These are Chicago’s 7 Most Endangered Buildings in 2025

Preservation Chicago has released their annual list of Chicago’s most endangered buildings. Since 2003, the Chicago 7 Most Endangered has sounded the alarm on imminently threatened historic buildings and community assets in Chicago to mobilize the stakeholder support necessary to save them from demolition. “Despite seemingly impossible odds, the public interest generated by the Chicago 7, coupled with devoted advocacy, has resulted in a remarkable number of preservation victories over the past 20 years,” said Ward Miller, Executive Director of Preservation Chicago.  

Here is Preservation Chicago’s 2025 Chicago 7 Most Endangered list:

1. The Delaware Building

Located at 36 W. Randolph St, the Delaware Building, built in 1872-1874 by Wheelock & Thomas, is one of the few remaining buildings from the Loop’s period of early reconstruction and a significant example of Italianate style architecture as well as one of the oldest commercial buildings within the Loop.

Despite its recognized significance and optimal location, plans to reuse the building have long been stalled in part by long-term lease holder, the McDonald's Corporation, which operated a McDonald’s restaurant on the lower two-floors of the Delaware Building. The McDonald’s location closed amid the pandemic with no apparent plans to reopen, but the parent company reportedly has declined to sever its lease in past negotiations, with approximately 50 years remaining of a 99-year lease. Several preliminary proposals, including a planned residential conversion of the upper floors of the building and replacement tenant for the ground floor commercial space, would require updated zoning compliance and additional means of egress, and much is effectively stymied while the long-term lease remains in place. 

Amid a deeply challenging context for downtown commercial spaces, it is vital that the lower floor space be released and made available for renewed investment and adaptive reuse. The upper floors could likewise accommodate a small hotel, multi-family residential, or continued office space. Reactivating a highly visible and active corner of the Loop likewise promises to help the slow but steady economic recovery out of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a recognition of evolving needs in Chicago’s Central Business District. 

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2. Clarence Darrow Memorial Bridge/Columbia Bridge

The Clarence Darrow Memorial Bridge, originally known as the Columbia Drive Bridge, has provided passage over Jackson Park’s lagoon for nearly 150 years. Designed by the famed Chicago architectural firm Burnham and Root and constructed in 1880, the South Park Commissioners described the bridge as the “most important work” within the park. The bridge is one of the few surviving architectural elements of the original Jackson Park, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, and is a rare remaining feature of the World’s Columbian Exposition, yet also predating the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. 

One of the many people who enjoyed the bridge was Clarence Darrow, famed Hyde Park resident, attorney, and activist, whom the bridge was dedicated and renamed by Mayor Richard J. Daley in 1957.

Unfortunately, the Darrow Bridge has been closed to pedestrians since 2013, when the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) erected a permanent fence to block access. The banks of the bridge are overgrown with saplings and weeds, the pavement is cracked, and the Burnham and Root-designed railing is increasingly oxidized. The historic structure is in severe need of repair, despite the continuous and admirable efforts by local advocates, who have been calling for restoration for over twenty years. 

Preservation Chicago calls for the city of Chicago and CDOT to sensitively address all necessary repairs and historic rehabilitation of the Darrow/Columbia Bridge, restoring access to this significant piece of Chicago’s history and its legacy of turn-of-the century city parks.  

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3. Joseph Jacob (J.J.) Walser House

The Joseph Jacob (J.J.) Walser Jr. House located at 42 N. Central Avenue in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago, is a significant structure to both the West Side Chicago neighborhood and city at large. Today, the J.J. Walser Jr. House has accrued additional significance as one of only five extant Prairie School structures designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, perhaps the world’s most recognized architect, and within the city of Chicago.

The J.J. Walser House has long needed more preservation support. Around the middle of the twentieth century, the original Wright-designed art glass windows were removed and sold, a rear addition was built, and the front porches were enclosed. Anne and Hurley Teague purchased the house in 1970, stabilized it, and continued to steward this invaluable historic asset for nearly fifty years.

After the passing of Anne Teague in 2019, the future of the house further became uncertain amid the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. The house has been unoccupied and unmaintained for the past six years, and the harsh climate of our region has taken an especially significant toll on the fragile historic materials throughout its exterior and interior.

The property is also undergoing foreclosure and the impacts of a reverse mortgage, which is complicating and slowing efforts to find a new owner and steward for the house. No repair efforts can be undertaken without the property owner’s consent, and with the ownership of the property in legal limbo, the house continues to deteriorate and suffer from deferred maintenance.

While the house is protected from intentional demolition as a City of Chicago Landmark, the severity of the existing conditions and continued rapid deterioration pose a serious threat to the future of this significant Frank Lloyd Wright designed home in Austin Community.

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4. Olivet Baptist Church

Olivet Baptist Church is the oldest extant African American Baptist church building, and the second oldest African American church congregation, in the city of Chicago. Located in the Bronzeville/Douglas neighborhood and near the Lake Meadows housing development, Olivet has a legacy of prominent Black leadership stretching back to the 19th century. 

In 1918, Olivet Baptist Church purchased the Gothic Revival church at 3101 S. King Drive. It was originally built for First Baptist Church of Chicago in 1876 by the early Chicago architecture firm Wilcox and Miller. Following the death in 1990 of Joseph H. Jackson, who served as pastor for nearly fifty years, the church struggled to maintain its stature in Chicago’s African American community. In recent decades, the number of parishioners has declined significantly, and portions of the church are effectively closed due to deferred maintenance. 

