Bill Lavicka is a Chicago original, one of those outsize characters who create and preserve the built heritage the rest of us then take for granted.
According to the Chicago News Cooperative, Bill has Stage 4 colon cancer and is as endangered as any of the buildings he’s fought to preserve. He’s someone you really should get to know before he goes.
The Reader’s article archives, and YoChicago’s, provide a glimpse at some of Bill’s achievements. Start with The Vanishing City at the Reader.
Four years ago, on his birthday, a tuxedo-clad Bill showed me around his Celestial House in Bronzeville, and showcased some of his original sculpture, in the following video.
You can see the landmark 1500 block of Jackson Blvd, which Bill preserved and where he lives, in this YoChicago slideshow at Flickr:
Thanks for sharing this sad news!
Bill and I were college classmates at IIT back ’67.
Later on we both became members of the Structural Engineers Association of Illinois.
Bill was a long time director of the association and the president in 1985-86. Besides his preservation efforts it was Lavicka that tried to bring visiblilty to Chicago area engineers, pushing forward an awards competition to honor the best of structural engineering .
Bill was was intrumental in the commissioning the Fazlur Khan Sculpture, to recogize the accomplishments of this famed Chicago structural engineer !
Just recently Lavicka was honored by the National Council of Structural Engineers Associations with the Robert Conforth Award
This award is presented to an individual for exceptional dedication and exemplary service to a Member organization and to the profession. Nominees are submitted to the NCSEA Board by the Member Organizations. NCSEA Board members are not eligible.
Check out story in STRUCTURE magazine – Page 52
Thanks for the info, Bob.
I edited your comment to make the links functional.