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Blair Kamin Cityscapes
March 10, 2012 |
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Blair Kamin Cityscapes November 10, 20100
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Chicago Tribune
November 4,2010
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WBEZ
November 4,2010
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Chicago Sun-Times
November 4,2010
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Public Building Commission
Press Release
November 3, 2010
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Blair Kamin
Cityscapes, Oct. 20, 2010
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Hello Beautiful!
Oct. 15, 2010
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Blair Kamin
Cityscapes, Oct. 06, 2010
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Blair Kamin Cityscapes, Dec 7, 2009
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Blair Kamin Cityscapes, Dec 5, 2009
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Letter to Editor Chicago Sun-Times
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Joint Letter to Mayor Daley
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National Trust Letter to Mayor Daley
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Blair Kamin, Cityscapes, Oct 28, 2009
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Press Release
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Fact Sheet
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Images |
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Ten Most Endangered |
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Campus Architects |
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Email a Friend |
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Chicago
Sun-Times
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Time Tells: A Better Plan |
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Chicago
Tribune
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Lynn Becker |
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Blair Kamin, Cityscapes |
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Reese’s Pieces
Razing of Hospital Complex Continues
The saga of historic Michael
Reese Hospital took another sad turn in November 2010, when the Public
Building Commission of Chicago (PBC) approved a $2.7 million demolition of
Reese’s Old Main Building. The century-old structure was the oldest building
on the sprawling Near South Side hospital complex.
The decision to raze the vacant six-story structure came as a shock to
preservationists, who had been assured by city officials that the Prairie
School-style building would be saved and reused, following the City’s $86
million acquisition of the hospital complex in 2009. The six-story
structure, which was designed in 1905-07 by the noted architectural firm of
Schmidt, Garden & Martin, had been rated as “significant” in the Chicago
Historic Resources Survey and researched as a potential Chicago Landmark.
Yet, after just a year of ownership, the PBC voted on November 9th to raze
the building, citing its deteriorated condition, a recent city fire
department inspection, and estimated “stabilization” costs of $13 million.
The latter study, which had been announced by PBC just five days before its
vote, included $1.1 million for roof repairs, which had been cited as the
building’s principal structural problem. Other costs included such
non-essential stabilization fees as: new windows ($1.12 million), cleaning
and abatement ($1.6 million), and $5.6 million in PBC and other design
costs. After receiving and reviewing this “infeasibility study,” Landmarks
Illinois asked PBC for a 30-day delay on the demolition action, which was
ignored.
The only hospital building scheduled to remain—at present—is the Singer
Pavilion, a 1948 structure co-designed by influential architect Walter
Gropius. Seven other Gropius buildings, along with a dozen other structures
and landscapes were demolished by PBC in late-2009 and early-2010. This
action prompted the National
Trust for Historic Preservation to call it one of the “worst” preservation
stories of 2009. In December 2009, the Illinois Sites Advisory Council (IHSAC)
had voted unanimously to forward a National Register nomination for the
hospital campus to the National Park Service (NPS). However, this did not
prevent the city from undertaking demolition, since no federal funding was
involved.
Landmarks Illinois in August 2009 had released an alternative site plan for
the campus, which called for retention of at least six of the site’s most
viable historic buildings for reuse, as well as significant landscaped areas
designed by Hideo Sasaki in the 1950s and ‘60s. The plan was partially
funded by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
The reuse plan had been prompted by the city’s proposal to construct an
Olympic Village on the site for the 2016 Summer Olympics. After Rio de
Janeiro was announced as the Olympic host city on October 3rd, 2009, Landmarks
Illinois and other preservation groups continued to press for a
redevelopment plan that would preserve the site’s most significant
structures, which had been listed as one of our 2009 “Ten
Most Endangered Historic Places in Illinois.”
Landmarks Illinois president Jim
Peters stated, “With the loss of the Olympics, we believe—more than
ever—that the reuse of some of the Reese Hospital buildings is key for
the sustainable redevelopment of this area. Although our Olympic Village
reuse plan focused on just six of the 29 hospital structures scheduled
for demolition, it may now be practical to save and rehabilitate even
more of these buildings.”
The main features of Landmarks Illinois’ alternative plan for the Reese
Hospital site were:
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Saving and reusing a core of four buildings, three of which were co-designed
by Walter Gropius, who—along with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe—is
considered to be one of the most influential architects of the mid-20th
century. These buildings are grouped around a pair of open spaces by the
renowned landscape designers Hideo Sasaki and Reginald Isaacs. Because all
of these properties are eligible for the National Register of Historic
Places, their reuse would qualify for federal rehabilitation tax incentives.
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Preserving two additional iconic buildings—one, a modernist Power Plant
(also by Gropius) that is visible from Lake Shore Drive, which would become
the focus of a public plaza connecting to the lakefront; the other, the
Prairie-style Michael Reese Building and its gateway bridge across 29th
Street.
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Re-introducing the historic street grid back into the 37-acre site, which
will provide sorely-needed connections to the surrounding neighborhood and
the lakefront.
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Construction of Olympic housing
that, while conforming to IOC standards, could better accommodate its
transition from an Olympic Village into a residential, urban neighborhood
after 2016. This would include future development of more than 3,000 parking
spaces, a connection to the existing 27th Street Metra line station, retail
spaces in strategic locations, and three pedestrian connections to the
lakefront.
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The Michael Reese Hospital
complex had 29 buildings. The
main hospital building was designed by Schmidt, Garden & Martin in 1907
and is one of the city’s most significant early hospital designs,
combining what were modern design concepts with rich architectural
details. Recent research had revealed the design role and influence of
architect and Bauhaus School founder Walter Gropius on the post-World
War II expansion of the hospital campus.
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