A group dedicated to preserving historic structures in Chicago has identified what it calls the city’s most endangered buildings.
Preservation Chicago released the list this week, with buildings in the Loop, Bronzeville, Lincoln Park, Avalon Park and Little Village all making the cut as the group fights to protect the buildings.
The Century and Consumers buildings in the Loop are on the website’s list for the fifth time. The terra cotta-fronted skyscrapers represent “the last of the tall buildings of the Chicago School of Architecture,” according to Preservation Chicago.
The group says that funds have been set aside by Congress to demolish the buildings, and that advocacy efforts to save them are “at a critical stage.”
The group also pointed to the Swift House, which was badly damaged in a Dec. 2023 fire in the Bronzeville neighborhood.
An arson investigation was launched after the fire, but members of Preservation Chicago fear that owners could demolish the property because of the damage suffered from the blaze.
The Northside Stranger’s Home Missionary Baptist Church, located near the area where Cabrini-Green public housing used to stand, is another building the group is seeking to revitalize. The church had been home to several murals by William Walker, but over the years those murals have been whitewashed and the building remains abandoned, according to South Side Weekly.
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Efforts have been undertaken to purchase the building and to explore the possibility of restoring the whitewashed murals.
The Chicago Vocational School, located in the Avalon Park neighborhood at 2100 East 87th Street, has seen dwindling enrolment in recent years, and though it was added to the National Register of Historic Places, concerns remain about funding maintenance for the aging building.
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Preservation Chicago recommended seeking out landmark status from the city, but on a broader scale seeking out public funding to rehabilitate the building and to keep up on maintenance.
Also included on this year’s list are the Ogden Keeler Industrial Buildings, located along Ogden Avenue near the border of Little Village and Lawndale. A warehouse project threatens both of the buildings with demolition, according to organizers.
A group of townhomes known as the Sheffield-Belden Group in the Lincoln Park area could also be demolished in favor of a large athletic complex for DePaul University, and therefore made the list.
The Schulze Baking Company plant at 40 East Garfield Boulevard in Washington Park also made the list thanks to its terra cotta exterior and its long service as the home of Hostess’ Butternut Bread production.
The building had been purchased with the intention of converting it into a data center, but earlier this year it hit the market again, according to Preservation Chicago.
