“It’s been nearly half a century since a little-known Georgia peanut farmer hoisted a nine-year-old girl and her kid sister into the air at a South Shore church and gave them each a kiss on the cheek before introducing himself to Chicago.
“‘Hello everyone, my name is Jimmy Carter’ Kimberly Ray can still hear the Democratic presidential candidate saying at that April 1976 campaign event.
“And with Thursday’s funeral of the 39th U.S. president, Ray is one of many Chicagoans now reflecting on how they crossed paths with Carter as a presidential candidate or later when he helped to construct homes with Habitat for Humanity in West Garfield Park.
“Less than a decade after losing the White House, Carter returned to Chicago, this time to bring attention to a Habitat for Humanity project. The home-building organization was founded a decade earlier, and the former president’s involvement raised its profile, said Jennifer Parks, executive director of Habitat Chicago.
“‘We got a huge push in awareness when President Carter joined us,’ Parks said. ‘He helped put us on the map as an organization.’
“During the trip, he stayed at the Guyon Hotel in West Garfield Park. The 289-room, 169-unit luxury residential hotel was built in 1928 and was once home to several radio stations, a no-jazz dance floor and Al Capone associate Jack McGurn before falling on hard times.
“On the weekend of July 11, 1986, Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, ‘stayed overnight in a roach-infested room, furnished with only a couch and a milk crate,’ Crain’s reported at the time.” (Miller, Chicago Sun-Times, 1/9/25)
“The hotel was designed in 1927 by Jens J. Jensen and commissioned by J. Louis Guyon, a local businessman and dance instructor of French origin, for $1.6 million, according to Chicago Magazine. That’s about $27.5 million adjusted for inflation. The hotel hosted various radio programs over the years, including the WGRB gospel radio station and WFMT classical music station.
“It was once part of a thriving commercial, business and entertainment district on the West Side, which included Paradise Theater nearby. Disinvestment in the community and changes in ownership caused further degradation with the property.
“Though the building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it is not a Chicago Landmark and therefore has no legal protections against demolition
“The Guyon Hotel has been listed on Preservation Chicago’s 7 Most Endangered List three times.
“Ward Miller, Preservation Chicago’s executive director, thinks the building should be refurbished into affordable housing units and preserved rather than demolished entirely.
“‘We need the city to step up to the plate and be a good leader,’ Miller said. ‘It’s so wrenching for a city that needs housing that this is deteriorating. We really need to get this building repaired.’
“Miller said the building’s state is a symptom of systemic disinvestment in the neighborhood, and he hopes to preserve it.
“‘This administration knows we want to renovate this building and [Chicago Housing Authority] should step in and do the right thing,’ Miller said. ‘It could cost tens of millions to demolish it, so it would be better and more cost-effective to simply make it into housing again.’ (Arline, Block Club Chicago, 3/22/23)
Read the full story at Chicago Sun-Times and Block Club Chicago
- Jimmy Carter built political ties and later homes in Chicago — and lasting memories; Jimmy Carter, whose official state funeral will be held Thursday in Washington, D.C., was introduced to Chicago at a South Shore church during the 1976 presidential campaign. He later returned to work on a Habitat for Humanity project in West Garfield Park, where his impact is still being felt today, Violet Miller, Chicago Sun-Times, 1/9/25
- Falling Bricks From Crumbling Guyon Hotel Damage West Side Homes, Displace Neighbors; The hotel was designed in 1927 by Jens Jensen and has been on Preservation Chicago’s 7 Most Endangered List three times, Trey Arline, Block Club Chicago, 3/22/23
- Reimagining the Guyon Hotel: Jazz museum, cannabis farms, micro-apartments, and more; Architects have creative ideas for the historic Garfield Park building, Jay Koziarz, Curbed Chicago, June 14, 2019
- The Guyon Hotel; The Quest for Landmark Status, Harry Huggins and Marisa Endicott, 2016
- Guyon Hotel, a Preservation Chicago 2018 Chicago 7 Most Endangered