Preservation bulletins, hot/quick topics
A service of the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference, its Preservation and Development task force, and the HPKCC website, www.hydepark.org. Help support our work: Join the Conference!
History
and Preservation home. History and Preservation
in Depth. At the Historical Society.
Preservation Beat. Landmarks
Criteria. Metra
walls and viaducts with links.
Watch lists are in Preservation Beat
(endangered lists incl.). A Landmark
District for Hyde Park?
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Preservation bulletins, hot/quick topicsA service of the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference, its Preservation and Development task force, and the HPKCC website, www.hydepark.org. Help support our work: Join the Conference! |
The
Commission on Chicago Landmarks meets 1st Thursdays, 12:45 pm, 33 N. LaSalle,
room 1600. Open
to the public.
Department of Planning and Development- Commission on Chicago Landmarks
33 North LaSalle Street, Suite 1600. Also given as 121 N. LaSalle, Chicago,
IL, 60602
312 744-3200, TDD 312 744-2958. Reach website from www.cityofchicago.org
To contact concerning Commission dates, location of meetings, and agenda: Terry
Tatum, 312 744-9147.
Most recent happening: the commission approved landmarking of the Blackstone Branch Public Library, 4904 S. Lake Park. It next goes to the full City Council.
Visit Southside Preservation Action Fund (SPAF) to see what this committe has done, including a structual study of the Harper Theater. The current undertaking is an evaluation of the east and west sides of Woodlawn Ave. and the east side of University Ave. 55th to 59th to create a record, a document collection, and evaluation of effects of landmarking.
The Shoreland has been approved, waiting only on City Council final vote.
See about the Illinois Appellate Court ruling against the Chicago Landmark Ordinance in the Landmarks Criteria page.
Watch lists- see
Preservation Beat. Emerging
push for HP District- watch Landmark
District. Orange-rated Drexel home, Shiloh
Church. See Doctors
Hospital page.
State approved Narraganset Registry proposal 2007, City
Council designated Greenwood Row Houses, 63rd St. Bathing
Pavilion 2007. The Greenwood district is Hyde Park's first. Read
about these "how it's done" examples.
| Timuel Black's book Bridges of Memory, part I The First Wave of Migration, is on sale. Now Part II is also. Black was long a Chicago school and City Colleges teacher. Read Sun-Times and Herald recently- published insightful reviews. |
Downtown
has to be watched. A fine Alschuler former factory on the Orange List
on the northwest side was barely spared in time from the wrecking ball in violation
of the 90 day delay rule.
This week's
herald contains an important article (attached here) with the title
"Group to inventory historic sites after close call." This first phase is compete, a photo-album given to Ald. Hairston, and parts will be up in www.hydeparkhistory.org. |
U of C announces full historic evaluation and documentation before any work- public meeting will be held in the fall. (We suspect this was the intent of the University, just not ready to state it.)
Stay of Execution: U. of C.: Work at Chicago theological Seminary building is delayed. By Sam Cholke
The University of chicago will not begin any work on the main Chicago Theological Seminary building until the fall, after a full historical assessment has been completed. There had been some confusion about when work would start on the 5757 S. University Ave. building after seminary President Rev. Alice Hunt suggested in a letter to the seminary community that the stained glass windows would be removed overt he summer. "No construction work will take place until the assessment phase is completed. As plans for the building progress, there will be further presentations and opportunities for discussion," the university says in a prepared statement on the building released July 9.
Massachusetts-based Beha Architects and university architects will conduct an extensive photo documentation, architectural analysis and further research into the building's history over the summer. The findings will e presented to the public at a meeting in the early fall. "We are in an assessment phase and the very beginning of the planning phase," said Steve Kloehn, a spokesman for the university.
The University of Chicago purchased the seminary's buildings in May 2009 for $44 million as the new home for the Milton Friedman Institute for research in Economics with a promise to build the seminary a new home on the south campus. The seminary plans to take several of teh building's stained glass windows and install them in the chapel of its new building...
Herald editorial July 14 2010. Crediting the U. of C. for a wise decision
The University of Chicago has announced that the Chicago Theological Seminary's headquarters at 5757 s. Woodlawn Ave. will not undergo reconstruction until a thorough documentation, analysis and public report on the historic significance of teh property is conducted. The forum is likely to be convened in the fall. This announcement amounts to a real victory for the community members and preservationists who have been clamoring for the university to take a more sensitive approach to the project...
The University of Chicago deserves real credit for this move.... We hope that in the ensuing months, the historic value of the building as it stands will be reconsidered by both the university and the seminary. Is it not possible to keep the property intact and still purse the aims of these institutions? The historic interior spaces that have garnered so much support in the community are, as they currently exist, splendid contemplative spaces. is there no value to a think tank in having areas dedicated to enhancing cognition? We think it's a natural fit.
Meanwhile, the Chicago Theological Seminary can commission new art glass or even preserve existing art glass in need of a good home. There is no benefit that we can see to pulling individual pieces out of context and hanging them in a building that was not designed to showcase them.
Finally, there is a very practical matter to consider as we consider the building as a whole. Taken together, the beauty of the buildings interiors and exteriors are surely of greater value than they are in bits and pieces. We believe that the institute will have greater success in its fundraisng efforts if it showcases their stunning historic property in which it will will be housed. at the same time, the seminary should not decrease the building's value for what amounts to taking souvenirs.
Chicago Theological Seminary construction will start soon (late spring 2010) at 60th and Dorchester
The building at 60th and Dorchester will have Silver LEEDs designation and the stained glass windows from the current buildings at 57th and University will be installed in the chapel of the new building--- acknowledged to be a challenge. The current windows in the old building, to be remodeled as the Friedman Economics Institute, will be replaced with leaded glass. A dedicated tree will also be moved. The project expects to exceed WME standards. 2011 or 2012 are goals for construction. The staging area displaced the 61st St. Community Garden.
