Another Piece of Chicago Architecture History Goes From Dust to Dust
Easter is a time to celebrate miracles. But unless The Big Guy, Himself decides to go all Lazarus on 1319 South Ashland Avenue, Saint Stephenson Missionary Baptist Church is gone forever. Saint Stephenson Missionary Baptist Church in August 2020 (Courtesy of Little Italy Spy Blake) Little Italy Spy Blake tithed our tip line with the news that demolition crews have finally done with demolition crews do, and turned this once...
Demolition Approaches For Code Orange South Side Church
A number of holy places in Chicago have met their demise over the last 20 years. Some have been repurposed. Some have been demolished. The former Saint Stephenson Missionary Baptist Church looks like it’s next in line to meet the hot kiss of the wrecking ball. Saint Stephenson Missionary Baptist Church in August 2020 (Courtesy of Little Italy Spy Blake) Little Italy Spy Blake sent in the photograph above, showing the current...
New Roosevelt Square Library/Public Housing Gets Permitted
The new public library and public housing building planned for what’s left of Little Italy is about to get started. The first construction permits have been issued for the Roosevelt Square Library building at 1342 West Taylor Street. FOUNDATIONS-ONLY PERMIT FOR NEW CONSTRUCTION OF A 7-STORY 86,976 SQUARE FOOT MIXED USE BUILDING WITH LIBRARY AND 73 AFFORDABLE APARTMENTS WITH PARKING LOT AND SITE IMPROVEMENTS. As we reported over...
History Lesson: Saint Basil Greek Orthodox Church and Independence Boulevard Seventh-Day Adventist Church
Two churches on Chicago’s West Side offer a window on the bygone world of Chicago’s Eastern-European Jewish community. At the corner of Ashland Avenue and Polk Street stands St. Basil Greek Orthodox Church (733 South Ashland Avenue in Little Italy). Alexander L. Levy designed this building in 1910 as a synagogue for the Ohave Sholom Mariampol congregation. This congregation had been established in 1870 in the area around Maxwell and...
Chicago Unveils Its Shiny New, Environmentally, Friendly Police Station
The Chicago Police department has a brand new, environmentally-friendly police station in Little Italy. The new District 12 Police Station (1412 South Blue Island Avenue) replaces the old 12th and 13th district stations on South Racine Street and North Wood Street. It’s part of the department’s ongoing consolidation program, which is designed to use efficiencies of scale to save the city money. But if you’ve ever...
Evocative Chicago Places
Back in July I wrote a piece titled Chicago’s Best Worst Block. It was about the little stretch of urban decay known as the 400 block of South Clark Street. People liked it. A lot. Enough that as of this writing it’s the third-most-popular article on this blog in the last two years. It also got me invited onto The Afternoon Shift on Chicago Public Radio to talk about the city’s evocative urban spaces. Places in...
Another Long-Abanoned Church
You don’t have to walk very far in most Chicago neighborhoods before you come across a neighborhood church. And you don’t have to walk much farther to come across an abandoned, or former church. From Saint Dominick’s near Cabrini Green to the dozens of storefront and other Baptist churches on the city’s South Side, there are hundreds of churches in Chicago that have been either abandoned or repurposed...
Italian Pride on the South Side
In one of the few remaining slivers of Little Italy not destroyed by a Mayor Daley, or the University of Illinois at Chicago, there is a place called Piazza DiMaggio. Much has been written over the years about the wholesale demolition of this formerly ethnic neighborhood, so I won’t go into it . But if you do venture down to Taylor Street, you’ll find the piazza, and a statue of its namesake in the middle, as well as one...
Slice of Life: Move Over, I’m Driving
It’s always nice to travel with a co-pilot. But I don’t think that either of these dogs in Little Italy have a...
Building Updates: June 3, 2011
A number of building updates went online at Chicago Architecture Info today. We’ve added a several new buildings to Chicago’s largest architecture guide, and updated a couple of dozen other buildings with new photographs. Total number of buildings in the Chicago Architecture Info architectural guide: 1,205. New Buildings 1407 West Taylor Street 1421 West Taylor Street First Immanuel Lutheran Church The Goodman Theater Holy Family...
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