Every year, Preservation Chicago announces its “Chicago’s 7” list of Most Endangered Buildings. The purpose of the Chicago 7 is to raise public awareness about the threats facing some of Chicago’s most at-risk architectural treasures, whether they are a single building, an entire neighborhood, or a thematic category of buildings, such as Great Chicago Warehouses or Chicago’s Religious Structures.
Preservation Chicago’s 2013 most endangered:
1. St. James Church - 29th and Wabash
This gothic church was designed by Patrick Keely who is also known for the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at the University of Notre Dame. It was built at a cost of $400,000 and was consecrated in 1895.
2. Hotel Guyon - 4000 W. Washington
Completed in 1928 as a residential hotel, Hotel Guyon was built by developer J. Louis Guyon and designed by noted architect Jens J. Jensen. Jensen is noted for having designed many hotels and apartment buildings in the city, as well as the 300 W. Adams Office Building.
3. State Bank of Clearing - 5235 W. 63rd Street
Built in 1959, the building is a good example of midcentury modern bank architecture and includes a drive-through teller tunnel, which was unique at the time. It was designed by Chicago architect Harry Weese.
Designed by Holabird and Roche, the Century building’s distinct vertical expression of the exterior elevations portend the transition from the Chicago School buildings of the late 19th Century to the Art Deco of the 1920s. The adjacent Consumers Building demanded a lease rate of $1,473 per front foot in 1913, which was believed to be the highest rent per front foot ever paid for State Street store space.
5. AllState Building - 3245 W. Arthington
Completed in 1949 for the Allstate Corp. the 10-story building is an example of postwar modern high-rise construction. It was the first high-rise constructed in Chicago after World War II.
6. Medic Building - 3223-3225 North Ashland
This 1929 art deco style building could be incorporated into a new big-box store if Preservation Chicago gets its way. The Minneapolis based retailer, Target, has plans to construct a store at this location, accoridg to Crain’s newspaper.
7. Lathrop Homes - Damen, Diversey, Clybourn
Located on prime real estate, the Julia C. Lathrop Homes public housing project was built during the New Deal of the 1930s and designed by a variety of architects. For several years, the Chicago Housing Authority has been working on plans to create a new mixed-income development on the site.
For more information visit: www.preservationchicago.org/