In May 2010 the University chose the Boston firm of Ann Beha Architects for conversion of Chicago Theological Seminary (repurposing and expansion). The current historic structures will be a point of departure. the firm says it does contemporary design within historic context and has a large portfolio of East coast preservation projects. Future of the chapels and stained glass (some at least moves to the new CTS) as well as Seminary Co-op Books remains unknown.
Meanwhile, dispute over the replacement of Chicago Theological Seminary replacement with and renovation for Milton Friedman Institute have flared up again, including 1) gutting much of the structure likely under future plans from newly-appointed architect Ann Beha of Boston, including removal of at least part of the stained glass to (as naturally desired) the chapel of the under-construction CTS building south of the Midway negating the historic and classy religious character of the structure (Coolidge firm?) 2) alleged corporatization of the University and distortion of mission and funding in favor of those departments that bring in money, 3) governance and accountability issues. Other questions might be lack of public meetings etc. to a project adjacent to the university but (presumably) outside its planned development area, such non-communication possibly setting a new precedent. The University has promised to keep the facade at least of the main building, but is exploring three options for new building to the north (one at least threatens houses on Woodlawn, considered part of an historically significant streetscape.
The University has recently said the process will be "slow and public"- whether this means meetings (as is expected with projects outside the UC planned development) was unclear.
Seminary Co-op Bookstores will move to the former dorm and office building of CTS, McGiffert Hall, north of Robie House, seen as an opportunity to redesign and become ADA accessible, all at UC expense.According to a letter from CTS president to constituents as reported in the June 30, 2010 Herald, the windows in Hilton Chapel and the Christ Window in Taylor Hall will be removed in summer 2010 for conservation work and preparation for use in the new building south of 60th St. Other changes in the chapels are likely near term. University spokespersons said the schedule has not been settled. The parties have not, as far as is known, responded to preservationists' request for photodocumentation and for keeping and reusing as much as possible.
Preservationists come out for documentation, saving in place, at least safe storage. Recommended to Landmarks Commission
Herald, June 9 2010 Save the glass, Preservationists fear fate of CTS art glass. By Sam Cholke
The architectural preservation community is going public with concerns about the planned rehabilitation of the Chicago Theological Seminary buildings even as university professors protested the intended use of the site. The University of Chicago purchased the seminary's buildings in May 209 for $44 million as the new home for the Milton Friedman Institute for Research in Economics with a promise to build the seminary a new home on the south campus.
Jack Spicer, Chair of the Hyde Park Historical Society's preservation committee, suggested landmarking the main seminary building at 5757 s. University Ave. to the city's Commission on Chicago Landmarks June 3. The hearing was one of two the commission holds annually to hear suggestions from the public. "We asked [including to the University] that there be a full photographic documentation; we think that would be very important for the university to do," Spicer told the commission. "There are approximately 200 art glass windows, 50 are stained glass." The university has suggested moving some of the stained glass windows to the new seminary's chapel. "The fate of the remainder is unclear," Spicer told the commission. Spicer said careful storage of the remaining art glass was the very least the university should do and questioned whether any of the glass needed to be moved at all. "World-famous economists could stand a little Christian iconography," Spicer said, a remark that drew chuckles from the audience. [Charles Staples, one of the first to thoughtfully sound the alarm in a letter to community organizations, stressed that the glass and other appurtenances are site-specific. A counter argument is that such items belong to the departing institution.]
The commission accepts all public suggestions during the hearings. "It's just kept in mind as part of an ongoing work program," said Peter Strazzabosco of the city's landmarks commission. "There is no timetable and no action required" of department staff, he said. Despite the lack of mandate, public suggestions have become landmarks in the past, according to Strazzabosco. Roberts Temple church of God in Christ, 4021 S. State ST., where Emmett Till's funeral was held, was initially suggested as a landmark at a public hearing.
Nonprofit preservation group Landmarks Illinois has also expressed concern about how the stained glass in the seminary is addressed. "Any time you start taking out stained glass windows there is a risk," said Jim Peters, president of Landmarks Illinois. "It's a gorgeous complex, and people are concerned it gets done properly."
In addition to the art glass, several interior portions of the building also deserve special consideration, including chapels, Spicer said.
The University of Chicago contracted with Boston-based Ann Beha architects last week to lead the conversion of the seminary buildings. The university has committed to not tearing down the main seminary building and is still determining the scope of the building's rehabilitation, according to Steve Kloehn, a spokesman for the university Kloehn said rehabilitation of the buildings would be a slow and public process...
Report by Jack Spicer, Chair, Preservation Committee, Hyde Park Historical Society. (Distributed to the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference board June 3, 2010, after distribution at the June 3 public-recommendations hearing of the Commission on Chicago Landmarks and interpolated with letter version in Hyde Park Herald June 16, 2010.Chicago Theological Seminary Buildings
5757 S. University Avenue, north side of E. 58gh Street between S. Woodlawn and S. University Avenues, Directly west of the Robie House and north of Rockefeller Chapel and the Oriental Institute.Herbert Riddle, Riddle and Riddle 1923-28
The University of Chicago has recently purchased the Chicago Theological Seminary (CTS) buildings on the north side of 58th Street between Woodlawn and University avenues. The university intends to reuse these buildings and reuse them as the Milton Friedman Institute for Research in Economics.
