Chicago - Architecture & Cityscape

Sunday, January 10, 2010

River North: [Former] Engine Company 42 Firehouse

[Former] Engine Company 42 Firehouse..
Completed: 1887..
Architect: Unknown
Location: 228 W. Illinois Avenue, at Franklin Street..
Designated a Chicago landmark on December 12, 2007..

The firehouse was built in 1887, and was initially the home of Engine 42. Since 1968, the building is no longer in use by the Fire Department ..

In 1964, Engine 42 had to be relocated to 202 E. Chicago [Eng. 98’s quarters, which was built in 1904] for a short period of time due to a fire in a building next door. The firehouse was fixed and remained open until November 1, 1968. Engine 42 was moved to a brand new firehouse at 55 W. Illinois Street, and is still there today. It’s the largest firehouse in the city. After the move, “228 W Illinois Ave” became a garage for the Dept. of Streets and Sanitation. The building is now privately owned...

RELATED LINKS:
# River North - II..

River North: Assumption Catholic Church

Assumption Catholic Church..
Completed: 1886
Address: 323 West Illinois Street
Chicago, IL 60654..
Assumption was the first church in Chicago specifically commissioned to minister to the growing Italian population..

The Assuption Parish Church website informs.. [click here]..
Assumption Church began dedicated to the care of arriving Italian immigrants. Bishop Foley entrusted the care of the new parish to the Order of Servants of Mary (OSM), commonly called The Servites. The Order had been founded in Florence, Italy in 1233. Servites had arrived from Italy and ministered to the immigrants living in the area near Old Saint Patrick Church at Des Plaines and Adams Streets. The present structure of Assumption was completed in 1886. Many immigrant Italians lived in the neighborhood and were quickly expanding north and west from the Chicago River. Assumption was the first church in Chicago specifically commissioned to minister to the growing Italian population and as such was authorized to enroll as parish members any Italians living within the Archdiocese of Chicago, which at that time included what are today the Diocese of Rockford and the Diocese of Joliet. Therefore, it can be said that the parish boundaries extended from the shores of Lake Michigan to the east shore of the Mississippi River.

The parish grew and prospered. A school was opened on Erie and Orleans Streets in 1895 and was staffed by the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, founded and directed by Mother Cabrini, the first American to be canonized. At one time the school had as many as 800 students enrolled. However when the neighborhood changed from residential to business, commercial and industrial, many Italians moved away from the downtown area and the school closed in 1945. The building still stands. It was used as a business and commercial structure for many years and most recently was converted into condominiums. During the years when almost no one lived near Assumption, many Italian families continued to return on Sunday for Mass. The church also served the needs of downtown workers.

Assumption School Building..
Address: 319 W. Erie Street
Year Built: 1899
Architect: Frederick L. Foltz
Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: July 10, 2003..
For more on Assumption School Building, click here..

RELATED LINKS:
# River North - II..
# River North: Assumption Catholic Church..
# The Assumption School Building..

REF:
The Assumption Parish Church .. click here..
The Chicago Landmarks.. click here..

River North: Chicago Varnish Company Building

Chicago Varnish Company Building ...
Address: 33 W. Kinzie St.
Year Built: 1895
Architect: Henry Ives Cobb
Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: July 25, 2001 ...

The Chicago Varnish Co. Building was built in 1895 for a producer of varnishes for railroad cars, coaches, and interiors. The building was designed by architect Henry Ives Cobb, a nationally recognized architect. The building is distinctive for its use of the Dutch Renaissance revival style, with its stepped gables, steeply-pitched tile roof, and contrasting brick and stone masonry.

The current owner, Harry Caray's Restaurant, undertook an extensive rehabilitation, replacing the multi-gabled clay tile roof and rebuilding the stepped parapets ..

River North: Assumption School Building

Assumption School Building..
Address: 319 W. Erie Street
Year Built: 1899
Architect: Frederick L. Foltz
Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: July 10, 2003..

The Chicago Landmarks website informs.. [click here]..
Assumption School was by the Assumption Church and was an important educational institution in Chicago's earliest Italian immigrant community on the Near North Side. The school was founded by Mother Francis Xavier Cabrini (1850-1917), a nationally significant figure in the history of education, health care and social welfare and the first American to be canonized by the Roman Catholic Church. The school is the most intact building associated with her numerous charitable undertakings in the city.

Designed in the Beaux Arts style by architect Frederick Foltz ((1843-1916), the school is a distinctive example of a late-nineteenth century urban school building. The Assumption School Building is distinguished by its fine brick- and stonework, exuberant classically-inspired ornament and ornate copper cornice.

The Assumption School Building..

The Assumption Catholic Church..

RELATED LINKS:
# River North - II..
# River North: Assumption Catholic Church..
# The Assumption School Building..

Friday, November 13, 2009

Bryn Mawr Historic District

It was to see this mural "Growing 2008", that I took a trip to Bryn Mawr. I had no idea of it's "Historic District" status. However, the moment I got down from the CTA Red Line, I liked the place, especially it's small town feel. I took a lot of pictures of the mural, for which I was there and then a few pictures of some of the buildings that I liked. Coming back home I made a Google search of the place and found some interesting information..

