Palmer House facade plan stopped after outcry
In April, Preservation Chicago was invited to view a renovation plan by Thor Equities, the New York-based owner of the historic Palmer House. The city had recently voted to consider the Palmer House for official city Landmark status, yet even with that pending designation, what we saw shocked us.

The plan included ripping out the first two stories of original limestone façade along almost the entire length of State Street and replacing it with an inappropriate glass walled front, removing an original State Street canopy, and cutting down the length of the massive and ornate Monroe Street entry canopy by 60%.

Built in 1925 by the architecture firm of Holibird and Roche, the hotel was founded by Potter Palmer, and is actually the fourth incarnation of the Palmer House on this site.
With that legacy in mind, it was our view that the proposed changes were clearly in violation of the Secretary of the Interior Standards for historic rehabilitation, accepted national standards that the Commission on Chicago Landmarks is legally obligated to follow when authorizing modifications to historic structures.

Preservation Chicago made its objections known to Thor Equities, the Landmarks Commission, and the Department and Planning and Development (DPD). Unfortunately, the Landmarks Commission rubber-stamped all parts of the Thor Equities plan and sent their recommendation on to City Council for final approval.

In response, Preservation Chicago mounted a campaign that included a featured letter in the Chicago Sun-Times that characterized the proposal as a "glass and metal assault upon the character of State Street."

Fortunately, we were not alone in our objection to the Palmer House renovations. With Landmarks Illinois, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and other concerned citizens also strongly objecting to the plan, DPD was finally able to convince Thor Equities to renovate the State Street elevation in a more historically sensitive manner.