There are three buildings in the group -- a small chapel at the northeast corner of 58th Street and University Avenue, a dormitory on Woodlawn Avenue facing the Robie House, and the main building on University Avenue where the Seminary Co-op Bookstore occupies the basement. A tower and bridge straddle the alley between the two main buildings. The buildings were designed by Herbert Riddle and built between 1923 and 1928. Riddle was teh architect for Mather Tower in the Loop, as well as many buildings in New York. He lived in Hyde Park at 5626 S. Woodlawn Ave. in a house he designed and built in 1912.
There are four immediate architectural concerns regarding the planned major renovation of these important [Orange Rated] historic buildings:
- Full Photo Documentation -- Construction is not scheduled to begin until fall 2011. Before any work is begun on a full photo documentation of all architectural elements, interior and exterior, should be completed and placed at Special Collections at Regenstein Library.
- Historic Stained Glass -- There are approximately 200 art glass windows in the buildings. About 50 of them display Christian iconography and are outstanding examples of stained glass art, certainly one of the four or five most important groups of stained glass windows in Chicago. Some will be used in the new CTS building being built on 60th Street, but the fate of the remainder of the 50 is uncertain. It would be ideal if all the windows were carefully documented and those and those not needed for the new Seminary building be retained in their historic locations in the original buildings. It would be very unfortunate if any of the windows were removed for sale or auction.
- Important Interior Spaces -- There are six important interior spaces, all in the west building: Hilton Memorial Chapel, Graham Taylor Hall, the Library, the Clarence Sydney Funk Cloisters, The West Lobby and Stair Tower, and the Lawson Tower (with entrance room). The university has hired Ann Beha Architects (Boston) to plan and design the renovation. Based on the firm's reputation and past work they appear to be capable of doing an outstanding renovation that respects and embraces the historic interior spaces. It is hoped the University take full advantage of Beha's talents and request a high-quality, historically sensitive renovation.
- Expansion-- It appears that there will be a new wing added to the buildings. One possible site is north of the east building along S. Woodlawn Avenue, north of the dormitory building. This option would involve demolition of two [Orange Rated] houses, 5740 and 5750 S. Woodlawn Avenue, that the University owns and presently uses for its nursery school A different site should be chosen if at all possible. Demolition of these two houses would further isolate the Robie House and erase its original residential context. Ten of the twelve closest neighboring houses to the Robie House have already been demolished by the U. of C. and CTS during the past 90 years. In addition, there are 67 more historic houses and 10 historic institutional buildings (38 Orange Rated) stretching north from the Robie House along S. Woodlawn and University (east side) Avenues. This large group of remarkable buildings is unique in Chicago [not yet landmarked] and serves as the graceful transition between the campus and the community. Even more important, these buildings tell the story of how Hyde Park came to be what it is -- a neighborhood of great beauty, surprising diversity and intense creativity. It's a part of our neighborhood that should be treated with great care, in stewardship shared by the university and the community. Demolition of 5740 and 5750 S. Woodlawn would threaten the integrity of this emblematic section of Hyde Park [, a potential Landmark District,] and could encourage demolition of more of these important, but unprotected, buildings.
The historical Society will express its concerns to the University.Letter from Charles and Joan Staples in June 16 2010 Herald, similar as to sent to HPKCC.
In teh "Save the glass" article in the June 9 issue, the Herald gave some urgently needed attention to the fate of the stained glass windows that grace the historic and beautiful chapels recently sold to the University of Chicago.... We are not against creative reuse of older buildings, nor have we taken a position on the Friedman Institute. We do share some of teh same concerns voiced by professor Bruce Lincoln about the university's corporate goals and how they impact the wider Hyde Park community (Herald, June 9, p. 54, "Why we're fighting changes at U. of C.)
Our immediate concern, however, is the fate of the sacred spaces within the current buildings. The Thorndike Hilton chapel was donated to CTS by the Henry Hiltons in memory of their son. it is a small gem. The Graham Taylor Chapel was named for a noted minister, social work practitioner and respected Chicago historical figure. He was an associated of Jane Addams and founded the Chicago Commons. His lectures eventually led to the founding of the Social Service Administration school at the University fo Chicago. Victor Lawson, of the Chicago Daily News, a noted beneficiary of CTS, supported the salary of Taylor, gave him newspaper space in the Daily News and gave the money for the chapel.
Churches like to say that their mission is not bricks and mortar, but beauty is the spiritual expression -- and respect for the gifts of others to that mission is an important value.
Artistically and architecturally, removal or desecration of the artist's expression is a violation.
Fortunately, efforts are underway to seek much needed landmark protection for the chapels complex. We don't understand why the chapels could not be kept intact for community events. In addition, the Taylor Chapel has a an outstanding organ built especially for that space. The business-minded U. of C. could rent out the chapels!
Finally, we have been in contact with Graham Taylor's grandson, also named Graham Taylor, who lives in the East, who wonders why CTS and the university are indifferent to such a legacy. We invite others in the community who share our concerns to visit these places and to make their voices heard.
Letter of Charles and Joan Stapes to HPKCC May 27, 2010
Ever since the announcement early this year of the sale of the physical plant of the [CTS] we have had many concerns. It seemed strange that the beautiful neo-Gothic facility so exquisitely designed for ecclesiastical use would be converted to a totally unrelated purpose. We wondered what would become of the uniquely beautiful and historic sacred spaces, hoping that these would be retained for their rightful and appropriate use by CTS and others.
More recent disclosures about plans for the new modern CTS facility to be built in Woodlawn are cause for great alarm. it appears that the plans include the stripping of the magnificent features of teh worship facilities, in particularly the incredibly beautiful and dignified legacy of stained glass, for relocation in a totally different architectural milieu. To us, this action would be a desecration of the awe-inspiring Graham Taylor and Thorndike Hilton Chapels, intended by their donors to be permanent places of worship, meditation, and refuge. What will become of the baroque-style tracker organ built not long ago by the famed quebec organ maker, Karl Wilhelm?
