On Thursday, the Commission on Chicago Landmarks gave final landmark recommendation to a rare surviving Queen Anne Victorian building at the corner of Lake and Loomis. The commissioners also voted to deny a permit to developers seeking to tear down the historic West Loop structure.
The four-story building was originally built as a Schlitz-branded tied house in anticipation of crowds flocking to Chicago for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. It was most recently home to La Luce Italian restaurant, which permanently closed in 2016.
In December, property owner Veritas LLC moved to demolish the building but the city revoked its permit due to a clerical oversight. The event triggered a 90-day demolition hold, which allowed preservationists time to build the case for saving the former tied house. An online petition from Preservation Chicago managed to collect more than 8,300 signatures.
The landmarks commissioners awarded the West Loop building preliminary landmark status back in April. The officials found the property meets the criteria for individual landmarking and could be considered for inclusion in the city's existing Schlitz Tied House District, which protects nearly a dozen historic taverns across the city.
The matter will now go before the Committee on Zoning and the Chicago City Council for final approval. Preservationists hope the process will be expedited and the building will recieve full landmark protection before the City Council's summer recess.
Chicago Department of Planning and Development
"This is a much-beloved landmark on the Near West Side, and pretty soon it will be surrounded by high-rises," Ward Miller of Preservation Chicago told Urbanize. "It's a moment of relief that serves as a link to the neighborhood's past."
Steven DeGraff, an attorney representing the property owners, spoke in opposition to landmarking at Thursday's meeting and said that "millions of dollars" were spent under the assumption that the property could be torn down and redeveloped.
"The landmark process did not even start until after the demolition permit [was issued]," DeGraff said. "If we knew about this in advance, we never would have purchased this property for part of a development."
The Commission on Chicago Landmarks also granted preliminary landmark status to a pair of South Side properties: the 1909 former Immaculate Conception Church (now Monastery of the Holy Cross) in Bridgeport and the former North Kenwood home of legendary Blues musician Muddy Waters, which will eventually become the "Mojo Museum."
