Chicago, Saturday, June 10, 2000
We won one for Maxwell Street yesterday. Friday afternoon, the Illinois Historic Sites Advisory Council (IHSAC) voted unanimously (11-0) to endorse the nomination of the Maxwell Street Historic District to the National Register of Historic Places.
After formal presentations by myself, Elliot Zashin and Lori Grove; and an opposing presentation by an attorney representing the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), several members of the community spoke in support of the nomination. They included Maxwell Street area property and business owners, members of the St. Francis of Assisi Parish (which is part of the proposed district), blues artists and others. David Bahlman, Executive Director of the Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois (LPCI), spoke in favor of the nomination and announced that the LPCI Issues Committee, which includes some of the most prominent architects in Chicago, voted to endorse the nomination earlier in the week. LPCI has repeatedly offered to help UIC develop an appropriate preservation plan, but their offers have been ignored.
The National Register nomination was prepared by Lori Grove and other members of the Maxwell Street Historic Preservation Coalition.
The group that backed the nomination on Friday, the IHSAC, is a panel of professional architects, historians, archeologists and preservation advocates that advises the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency (IHPA) on nominations to the National Register and other historic preservation issues. Now the state historic preservation officer, IHPA Associate Director William Wheeler, must decide whether or not to recommend the nomination to the Keeper of the National Register, Carol Shull, in Washington. According to an article in today's Chicago Tribune, Wheeler will make his decision in two to four weeks.
Before the vote, most of the IHSAC members spoke and gave their reasons for supporting the nomination. They said that the tremendous historic importance of the area outweighs the fact that some of the buildings are gone or in disrepair. There are forty-three buildings from the historic era (1870-1950) in the proposed district.
UIC has already begun construction on what it calls the "South Campus Expansion Project," but which is really a landgrab by private developers, using the university as a front. Two-thirds of the project will be luxury homes, stores, and other private construction. The university will use its share of profits from the private development to fund new dormitories and other university buildings.
The significance of Friday's vote was expressed by MSHPC Vice President Steve Balkin, as quoted in today's Chicago Sun-Times: "We now have proof from a reputable unbiased organization that says Maxwell Street is a significant historical area that should be preserved."
Read Letters of Support for the Maxwell Street Historic District nomination.
Return to the Maxwell St. News Update page.
Return to the Maxwell St. page.
Return to Chuck Cowdery's home page.
Go to the Maxwell Street Historic Preservation Coalition home page.
Contact Us
TO REACH US VIA EMAIL:
Chuck Cowdery, President (cowdery@21stcentury.net)TO REACH US VIA THE USPS:
Steve Balkin, Vice President (mar@openair.org)
Maxwell Street Historic Preservation Coalition
P.O. Box 6435
Evanston, IL 60204