We grieve the prospect of the ruination of what should be a protected historic and religious landmark. Its destruction would be a sacrilege, not the first proposed by CTS. About 50 years ago, they were ready to tear down one of the finest of Frank Lloyd wright's creations, the historic Robie House, to make way for a dormitory. Only a big, public protest including intervention by the architect himself headed off that potential disaster. It is time again for concerned persons to rise up and protest what appears to be the destruction of the two beautiful and historic chapels, named, in the case of the Graham Taylor one, for an important historic figure in the history of Chicago.
Letter from Rolf Achilles, Faculty, Art Institute of Chicago, Art History and Historic Preservation; Curator, Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows.
The stained glass windows in the various Chicago Theological Seminary rooms are all of great significance. With a many windows as are installed in noted buildings, I don't say this lightly. Let me explain:
The building, designed by Riddle & Riddle and built starting in 1926, is a unique exponent in the Midwest of the interest in authentic Medieval, specifically, Gothic/Renaissance styling that was then experiencing its last gasps worldwide. Riddle & Riddle's building is a Gesamtkunstwerk, where the masonry, the metalwork and the stained glass are all of a suite. Everything fits together and plays off each other. The stained glass windows are by Willet Stained Glass studios of Philadelphia and by Chrles J. Connick of Boston.
The Tree of Jesse window in the University Street entrance is one of the finest windows Willet Studios painted in the 1920s. the mostly clear windows facing 58th Street also show finely painted small figures. The Renaissance-inspired library with its heraldic windows playing against a superb plaster ceiling and impeccable wood carving are unique in Chicago for their variety, function and quantity.
Though a few years earlier, Hilton Chapel is a unique gem in Chicago and the Midwest. The windows are by the famed Connick Studio, and like the others, superb, and a very rare example of their style in the United States. The large Biblical figures in an upstairs reading room are the finest of time and style in Chicago. Also, the environment the windows are in -- the Bedford Indiana Limestone surrounds and the glazed/unglazed brick walls with their terra cotta inserts -- is unique in the nation.
the atmospheric quality attained by Riddle & Riddle may well have found its inspiration in the widely published and publicized photographs of various English cathedrals by Frederic, H. Evans. Again, this is unique in the Midwest, possibly the United States.
If the collective Chicago Theological Seminary (CTS) imagination fails to save the interiors and windows in their original locations, I hope there is enough imagination to at least make the effort to document these national treasures with all necessary care.
What I write above I said similarly on July 2, 2008, when I was asked to tour the CTS and verbally give my opinion on the interiors.
A letter appeared by descendents of Graham Taylor July 28.
Meadville Theological School is in substantial agreement on partnership with Andover Newton Theological School, with intent to stay in Chicago or Hyde Park with the institutions combined organizationally and in partnership with other seminaries. The Hyde Park property remains for sale but no buyer has yet been found.
Hyde Park Herald, September 19, 2007. By Georgia Geis
The staff of the Commission on Chicago Landmarks has recommended the 1920s classical revival-styled Hyde Park Bank building, 1525 E. 53rd St., for landmark designation. The recommendation is part of a report detailing 13 neighborhood banks throughout Chicago, the majority of which were also built in the 1920s and all of which were recommended by the staff to the Landmarks Board of Commissioners.
"The Hyde Park Bank is an incredible building," said Landmarks Commissioner and noted architect Ben Weese. "It's a major building that anchors and solidifies a community."
The landmark recommendation comes during the final stage of a $4 million restoration and renovation. "The bank is really committed to being the retail anchor for 53rd Street," said Hyde Park Bank Marketing Director Cheryl Bonander.
In 2004, the bank's interior lobby was fully restored--from the green and black terrazzo floor and the grand staircases framed by elaborate bronze screens to the carved stone panels lining the walls of the lobby. Local architect Paul Florian was awarded a national award from the American Institute of Architects for the renovation of the second-floor banking hall.
The renovation also includes some practical modernization, including lighting, new retail signage and an Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant door. "We aided an automatic side door. What we had before wasn't practical for many people," Bonander said.
According to the commission's report, entitled "Neighborhood Bank Buildings," in 1912, real estate developer John Carroll received a state charter to organize a bank, formerly the Hyde Park-Kenwood Federal Bank. Originally the bank was set up in a two-story house on the same site. The ten-story building that combines both streamline and geometric Art Deco features was designed by K.M. Vitzthum & Co. in 1928.
"The neighborhood bank buildings included in t his report are some of the most outstanding examples of the many historic bank buildings located throughout Chicago," according to an excerpt from the report. Weese agreed. "These buildings cannot be replicated [because of] the level of craftsmanship," said Weese. "The cost would be horrendous."
Landmark status on track for classical revival style Hyde Park BankHyde Park Herald, July 23, 2008. by Kate Hawley
The Hyde Park Bank building is on its way to becoming a city landmark, after the Commission on Chicago Landmarks delivered its final approval on Thursday, July 10, and the building's owner gave consent in late June.
The Hyde Park Bank, located at 1525 E. 53rd St., is one of 16 bank buildings the city planned to designate as landmarks, citing their importance to Chicago's architectural legacy and the growth of its neighborhoods. While owners' consent isn't required for landmark designation, the city does take their objections into consideration. The Hyde Park Bank never objected, though it was among eight banks to file a 120-day extension after the commission sought its consent in January.
