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player ready...When it was first built nearly 70 years ago, the North Avenue Pedestrian Bridge, with its graceful arch and overhead beams, was hailed as a triumph of engineering.
But even its forward-thinking architects could not foresee the requirements set forth by the American Disabilities Act, and in 2003, city officials announced they planned to replace the bridge with one that was wheelchair accessible.
Threatened with demolition, the historical bridge made Preservation Chicago’s list of Chicago’s Seven Most Threatened Buildings this year.
The nonprofit organization, founded in 2001, seeks to raise public awareness of the neglect or threat of redevelopment facing the city’s architectural treasures.
“In the past eight years, there has been a tremendous surge of new construction in Chicago,” said Michael Moran, vice president of Preservation Chicago. But that construction has come with a price, he said.
“Let’s save the buildings that are special,” Moran said. “People are drawn to the city in part because of our historic buildings.”
This year’s list includes a historic church designed by famed architect Louis Sullivan, a former downtown museum and a public housing complex.
The North Avenue Pedestrian Bridge was designed by Ralph Burke, who also designed the master plan of O’Hare International Airport. Preservation Chicago board members argued that another bridge that meets federal accessibility standards could be built nearby, preserving the historical landmark.
Constructed on the southern end of Lincoln Park, the current bridge provides access to North Avenue Beach.
The city’s plan to build a replacement bridge was incorporated into a larger proposal to build five new bridges that will provide access to the lakefront on the North and South Sides. Obtaining the funding for the project is still several years away, so the organization has contended that there is still time to save the old bridge.
“Here’s an opportunity to create two points of access to the lakefront” in this area, said Jonathan Fine, president of Preservation Chicago. “This was an incredible progressive bridge, years ahead of its time. Why spend the money to tear it down?”
Another landmark on the list is the Farwell Building, 660-664 N. Michigan Ave., an 11-story commercial building that until 2004 housed the Terra Museum of American Art. Preservation Chicago said the Art Deco/Classical Revival structure is one of the few remaining from the 1920s along the Magnificent Mile.
“This building’s delicate scale, fine materials and elegant details…reflect the Parisian aesthetic” envisioned by architect Philip Maher, Fine said.
Earlier this month, the city’s Commission on Chicago Landmarks rejected a proposal to dismantle and reconstruct the building as part of a development of luxury condos. Only the limestone facade would have been saved.
City officials had supported the plan, arguing that it was an economically viable way to save the structure. But preservationists opposed it, saying it would make a mockery of Chicago’s landmarks ordinance, which calls for historic buildings to be preserved in their entirety.
Michigan Avenue “is not the place for a parking spot,” Fine said.
Pilgrim Baptist Church at 3301 S. Indiana Ave., designed by architects Sullivan and Dankmar Adler and built in 1890, was almost completely destroyed by fire last January and has been selected as a threatened building.
Only the masonry exterior walls of the Bronzeville landmark and recognized birthplace of gospel music survived.
The church wants to rebuild using the existing walls, but funding is a major challenge. So far, it has raised less than $250,000 in private donations. The Pritzker Foundation has offered up to $500,000 in matching funds, and Gov. Rod Blagojevich has promised $1 million in state money.
“The church is the crown jewel of the Bronzeville neighborhood, why shouldn’t it be restored?” said Ward Miller, a Chicago architect. “Every effort should be made to preserve our landmarks.”
Two commercial districts were identified this year as particularly threatened: the historic Archer Avenue in Bridgeport and the Wicker Park Commercial District. The latter includes about 50 buildings on Milwaukee Avenue stretching from Division Street and Ashland Avenue to Damen Avenue, most built from the 1880s to the 1930s.
“This is the most important architecturally intact portion of Milwaukee Avenue,” Fine said. “It’s home to many trendy shops, restaurants and boutiques.”
Yet according to the organization, big-box retailers and condominiums threaten the area.
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The Julia C. Lathrop homes, on Clybourn Avenue and Diversey Parkway east of the Chicago River and the Rosenwald Apartments in the 4600 block of South Michigan Avenue also were included.
The organization goes through a list of about 50 buildings, districts and bridges and selects seven to feature in its annual list, Fine said. A combination of the imminent danger of demolition and the site’s architectural and historical importance determine which places make the list.
The preservation organization says the Metropolitan Community Church at 41st Street and South King Drive and the Veseman Building at 444 N. LaSalle St. are among the landmarks saved as a result of its public education effort.
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