The Department of Planning and Development is throwing its support behind Prism Development Company‘s plans to transplant the facade of the landmarked Farwell Building to a new-construction building that will be part of the Ritz-Carlton Residences development, according to a story in today’s Chicago Tribune. Under the plan, which the Planning Department’s landmarks division sees as the best way to preserve the decaying building, Prism would dismantle the Farwell’s circa-1920s limestone facade and then demolish the 11-story building, located at 664 N Michigan Ave. Six stories of the new structure behind the reapplied facade would be used as parking for the new mixed-use development. Not surprisingly, many Chicago preservation advocates have considerable numbers of bees in their bonnets over the whole idea. On his blog, architecture critic Lynn Becker wonders, “Is landmarks preservation in Chicago going the way of the dinosaur?“