Landmark status will require the Hyde Park Bank to preserve historic and architectural features of the 1928 building, including all of its exterior elevations and rooflines. Parts of the interior wil also be protected, such as the first-floor lobby and the second-floor banking hall.
According to a report prepared by the commission, the building is a classic example of the monumental bank architecture that proliferated in neighborhoods across the city primarily in the first half of the 20th century. During that time, Illinois laws prevented larger banks from starting branches, which opened up the market to local banks.
The original Hyde Park Bank, which received a state charter in 1912, was located in a two-story house on the southwest corner of 53rd Street and Lake Park Avenue, a site that also once held Hyde Park's town hall and the first post office.
Hyde Park Bank's early success--it held more than $6 million in deposits by 1926--prompted its owners to hire architecture firm K.M. Vitzhum & Co. to design a grander facility. The 10-story classical revival structure, built in 1928, was then the largest commercial block outside the Loop. It housed street-level retail, offices and he Hyde Park-Kenwood National Bank. That institution closed just four years later, in 1932['s financial panic pursuant to the Great Depression].
The current Hyde Park Bank is one of eight bank buildings whose owners consented to landmark designation on June 30. The commission gave its final approval July 10, sending the recommendation on to the City Council's Committee on Historical Landmarks Preservation. That body will vote on whether to send the proposed designations on to the full City Council. The council has already vote to approve landmark status for five of the 16 bank building. An additional three bank buildings are still undergoing review.
Historic homes protected in Bronzeville and south. Facilitates getting heritage corridor status 18th-71st, Ryan to Lake
Hyde Park Herald, February 17, 2010. By Daschell M. Phillips
The homes of three African American writers received protected landmark status last Wednesday by the City Council, along with two properties preserved for their historical adn architectural value. The Richard Wright House, 4831 S. Vincennes Ave.; Gwendolyn Brooks House, 7428 S. Evans Ave.; and the Lorraine [and Carl] Hansberry House, 6140 S. Rhodes ave., are building[s] associated with Chicago's "Black Renaissance" literary movement.
"The homes represent a time in [the] history of African Americans in Chicago expressing their culture and being involved in social activism between the 1930s and '50s," said Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd), who is a member of the Landmarks Committee.
The George Cleveland Hall Branch Library was a hub for Bronzeville's intellectual and literary crowd, said historian and Lakefront Outlook columnist Tim Black. "The Hall Library was where people met to listen to authors and poets speak," Black said. "That is where Lorraine [Hansberry] got her start."
The Griffiths-Burroughs Home was the first home of teh DuSable Museum of African American History and was designed by architect Solon S. Beman and built in 1892 by John W. Griffiths, whose company constructed many of Chicago's iconic structures including Union Station, the Merchandise Mart and the Civic Opera House Building. Dr. Margaret Burroughs, artist and founder of the DuSable Museum, still resides in the house.
"The Burroughs home continues to make Michigan Avenue a prominent drive," Dowell said. The Wright and Burroughs homes as well as the Hall Branch are in Dowell's ward
Black said the landmarks are important contributions to the people of Chicago because the writers and artists were major contributors to the intellectual and cultural wealth of Chicago and the United States.
Wright was famous for teh novel "Native Son," Brooks won teh Pulitzer Prize adn served as Illinois' poet laureate and Hansberry is best known for "A Raisin in the Sun," teh play based on her family's residential struggles that eventually led to a legal ruling that lifted restrictive neighborhood covenants for African Americans everywhere in the community.
"The landmark protection is great, but the real victory here is the recognition of Chicago's Black literary movement," said Paula Robinson, president of the Black Metropolis District National Heritage Area of Illinois.
The fact that literary giants such as Gwendolyn Brooks and Lorraine Hansberry wrote about living in Bronzeville and the restrictive covenants means that people can now come to the city and have a visual experience that will help interpret the uniqueness of Bronzeville as a historic area, Robinson said.
For the past five years teh Black Metropolis District National Heritage Area of Illinois has been working to make the area between 18th and 71st streets and Dan Ryan Expressway to teh lakefront a National Historic Area and works to preserve landmarks. It is also planning a yearlong celebration of events during the centennial year of Bronzeville in 2016.
Hyde Park Herald, June
21 2006. By Brian Wellner
The developer of a graystone in the 5400 block of South Woodlawn Avenue cut down an old cottonwood tree June 17 that he said would get in the way of an addition he is planning to build. By Monday morning, Eamon McCauley of North Side-based Mid-Continental Development had the stump of he 150-year-old tree removed.
"It's my property and I will cut it down if I want to," said McCauley, who bought the for flat and adjacent lot at 5482 S. Woodlawn Ave last year. He is proposing to convert the adjacent lot into another four flat. The addition, he said, would have cut into the cottonwood's root and otherwise killed the tree. "We're building and we're going to remodel and build our addition," McCauley said. "It's not fair to put in an addition and disturb a tree's roots."
But neighbors were appalled when they learned over the weekend that the tree was chopped down. Ken Dunn has lived in his home in the 54o0 block of South Woodlawn since 1972 and said the tree provided an abundance of shade to homes on the block and pedestrians passing by on the sidewalk. "It felt much warmer on Sunday when I walked down the street because there was no shade," Dunn said.
McCauley's property abuts the 55th Street Starbucks. the tree stood prominently next to the sidewalk on Woodlawn Avenue and a fence that separates his lot and Starbucks. Taller than most of the buildings around it, local preservationists said the tree was the last of four cottonwoods that had been growing on the property since before Hyde Park was settled. The first of the four cottonwoods was felled before McCauley purchased the property. The developer said the second stood in the footprint of his addition and had to be taken down. The third, which stood near the alley behind the graystone, was rotted out on the inside and he said needed to be chopped down.
