, and Dan Pogorzelski of the Northwest Chicago Historical Society, and with introduction by Prof. Edward Kantowicz. Over 200 signed books were sold during the event.
The event was held in tandem with several other non-profit organizations, including Logan Square Preservation, Forgotten Chicago and the Northwest Chicago Historical Society. It was a truly wonderful event, with two Chicago-based bands, an accordionist playing ethnic folk songs, and a brief 20-minute program on our organizations, our work, the book project, and Logan Square history.
We also acknowledged our funders whose funding supports free events like this and so much more. Also, a special thanks to The Logan Square Auditorium which waived the rental costs of this wonderful historic ballroom.
Preservation Chicago helped to sponsor the book and support with historic photographs provided from The Art Institute of Chicago-Ryerson & Burnham Libraries and the Chicago History Museum.
“The community now called Logan Square began as a patchwork of farms, hay fields, subdivisions, and small towns in rural Jefferson Township. Subsumed into the rapidly expanding city of Chicago at the end of the 19th century, the elegant residences lining the boulevards would gain prominence as an ethnic gold coast.
Over time, a shifting kaleidoscope of peoples would call Logan Square home, including Yankee farmers, Scandinavian proprietors, German tradesmen, African American freedmen, Polish shopkeepers, Jewish merchants, Filipino laborers, and Cuban refugees — diversity further enriched with the many nations of the former Soviet Bloc, as well as Latin America and the Caribbean, that would later settle here. Like many other Chicago neighborhoods, change is the one constant, as the arts have brought a renaissance to this working-class corner of the city.
The photographs that appear in this book were compiled by the authors from a variety of private and institutional collections.”
“Logan Square: Images of America” is available for sale in bookstores near you.
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If You Value Preservation In Chicago...
Please Support Preservation Chicago!
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Lincoln Montana Building Doorway, Photo Credit: Ward Miller/ Preservation Chicago
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Preservation Chicago is a small organization with a big impact. In a city the size of Chicago, every drop of YOUR support counts.
Please CHOOSE to support historic preservation in Chicago today!
- Spread the Word! Support preservation in Chicago by reading and reposting Facebook and Twitter posts!
- Be Heard! Support preservation in Chicago by attending community meetings and standing up to make your voice heard!
- Be Counted! Support preservation in Chicago by taking a moment to sign online petitions!
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