The future doesn’t look bright for the “Indiana Flats,” a 109-year-old apartment building at the northwest corner of Cermak and Indiana, but the dilapidated structure has gained a temporary reprieve.
Activists called city inspectors this week when workers began to demolish the historic building. The city already has approved a new 322-unit condo complex for the site, but the building’s owner did not yet have a demolition permit. The city has halted demolition for now.
Architecture buffs say that the building, once home to future Illinois Governor Frank O. Lowden and other notables, could stand as a prime example of 19th century city architecture if restored. But land is at a premium in the rapidly growing South Loop, and the argument for preservation over development will be a tough one.