“It’s ugly, it’s been there for years, and you paid for it. The ‘it’ in question is construction scaffolding that surrounds the old Goldblatt’s Building at 1613-35 W. Chicago Ave. CBS 2’s Steven Graves talked Thursday with neighbors who are sick of it and want to know why the city is dragging its feet.
“CBS 2 reached out to two other scaffolding companies that estimate the bill to put up the canopy in front of the old Goldblatt’s building running $12,000 to $15,000. The canopy would also cost $1,000 to $3,000 a month to rent.
“And this particular scaffolding canopy has been up since 2015 – all on the taxpayer’s dime.
“Preservation experts want to see more attention paid to jewels in the city like the old Goldblatt’s building, which was constructed between 1921 and 1928 and was the first location for the regional department store chain founded by Maurice and Nathan Goldblatt.
“‘I don’t think the city of Chicago would find this acceptable if this was owned by a private owner with these kinds of issues,’ said Ward Miller of Preservation Chicago. ‘So we want to encourage the city to work on this.’
“CDOT said weather delayed work in the past. The scaffolding is slated to come down at the end of this year, unless the weather delays things more.” (CBS 2, Graves, 3/5/20)