Andersonville School Close to Becoming a Landmark
Chicago’s Landmarks Commission has approved a plan to make the former Lyman Trumbull school building in Andersonville the city’s newest landmark. The building on the northwest corner of Ashland and Foster was designed by Dwight H. Perkins (once of Burnham & Root), and built in 1909. Lyman Trumbull school building (Via Apple Maps) A report for the Landmarks Commission describes the building thusly: Trumbull is regarded...
Refreshed Park May Sort of Honor One of Chicago’s Oddest People
There are lots of neighborhoods in Chicago that are short on parks. Streeterville is short two of them. First, there’s the long-promised, never-delivered, and no longer radioactive DuSable Park. City Hall has been promising that patch of greenery to its citizens since the Washington administration (Harold, not George). Bennett Park under construction (Courtesy of Joe Zekas/YoChicago!) Then there’s the park that’s...
Chicago Places Join Giraffes on Endangered List
Just days after the Fish and Wildlife Service started talking about adding giraffes to its endangered species list, Landmarks Illinois put out its annual list of the Prairie State’s most endangered places. There are a dozen entries on the list, with three in Chicago, three in the surrounding area, and the remainder scattered across the state. Here’s the endangered dozen: Chicago The Thompson Center James R. Thompson...
Historic Chicago Mod Kitchen May Cook Once Again
Chicago loves architecture history. But it has a bad habit of tearing it down and leaving it strewn around the region. Now a historic kitchen has a chance of being loved once again. Landmarks Illinois disassembled the kitchen and moved it into storage of safe keeping. Now it’s looking for someone to give the kitchen a new home, in a place where the public can get to know not only its important design, but its important history....
Thompson Center Tops 2017 Endangered Places List
Landmarks Illinois is out with its annual list of the most endangered places in the Land of Lincoln. At the top of the list is a state office building that Chicagoans love to hate: The Thompson Center (100 West Randolph Street). The Thompson Center’s beauty is most certainly in the eye of the beholder. Some find it a fine example of post-modern deconstructionism. Others think it’s a garish display of outdated...
Cruise Up State Street Soon to Catch A Piece of History Before it Vanishes
Like any city with longevity, Chicago is a city of history. One way it communicates its history is through its architecture. Layers upon layers of architecture that overlap, overwhelm, and sometimes slip through the cracks of time. One of those time capsules is going away soon. It’s a worker’s cottage at 1241 North State Street. Worker’s cottages are to Chicago in the late 1800’s what prairie bungalows were to...
The Legacy of Chicago’s 2016 Olympic Bid
The Summer Olympic Games begin in Rio de Janiero today. And amid the pageantry and intrigue and brand logos are the lingering worries about the game-centric infrastructure. Much has been written about how Rio simply doesn’t have its act together. Twitter is full of horror stories from Olympians longing for the days before it was required to hold the Games in every third world craphole around the globe. But then again, Rio Olympic...
The Plymouth Building: Printers Row’s Newest Landmark
Chicago’s Printers Row neighborhood is a walk-though gallery of great architecture. Even the ugly buildings have pretty details. And the pretty buildings have historic pasts. Recently one of those pretty buildings, The Plymouth Building at 417 South Dearborn Street, was recommended for city landmark status. The building is being converted into student housing by LG Development, so this seems like as good a time as any to give...
Your Click Can Save Pullman
If you’ve ever taken the long bus ride down to the Pullman Historic District, you know the neighborhood is overflowing with great architecture and untapped potential. National Geographic is giving you an opportunity to help preserve the focal point of Pullman’s architecture collection — the Pullman Palace Car Company Administration Building (748 East 111th Street). The building is amazing, even when viewed from behind the...
CTA Quincy Station Is Next In Line For Rehab
The Chicago Transit Authority has announced it will spend $18 million renovating the historic Quincy L Station in the Loop. The project is just the latest in a series of CTA station additions and upgrades in recent years, including the ongoing $75 million consolidation of the Madison/Wabash and Randolph/Wabash Stations into the new Madison/Wabash Station on the opposite side of The Loop. The Quincy Station is best known as the only...
Recent From Proposals
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Three-Building River North Project Hits City Hall June 18, 2019 -
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