The Church’s masonry is stained and overgrown with vegetation and the roof and many of the windows throughout appear in fair to poor condition. Additionally, there are previous inappropriate repairs such as the corner church steeple and spire replacement, whose design, while well intentioned, are incompatible with the church’s historic character.

Formally pursuing City of Chicago Landmark status is a natural first step for Olivet Baptist Church. Weatherproofing the exterior envelope of the church and addressing a series of open code violations likewise remain top priorities. With significant public subsidy and/or private assistance, the church would hopefully be positioned to fully reopen its grand sanctuary. 

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5. Central Manufacturing District Clock Tower

The Central Manufacturing District Clock Tower Building located at 2000 W. Pershing Road, is a prominent structure which is positioned in the center of the CMD Pershing Road Development. The tall, slender, 11-story red-brick masonry and terracotta clad structure, the tallest in the CMD development, is symmetrical in form on each of its elevations, with large windows puncturing the masonry of the tower, and crowned at its upper most floors with four elaborate clocks on each of its facades. 

The structure was designed by architect Samuel Scott Joy, also responsible for many of the other massive buildings of the CMD. The building functioned as a water tower while also concealing a large water tank which provided a centralized fire suppression system for the entire CMD complex. 

Like many of the buildings throughout the CMD Pershing Road Development, the Clock Tower Building remains underutilized and vacant, and has laid in this state for decades. The building is in a significant state of deterioration and only the minimum necessary stabilization and safety measures are being undertaken. Without proper mothballing and stabilization measures put in place until a new preservation-sensitive owner comes along, the building will likely continue to deteriorate, ultimately increasing the threat of demolition by neglect.

As a contributing resource to a National Register-Listed historic district, the CMD Clock Tower Building is a certified historic structure. A qualified rehabilitation or adaptive reuse project could utilize both State and Federal Historic Tax Credits for project financing. 

As an Orange-rated property in the CHRS, the Clock Tower Building is also protected by the 90-Day Demolition Delay Ordinance adopted in 2003. However, Preservation Chicago recommends and continues to advocate for the designation of this significant building as either an individual City of Chicago Landmark or as part of a larger Landmark District. Formal landmarking would best safeguard the clock tower and adjacent district buildings from future demolition threats or insensitive alterations.

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6. Western Boulevard Industrial Buildings

Eight historic industrial buildings line the eastern edge of S. Western Boulevard between 43rd and 45th Street within Chicago’s Back of the Yards neighborhood. Together, these early 20th century factories and warehouses exemplify several architectural styles of the period, were designed by notable industrial architects, and form an intact industrial corridor. South Western Boulevard forms the western boundary of Chicago’s Back of the Yards neighborhood, a historically industrial and working class area associated with the former Union Stock Yards. The industrial properties face the boulevard to the west with the former Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific Railroad running parallel to the east. 

This industrial corridor is one of only a handful of such intact clusters along the Chicago Park Boulevard System Historic District, which was listed in the National Register in 2018. All eight of the industrial buildings included in this group listing are contributing resources to the historic district. 

Preservation Chicago is taking a proactive preservation advocacy position. While all of the industrial buildings along South Western Boulevard are contributing resources to the National Register-listed Chicago Park Boulevard System Historic District, many buildings require repair or rehabilitation to address deferred maintenance and deteriorated conditions. In addition to their condition, some of the industrial buildings along South Western Boulevard are partially unoccupied or currently available for lease or sale.  

Preservation Chicago encourages existing owners of occupied industrial buildings along South Western Boulevard to continue to promote occupation and use of these warehouse and factory buildings for income-producing, industrial purposes. Preservation Chicago recommends the designation of this significant and intact cluster of industrial buildings as a City of Chicago Landmark District which would provide important protections against any future threats including alterations that destroy their distinct character.

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7. St. Martin’s Church

The prominent ecclesiastical building that stands on the corner of Princeton Avenue and 59th St. in Englewood, originally constructed as St. Martin de Tours Church, is an outstanding example of the city’s architectural heritage. St. Martin de Tours was built in 1895 for Chicago’s growing German Roman Catholic community in the Englewood Community of Chicago’s South Side. The plans for the building were drawn up by Louis Becker of Mainz, Germany, and completed by accomplished Chicago architect Henry J. Schlacks.

St. Martin’s has been shuttered since 2017. In addition to years of deferred maintenance, the church building has suffered considerable deterioration due to vacancy and neglect. Some of its windows have been damaged, its façade graffitied, and sections of the roof are damaged. Preservation Chicago is worried that the interior is or will become exposed to the elements, leading to the further decay of the structure. Without intervention, this grand structure will continue to steadily decline.

St. Martin was previously listed as a Chicago 7 Most Endangered in 2022, but unfortunately conditions have remained largely unchanged. Preservation Chicago again recommends the restoration of this magnificent and storied church, along with its adjoining former rectory structure, and the creative reuse of the buildings would aid in a spiritual and social renewal of this corner of Englewood. Formal landmark designation in tandem with public subsidies would ease the path to eventual rehabilitation and ensure that this visual and spiritual landmark of Englewood remains standing and is returned to productive use.