Bryn Mawr Historic District
Wikipedia explains that Bryn Mawr is the Welsh for Big Hill.
Location: It extends along Bryn Mawr Avenue between Broadway Avenue and Sheridan Road ..
In 1995, it was declared a "Historic District" by the Chicago City Council due to the presence of several Chicago Landmark sites. [I dont know how far the use of the word "several" is justified, since I know of only two buildings designated as Chicago Landmarks] ..

View from the Bryn Mawr Avenue, from CTA Station [Red Line - Bryn Mawr]..

View from the Bryn Mawr Avenue from the CTA Station [Red Line - Bryn Mawr].. looking west ..

Belle Shore Apartment Hotel

Bryn Mawr Apartment Hotel

Both the Belle Shore Apartment Building and the Bryn Mawr Apartment Building have been
- Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995, and
- Designated as Chicago Landmarks on January 20, 1999.
For more .. click here ..

Edgewater Presbyterian Church ..

Manor House..
Location: 1021-29 W Bryn Mawr
Completed: 1908
Designed by John Edmund Oldaker Pridmore
The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.
It was also included as a part of the Bryn Mawr Historic District, which was added to the NRHP in 1995.

Redtwist Theater..

Illinois Akido Club Building..
Address: 1101-1105 W Bryn Mawr Avenue
Architect: Raymond Gregori
Completed: 1927
This three-story Byzantine Gothic building is constructed of red brick with white terra-cotta details.It has mansard red tile roof. The Akido Club replaced the earlier Guild Hall building, Edgewater's First Community Center, designed by architect Joseph L. Sillsbee in 1886. The Hall housed Cochran's real estate office, the first business to locate on Bryn Mawr.

Bryn Mawr Cafe..
Location: 5547 N Kenmore Avenue ..

Buildings I missed taking images of ..
# The Bryn Mawr Theater
# The Stoyas Building
# Edgewater Beach Apartments ..

Bryn Mawr Historic District [Belle Shore and Bryn Mawr Apartment Hotels]

Both the Belle Shore Apartment Building, and the Bryn Mawr Apartment Building have been..
- Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995 .. and ..
- Designated as Chicago Landmarks on January 20, 1999.

Belle Shore Apartment Hotels ..
Belle Shore Apartment Hotel
Architect: Nathaniel Koenigsberg & Leon Weisfeld ..
Year Built: 1928-1929
Address: 1062 W. Bryn Mawr Ave.
In the Bryn Mawr Historic District..

The architects of the eight-story Belle Shore Apartment building were influenced by the Egyptian Art-Deco movement. King Tut’s tomb had been discovered only a few years before in 1922. It was built by Austrian-born businessman Max Malter, who named the building after his wife, Belle. It is constructed of reinfored concrete with tan brick and decorated in green-and-cream terra cotta and has many relief figures. The lobby has a mural with scenes from the Old Testament. It originally housed 138 one-room apartments and eight stores.

Bryn Mawr Apartment Hotel..
Address: 5550 N. Kenmore Ave.
Year Built: 1927-1928
Architect: Alexander L. Levy & William J. Klein..

The 12-story Bryn Mawr Apartments is designed in the Gothic Revival style. An early advertisement read, “Modern in the finest sense of the word. All units have fully equipped kitchens. Low transient rates begin at $4.00 daily. One block to lake and bathing beach. Thirty minutes from Loop via subway or limited bus.”

The Official Chicago Landmark website describes ..
Situated across the street from each another, this pair of finely detailed buildings epitomize the rapid growth and expansion of Chicago in the 1920s and the commercial development of Bryn Mawr Avenue and the surrounding Edgewater community. The buildings' extensive use of terra cotta exemplifies Chicago's love affair with this versatile building material after the Great Fire of 1871, especially its decorative applications. The 12-story Bryn Mawr is dressed in white terra cotta designed in a late Gothic Revival style, while the 8-story Belle Shore is clad in rich green and cream terra cotta and features Egyptian-like Art Deco designs..

RELATED LINKS..
# Bryn Mawr Historic District
# Belle Shore & Bryn Mawr Apartment Buildings..
# Edgewater Presbyterian Church ..

REFERENCES:
# Belle Shore & Bryn Mawr Hotels..
# Chicago Landmarks - Bryn Mawr-Belle Shore Apartment Hotels..

Bryn Mawr Historic District [Edgewater Presbyterian Church]

Edgewater Presbyterian Church..
Location: 1020 W. Bryn Mawr Avenue..
At theintersection of Bryn Mawr Ave. and Kenmore Ave..
In the Bryn Mawr Historic District..
Completed: 1927
Designed by Perkins, Fellow and Hamilton.
Built in the Italian Romanesque style it has fire-proof reinforced concrete and Bedford stone. The facade of The New Community House features carvings by American sculptor Emil Zettler..