McCauley said he talked to local preservationists and an expert arborist about saving the fourth. The arborist, he sid, recommended that nothing be built within 20 feet of the tree, but that was not possible by McCauley's plans. "It was better off chopping it down," he said.
His decision came as surprise to Jack Spicer, a well-known Hyde Park preservationist. "With some respect for the history of the community, a bit of common sense an a little creativity, I believe that the developer could have built a nice building, made some money and still saved those trees," Spicer said.
Spicer said the cottonwood tree was probably older than the oldest house in Hyde Park. Cottonwoods usually grow along water sources. According to old maps of the neighborhood, a creek began around what is now the corner of 48th Street and Ellis Avenue, ran down Woodlawn to the Midway Plaisance and empties into Lake Michigan behind the Museum of Science and Industry. When the land was graded and the neighborhood developed, the creek went away but some of the cottonwoods remained. There is still one cottonwood in the 5600 block of South Kimbark Avenue across from Ray Elementary School. Preservationists are pushing the city to develop an ordinance that would save historic trees like this one.
McCauley is behind other condominium developments in Madison Park and in the 5100 block of South Kenwood Avenue. He said most of his buyers are doctors to the expanding University of Chicago Hospitals and parents of University of Chicago Lab School students wishing to be closer to the school. "The market is busy," he said. "We try to be respectful of the community we build in."
But Dunn said chopping down the cottonwood ruined some of the character of the neighborhood. "Suddenly that corner looks a little more like a suburb. We'll have to wait 100 years until there are trees of that character," he said.
___________________
Frances Vandervoort in the Herald said that saving trees has a history in Hyde Park and that vacant lots are a rarity with cooling shades. "The large cottonwoods in Mr. McCauley's lot were here long before Hyde Park became a village in 1856. They likely marked the path of a stream flowing across the portion of the Chicago lake plain that became Hyde Park's history... Give us some new trees that will grow, be tended and become as much a part of Hyde Park as the cottonwoods once were."
S. Reddy, on the other hand, says that cottonwoods are a fire hazard and weed tree and should be eliminated.
Historic Church sold, neighbors fear condos
Hyde Park Herald, September 14, 2005. By Tedd Carrison
The recent sale of a 101-year-old Kenwood church to an elusive developer has fueled concern among nearby property owners who fear a high-density condominium building is planned for the historic district.
More than two dozen Kenwood residents packed the living room of a local home Sept. 1 to discuss uncertainties about the future of the historic property and form a unified voice to ensure they have a stake.
Formerly the Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church, the 27,000-square-foot building at 4820 S. Kenwood Ave. now sits vacant. It was designed near the turn of the 20th centaury by renowned Chicago architect Solon Beman.
In 2003, the Shiloh congregation dissolved and sold the property to Art Smith, famed chef of the Oprah Winfrey Show. Smith's planed to convert the building into a small television studio, a cooking school and his own private residence never blossomed and he sold it to a party known only as the 4820 S. Dorchester LLC
Residents feared that a high-density structure may be proposed for the site and it could bring traffic and parking problems and compromise the historic look of the building. At the meeting, church neighbor Jean Maclean Snyder said a group of neighbors believe a 32-unit condominium is in the works and it calls for parking to accommodate 1.2 cars per unit or more. She said they expect the church facade will be maintained but the rear will be expanded.
Kenwood resident David Erhmann said he recently met with Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th) where he briefly saw the plans but th alderman did not address them.
Mae Wilson, planning and development coordinator for the 4th Ward said no plans have been presented to the alderman. "I am sure there are plans and there is a future and we are looking forward to seeing a presentation [from the developer]" said Wilson. She was uncertain when that presentation will be but expects it should be later this month [September] with a community meeting to follow. "The community will have a voice," she said. "As always that is a part of the process."
Kenwood's distinction as a landmark district and the church's orange rating on the Chicago Historical Resources Survey place restrictions on developers but some residents said they fear these may be circumvented.
In the past weeks, neighbors next to the church have received letters and phone calls expressing interest in buying the adjacent parcels and paving them for parking lots, said Kenwood resident Jim Block at the meeting. "I would not sell to someone who would tear the house down. Not in a thousand years," he said. The inquiries came from agents affiliated with Prospect Equities, a management company based in Homer Glen, Ill. Prospect Vice-President Jody McArthur said she was not familiar with the Kenwood property or the offers made under her company's name, but explained that developers often contact one of her 200 agents to research properties the developer may have no strong intention of buying.
The neighborhood group intends to meet with residents south of Kenwood and the alderman. It also delegated a five-person committee to meet with Preckwinkle and present her with a neighborhood petition.
In the end, most complaints sem to have been resolved.
University to demolish historic-rated home
Hyde Park Herald, September 14, 2005. by Tedd Carrison
In coming weeks, a 112-year-old limestone home on Hyde Park's west side will come down to make room for the University of Chicago's Center for Biomedical Discovery. Once a comely residence with stout granite columns capped by crisp Corinthian capitals, 5623 S Drexel Ave. has been gutted of nearly everything but the fireplace and sunlight shines unabated through a hole in the attic ceiling. To some, the pending demolition is a harbinger of progress, to others an act of pillage. But to the Chicago Department of Planning and Development, the building is part of a historic survey that reaches far beyond centenarian homes.
In 1983, under the direction of the planning department, the Chicago Historic Resources Survey (CHRS) began cataloguing all buildings constructed before 1940. The project lasted 12 years, and detailed each building's date of construction, architect, landmark status and more. The planning department used this information to color-code each of the properties using red, orange, green, yellow and blue in descending order of historical importance.
