Preservation Chicago names its Magnificent 7

Preservation Chicago's Endangered 7

Okay, we added the magnificent part. Yo attended a lunchtime press conference at City Hall where historic architecture advocacy group Preservation Chicago unveiled “The Chicago Seven,” seven historic places the group considers to be most threatened. Topping the list is The Farwell Building, which Prism Development Company had hoped to demolish to build a parking garage for the 40-story Ritz-Carlton Residences. The Commission on Chicago Landmarks rejected that proposal earlier this month, but the North Michigan Avenue building is still vulnerable.

Jonathan Fine, president of Preservation Chicago, said, “In Paris, we have the Champs-Élysées. In Chicago, we have Michigan Avenue, and Michigan Avenue is not the place for a parking garage, especially one covered with the skin of a designated Chicago landmark.” Fine (right) was joined by Ald. Manny Flores (1st) and Preservation Chicago vice president Michael Moran (left).

Other endangered places include the Rosenwald Apartments, 4618 S Michigan Ave, Archer Avenue from the 2700 to the 3100 block, Bronzeville’s Pilgrim Baptist Church — where, Fine acknowledged, “gospel music was born” — and the North Avenue Pedestrian Bridge. Rounding out the list are the Wicker Park commercial district along Milwaukee Avenue, which Fine called “a rich mosaic of structures” being threatened by big-box retail and large-scale condo development, and the Julia C. Lathrop Homes, located on Clybourn Avenue and Diversey Parkway east of the Chicago River. The public housing development, designed during the Depression by a team including Robert S. DeGolyer, Hugh M.G. Garden and landscape architect Jens Jensen, is threatened because its riverfront location makes it a prime spot for upscale development, Fine said.

“Lathrop Homes is a viable, ethnically diverse urban community with structurally sound buildings,” said Fine. “We urge that both the community and the buildings be preserved.” In July 2006, the Chicago Housing Authority announced plans to replace Lathrop Homes with a mixed-income combination of apartments, condos and townhomes similar to other projects already underway in the Plan for Transformation.

Preservation Chicago's Endangered 7

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