“A long-gestating plan to redevelop the vacant Von Humboldt Elementary School into apartments for teachers got a boost in funding, though more is still needed to get the project off the ground.

“The Teachers Village apartment project coming to the closed Humboldt Park elementary school, 2620 W. Hirsch St., would bring 102 affordable apartments and five market-rate townhomes to the campus.

“The project was introduced to the community in 2016 but has yet to begin construction. It has now received 61 Chicago Housing Authority vouchers to increase the apartment affordability, according to a housing agency news release.

“The project received 27 vouchers in 2020, but the housing board recently voted to expand that number to 61 total in an effort to help preserve housing for the area, which has seen rapid gentrification, CHA officials said.

“The redevelopment of Von Humboldt is a sensitive topic among former students, parents and neighbors, who were devastated when the school was shut down.

“The elementary school, which was one of 49 schools CPS and then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel closed in 2013, has a long history in Humboldt Park.

“The original school building was constructed in the 1880s and designed by John J. Flanders, the district’s official architect at the time, according to local historians. W. August Fiedler designed the school’s second building, which was built in 1895 and meant to address overcrowding. A third addition, designed by Arthur Hussander, went up in 1921.

RBH Group plans to preserve the school’s original exterior as part of its redevelopment.” (Parrella-Aureli, Block Club Chicago, 8/8/24)

Preservation Chicago applauds developers RBH Group for this creative adaptive reuse project that will provide necessary housing for Chicago school teachers in a great historic school building. This is an excellent example of how adaptive reuse can reinvigorate historic structures. It also demonstrates how the inherent authenticity of historic structures can result in more interesting, unique, desirable and ultimately successful finished projects than comparable new construction.

Over the past few years. Preservation Chicago has been involved in many hearings and discussions on the transformation of the building. In addition to retaining the entire building’s exterior envelope, we strongly advocated for retaining certain features of the interiors including staircases and the auditorium. We continue to encourage the developer to pursue a Chicago Landmark Designation of the building.

Read the full story at Block Club Chicago

• Von Humboldt School’s ‘Teachers Village’ Project With Affordable Apartments Gets Funding Boost; The project had received 27 CHA vouchers in 2020 but the board recently voted to expand that number to 61 to help preserve housing for the gentrifying area, Ariel Parrella-Aureli, Block Club Chicago, 8/8/24
• Plan To Turn Closed Von Humboldt School Into ‘Teachers Village’ With Affordable Apartments Gets $18 Million In City Funding; The Humboldt Park school, which closed in 2013, is poised to become an 107-unit apartment complex geared toward teachers, but the $50.6 million project needs much more public financing to get off the ground, Mina Bloom, Block Club Chicago, 10/5/22
• Vacant Since Mass School Closings, Von Humboldt Still On Track To Become Apartment Complex Geared Toward Teachers; The project, first proposed in 2016, would transform the shuttered school into a mixed-use development, where teachers can live, eat, shop and take classes, Mina Bloom, Block Club Chicago, 1/17/19
• Alexander von Humboldt Elementary School, 2622 West Hirsch Avenue, Historical profile by Julia S. Bachrach and Bill Latoza, Chicago Historic Schools Blog, 9/20/13