Red-rated properties are "potentially significant" in a city, state or nation-wide context. Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House is red-rated. Orange could be significant community-wide. Yellow and green are too altered or historically insignificant to be included in the CHRS database. Blue represents the remaining pre-1940 construction and therefore, too, was excluded from the database.
The Drexel Avenue building along with many others in Hyde Park is designated "orange" by the CHRS. Due to an ordinance passed in January 2003, demolition permits for red and orange-rated buildings are provided a 90-day waiting period to "ensure that no important historic resource can be demolished without consideration as to whether it should be preserved," said Brian Goeken, deputy commissioner for landmarks at the Chicago department of planning.
In the Drexel building's case the university applied for waiver for the 90-day rule, claiming it had exhausted all options to save the building and a stringent construction schedule allowed little time to wait. Goeken said the length of time a developer must wait to demolish under the 90-day ordinance varies with the discretion of the planning department.
"The goal of the orange process, as I know it, is to explore whether there are alternatives [to demolition]... and in this case there aren't," said Hank Webber, vice president of Community and Governmental Affairs at the U. of C. Webber said the university considered many options including temporarily moving the structure across the street but in the end "there seemed to be no feasible way to save this building," he said.
Local preservationist Jack Spicer agreed that the building is beyond salvaging and believed that the university's preservation efforts were sincere, but said if its orange distinction wa noted early enough and everyone involved worked together it might have been "taken off death row."
Other notable orange-rated buildings in Hyde Park and Kenwood include the abandoned Doctors Hospital, 5800 S. Stony Island Ave.; the former Shiloh Church, 4820 S. Dorchester Ave.; and the vacant Harper Theater 5234-38 S. Harper Ave...
Kimbark demo gets mixed reviews from neighborhood. A 114-year-old Kimbark Avenue home is demolished in early October [2004] Hyde Park Herald, October 20, 2004. by Mike Stevens Work crews poured the concrete footing last week for a multi-unit condominium building that will replace a recently demolished 114-year-old wood frame house at 5121 S. Kimbark Ave. Many nearby residents welcomed the new construction but area preservationists worry that the tear-down might signal a trend for demolition and redevelopment in parts of Hyde Park. "I am excited about the new property going up," said Sharon Arnold, who lives across the street from the construction. "I think it will probably help the property values." Lorene Richardson, who has lived on the block for nearly 40 years, said it was about time something happened on the lot. The weed-choked lot was such an eyesore that she went to 4th Ward Ald. Toni Preckwinkle's office to complain and see if the owner could be tracked down and forced to clean-up the neglected property. "The weeds had gone up to your knees this summer," Richardson said. "We're glad to see something besides that place because it was conducive to vandalism," The demolition does not bode well for the 24 similar wood frame single family houses between 53rd and 51st Streets, Hyde Park Historical Society member Jack Spicer said. Development in Kenwood to the north is limited by the area's landmark status. A tradition of preservation and a solid stock of smaller buildings in the heart of Hyde Park will likely prevent teardowns south of 55th Street. The majority of the housing stock between 55th and 51st streets consists of larger multi-unit buildings, making single-family teardowns easier to rationalize, Spicer said. With Hyde Park real estate on the rise, Spicer said developers will inevitably be drawn to these "underutilized" lots on which single family homes sit. "That frontier between these two neighborhoods is what is going to take the biggest beating." Spicer said. "Shouldn't we all think about [this type of demolition] a little bit. Because once it's done; it's done." Fourth ward officials say they have noticed no such trend. They also point out that many of the single family homes in that part of Hyde Park have already been broken up into apartments, including the recently demolished frame house at 5121 S. Kimbark Ave. Calls to the developer went unreturned. |
University Park Towers gets preservation nod Hyde Park Herald, September 8, 2004. by Mike Stevens The 43-year-old University Park Condominiums building in the middle of 55th Street at Dorchester Avenue was nominated recently for listing on the National Historic Register. The listing would put the I.M. Pei- designed building among the nations's most historically significant properties as well as provide a possible tax break on future renovations. Condominium owners could also expect a likely jump in their property values with a listing. The two poured-concrete condominium towers represent an excellent example of community planning* and is a well preserved example of an ambitious urban renewal development of the 1960s, said David Blanchette, a spokesman from the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. "This is a specific example of a particular time period of the city and it's wonderfully preserved," Blanchette said. The 706,300 square foot development was the design anchor to the first major Hyde Park redevelopment at the beginning of Urban Renewal. "[The University Apartments] were part of the project that kept the University of Chicago in the neighborhood,"** Margaret Duggar said. Duggar, a retired English professor, has lived in the building for more than 3o years and heads up the ad hoc committee of building residents pursuing the Historic Register listing. The 35-page nomination application high-lights the building's crisp-lined modern feel of the International Style. In addition, the buildings close-set recessed windows mark the development of an innovative concrete-pouring technique by Pei and engineer August F. Kommerdant, the application states. Styrofoam forms allowed all exterior load-bearing walls to boast almost floor to ceiling windows separated by slender concrete columns. Pei's design, which placed the building in the middle of 55th Street and lifts 9-stories of apartments above green-space and an open-air courtyard on the ground floor, followed principles laid out by Le Corbusier. The Swiss-born architect believed that multi-unit buildings should be placed in park settings and along transportation routes. Le Corbusier's philosophy also promoted the inclusion of shops on the ground floor of such buildings to involve non-residents in the structure, said Hyde Park Historical Society member Devereux Bowly. Because of [failure to include] this, the white concrete apartment towers do not involve the community as much as they could, Bowly said. Many
Hyde Parkers, forced to hike around the nearly 4-block development,
say the problem has gotten worse since a security fence closing off
the courtyard to non-residents went up in 1978. "We're stuck
with it for better or worse. But if you understand the context both
locally and nationally [a historic listing] is more understandable,"
Bowly said. Pei later designed the glass pyramid entrance to the Louvre
in Paris and a National Gallery of Art addition in Washington D.C.
