PDF Download: Preservation Chicago’s 2006 Chicago 7 Most Endangered Booklet

In June, 2005, a Planned Development was approved by the Chicago Plan Commission that would demolish and redevelop the stretch of commercial buildings on both sides of Halsted Street from 59th Street to 61st Street. The plan was created by the Englewood Commercial Development Corporation or ECDC, an entity of area merchants and landowners. Of the buildings listed above, the southeast corner building and the southwest corner building were to be demolished as part of the plan. The northeast corner building would remain but would be placed at great risk for eventual demolition as well.

Through a campaign called “The Vanishing Urban Corner,” begun in 2001, Preservation Chicago has opposed the demolition of vintage Chicago corner buildings. In 2002, the Recommendations for the New Zoning Ordinance of the City of Chicago, published by the City of Chicago, stressed the importance of the preservation of vintage corner buildings that anchor Chicago’s neighborhood commercial districts. This philosophy was ignored by City of Chicago in the plan for 59th and Halsted Streets.

Update: In the spring of 2010, both the southeast and southwest corners of the intersection of 59th and Halsted Streets were demolished.  They both remain vacant lots.