On Thursday or Friday of last week, the City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development received from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) a plan for dismantling the ten facades in the Maxwell Street neighborhood UIC intends to "reuse."
The plan had to be submitted 60 days before the work was scheduled to begin. Since the plan was submitted on approximately February 1, work can begin anytime after April 1, assuming there are no objections from Planning.
This is the part of UIC's redevelopment of Maxwell Street in which vintage facades from around the neighborhood will be dismantled, stored for two or three years, and then reassembled to "recreate" a block of Maxwell Street between Halsted and Union. Some of the facades will be mounted onto the front of a new parking garage. The ten buildings in this part of the project range from 72 years to 125 years old. Four were built before 1900. After their facades have been removed, the buildings themselves will be leveled.
In addition to the ten facades that will be dismantled and relocated, three facades will be retained at their original locations. The buildings behind them will be demolished. Another eight buildings are slated for "adaptive reuse," which means the entire building will be preserved.
In its deal with the City, UIC agreed to submit a detailed plan for dismantling the facades. The agreement specifically required that the plan be prepared by an architect or structural engineer "experienced in facade restoration and familiar with the structural integrity and systems of the buildings in question." The name of the architect or structural engineer who prepared the plan has not yet been released.
After Planning has reviewed it the plan will be made public.
Click here for a list of the ten
buildings whose facades are part of this plan.
Return to the Maxwell St. News Update page.
Return to the Maxwell St. page.
Return to Chuck Cowdery's home page.
Go to the Steve Balkin's Maxwell Street Historic Preservation Coalition page.
Contact Us
TO REACH US VIA EMAIL:
info@maxwellstreet.orgTO REACH US VIA THE USPS:
Maxwell Street Historic Preservation Coalition
P.O. Box 6435
Evanston, IL 60204