|
Nat'l Register has art deco high-rise in sights Hyde Park Herald, January 5, 2005. By Mike Stevens The Illinois Historic Sites Advisory Council recently recommended placing the Narragansett apartment building, 1640 E. 50th St., on the National Register of Historic Places. The honorary status would put the 75-year-old, art-deco high-rise building among the nations's most prestigious historic buildings as well as provide residents a tax break on a $2.5 million renovation to the terra cotta-laden exterior walls. An eight-year property tax freeze might mean hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings for each of the 63 residents at the building, condominium president David Guyer said. "The tax benefit really is the major perk for most [residents]," guyer said. Condominium owners could also expect a likely jump in their property values with such a listing, Illinois Historic Preservation officials said. With the assistance of a historic consultant, the condo board began preparing 60 pages of material supporting its application almost a year ago. In spite of the Dec. 10 recommendation, the Narragansett must still win the approval of the top state and federal preservation officers. The final word from the Keeper of the National Register in Washington D.C. could come by late summer [2005], Guyer said. Completed in 1930 for $1.5 million, the Narragansett represents a fine example of the art deco style, but numerous ornamental details designed by Charles Morgan make the building exceptional, according to the building's National Register application. Morgan blended artistry and architecture making a living rendering architectural plans and concepts. For the Narragansett, Morgan designed sculptural panels of Native Americans, animals and plants in the smooth, linear forms characteristic of the Art Deco style. He offset these decorative terra cotta relief sculptures with unusual painted panels of different colors. Morgan designed similar decorative elements at the adjacent Powhatan apartment building. Ashlar block limestone anchors the building's first three floors while brick piers, terra cotta spandrels and tiles with vertical grooves all contribute to the 22-story building's sense of upward momentum. "It's certainly one of the major lakefront elevator buildings," Hyde Park Historical Society member Devereux Bowly said. Interior details include chrome chandeliers and sconces with pineapple finials and art deco brackets, terrazzo floors, marble baseboards and wood-paneled walls inset with a geometric pattern. The Narragansett was one of a wave of new luxury high rises that sprouted along Lake Michigan in the 1920s when Chicago's zoning laws were relaxed [and for the South Side after the Illinois Central had been electrified]. [More: Neil Harris's Chicago's Luxury Apartments. 2004. Stay tuned on completion of the process and how the taxes work out. GMO] |
By early summer of 2010 Antheus had entered a contract to buy from Heartland Alliance the 1917 Sutherland Hotel at 47th and Drexel. Its ballroom had once been venues for Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Dizzy Gillespie and a major restoration project of jazzman _______ after his return from years as an emigre in Paris. Sutherland was Heartland's first major affordable residential project-- the tax credits require 25% set aside regardless of owner. When Heartlands' request for renewal was denied in 2007, the building was put up for sale and occupancy is now under one third. An assessment and final approval of ballroom renovations by the city is now underway, after which the city will release a $500,000 Empowerment grant for arts programming at the Sutherland ballroom (renovated from a $412,645 grant.) In order for the affordable tax write offs to continue, Heartland must continue as tenant of the ballroom and other things have to be arranged such as temporary set aside of the affordable credits during renovation. Antheus and Heartland expect to have all worked out within a year so renovation can begin.
| Large condos slated for Harvard School Hyde Park Herald, December 8, 2004. By Kiratiana E. Freelon Two Hyde Park businessmen plan to develop the 89-year-old Harvard School building, 4731 S. Ellis Ave., into four loft-type condominiums. Steve Solbo, owner of Lucky Strike [now Seven Ten Pin], 1055 E. 55th St.,* and Duncan Harris, owner of Kimwood Real Estate and Development Management, bought the recently closed school this September after expressing interest in April. [The Herald information may be incorrect and Steve "Soble" is Mr. Solbo (?) former owner of Piccolo Mondo in the Windermere.] Solbo said many developers passed on the building because they would have had to reconfigure the interior. Developers did not know what to do with the gymnasium, he said. "I got this kooky idea of turning the gymnasium into my house. Suddenly that made the project look a lot better." In addition to developing four condos for each floor of the main building, Solbo and Harris will develop most of the 5,400-square-foot gym into a single-family home for Soldo. The 3,000 to 3,500-square-foot condos will have four bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths and two indoor heated parking spaces. The duo will keep the building's rear courtyard. Due to its location in a landmark district, Harris and Solbo took painstaking care to receive the support and approval from Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th), the [Kenwood Open House Committee?], Hyde Park Historical Society and the South East [Chicago] Commission. According to Harris, the duo's plans received unprecedented community support from all local preservation organizations due to its creative adaptive use of a building built in 1915. Solbo said the typical developer would have attempted to fit as many small units into the interior as possible, with little regard for the parking issues or the historical value of the building. Local preservationists showed overwhelming support for the project. "From a preservationist point of view, they are like a dream come true," said Jack Spicer, Hyde Park Historical Society member, Hyde Park Historical Society member. Spicer highlighted their plans to keep the building's marble and steel railing, heavy oak wood doors and frames, and 12-feet-tall windows. Brian Goeken, Deputy Commissioner of Landmarks, granted the pair's permit request to conduct internal demolition December 3. Solbo and Harris will begin remodeling in January and hope to have the units available for sale next summer. Robert Sullivan of Urban Search Real Estate will sell the units. |