2018 Retrospective for Chicago Historic Preservation

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1501 W 18th St. Part of Preliminary Recommendation for Pilsen District [John Morris/Chicago Patterns]

In years past, our yearly retrospective of architectural preservation in Chicago consisted of mostly losses with a few small wins. In 2018, however, a few significant victories changed the tone of how the city’s historic resources are maintained and preserved.

Some of same trends from years past continued in 2018: the loss of late 19th century Italianate homes and flats in near-NW side neighborhoods and Victorian cottages in places like Lakeview and Lincoln Park. Some of these erasures are stories of displacement, as long-term residents in older buildings are pushed out as developers erect expensive single-family homes and 2/3 flats in the place of existing buildings.

But on the plus side, two themes emerged in 2018: new landmarks and community action.

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Wins and Losses for Chicago Preservation in 2017

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1436 W. Berwyn faced demo, but now owned by preservation-minded buyer [John Morris/Chicago Patterns]

2017 brought the usual bag of heartbreaking losses in Chicago’s housing and building stock, but there are several notable wins too. In our annual retrospective of historic preservation, many themes of years past continue: 19th-century Italianate homes and flats in hot neighborhoods are replaced with new construction, one-of-a-kind landmarks in or near the city center are lost in the name of progress, and demolition by neglect continues.

As the race to capitalize on this current real estate cycle continues, landmark status is often the only effective tool to preserve historically important structures. Preservation-minded real estate buyers also continue to affect real change in preservation efforts.

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Wins and Losses for Chicago Buildings in 2016

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Every year brings new buildings and the demolition of others–it’s the continuous cycle that transforms inanimate structures into the growing and evolving organism of a city. In times of wealth and prosperity the number of construction and demolition permits grow, and in times of recession they dwindle.

Last year this cycle repeated largely as it has in years past. But there were a few themes in the destruction of Chicago’s architectural heritage: late 19th century Worker’s Cottages, grand South Side homes, Italianate row houses, and a few sparkling Victorians on the North Side.

It wasn’t all losses in 2016–there were a few wins, particularly neglected or damaged churches that will live on through adaptive reuse.

 

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411 W. Eugenie Avenue

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[Frederick Nachman]

[Frederick Nachman]

Marketed as a tear-down in late 2015, the 1895 cottage instead is undergoing a massive renovation involving both demolition and additions to the back and side of the lot.

Frederick Nachman