Muddy Waters House, Monumental Baptist Church, Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church (Minnekirken), Fulton-Randolph
Hi! I’ll be live-tweeting the meeting of the Chicago Commission of Landmarks for @CHIdocumenters that’s starting right now. Good to be back Documenting.
12:46 PM Mar 3, 2022 CST
Commissioner Ernest Wong says that in-person meetings may resume soon. Here’s our agenda for this afternoon: https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/city/depts/zlup/Historic_Preservation/Agendas/CCL_PRC_March2022_Final_Agenda.pdf
First up is a Preliminary Landmark Recommendation for the Monumental Baptist Church Building located at 729 East Oakwood Boulevard.
A speaker from @landmarksill says that their organization fully supports this recommendation. They’re hoping the property owners will apply for grants to rehabilitate the building.
Max Chavez from @Pres_Chicago speaks of the “Romanesque revival detailing,” the central lantern tower that is an “architectural rarity.” He says that, in his opinion, its appearance makes it “one of the most striking churches in the city.”
Chavez says that the South and West Sides have been overlooked too long by the preservation community, and he’s glad that we’re starting to pay attention to them.
The pastor of Monumental Church is here. He says the congregation is about to celebrate 103 years of its existence. “We are excited about being a part of the revitalization of the community.” He has been working on getting funding for the building restoration.
Next up we have an application for the Citywide Adopt-A-Fund for the Muddy Waters House at 4339 South Lake Park Avenue.
Lisa DiChiera from @landmarksill is talking about a grant that the organization gave to the Muddy Waters House for ongoing repairs.
Some background on the house where blues legend Muddy Waters lived as a child: https://blockclubchicago.org/2021/10/14/blues-legend-muddy-waters-former-home-is-now-a-chicago-landmark/
Mary Lu Seidel from @Pres_Chicago speaks in favor of the grant application. She says that it’s a vital piece “of the world’s culture.” Other blues musicians used to play with Muddy Waters there.
Our next agenda item: Preservation Chicago gives an update on their success with preserving the Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church of Chicago at 2608 North Kedzie Avenue. They say over the past 17 years, the church has become a revered public center and landmark.
The minutes from last month’s meeting are approved. The staff will now give their presentation about the Monumental Baptist Church.
The Monumental Church traces its origins back to a group of students at the University of Chicago in the late 1800s. https://t.co/k2ds3J01zv
Originally a white church, after white flight, Black Christian leaders in the community bought the church and renamed it from Memorial Church.
Reverend Dr. Morris Harrison Tynes played a large role in the Civil Rights Movement and set the tone for the church going forward.
The central lantern tower style is an homage to the Trinity Church in Boston.
Here’s a street view of @MBapt2 in the Mandrake Park neighborhood. It was constructed by Patton, Fisher & Miller from 1899 to 1901. https://t.co/lw6I0NOLMy
Commissioner Tiara Hughes thanks the presenters for their time. She said she has walked around the church and found it beautiful, and she looks forward to seeing the interior of the building soon. Pastor Cleophus Lee invites her to come see it soon.
The landmark application for Monumental Church has been approved unanimously! Now we move to the staff presentation on the Muddy Waters House
The Muddy Waters House (pictured here) is in the Kenwood neighborhood. Muddy Waters is considered the “Father of the Blues.” The restoration project will touch up the brick on the west facade, replace windows as needed, and put in a new entry door. https://t.co/XJhhMkcW7r
The resolution before the commission estimates the cost of restoration to be around the $250,000 grant. Materials will always be preserved and repaired, rather than replaced, whenever possible.
@ChicagoDPD has put together a very cool StoryMap for the Muddy Waters House that walks you through the history and is filled with interesting information and pictures.
(Not bad for government work!)
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/a5eed2d2ef3b485c857da8c6940d5691
Maurice Cox says that he hopes landmark status doesn’t “freeze the house in time” but that it opens the door to future revitalization.
Correction: he didn’t live there as a child but as an adult! mea culpa
Apparently the grant doesn’t include money to restore the flamingo doors, so the commission is hoping someone will do that work pro bono. Commissioner Wong suggests that perhaps @MickJagger or @EricClapton might want to pick up the bill?
The developers working on the restoration are talking about this site being a museum in the future with public space surrounding it: a Muddy Waters-centric “campus.”
Everyone votes yes (Commissioner Hughes: “with flying colors”) on the Muddy Waters grant application!
Now we have the staff presentation giving an update on the completed restoration project of the Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church of Chicago in the Logan Square community area.
The church is an exemplar of “neighborhood ecclesiastic in gothic revival style.” Here’s a picture of the main facade under restoration. https://t.co/U0OIgVVpYy
The project came in a little over budget due to the cost of masonry work: $737k instead of $725k. Work began in early summer 2021 and was mostly finished by November.
Moving along: Permit Review Committee Reports. Staff reviewed 113 permit applications. Average time to issue approval or corrections was 4 days.
Last item: Review of suggestions received from the public for landmark designations on Tuesday, March 29 at 4 PM. Deadline to submit is March 18 at 4 PM. See http://chicago.gov/ccl for the link to the livestream. The Commission on Chicago Landmarks has adjourned.
We’re back for part 2: the Permit Review Committee. Gabriel Ignacio Dziekiewicz begins the meeting. First up is public comment on the agenda items.
The first comment is on the building at 1516 N. Lake Shore, which is part of the Seven Houses on Lake Shore Drive preservation district. Currently, the building houses the International College of Surgeons office. The permit is to redevelop it as a single-family home.
No other public comment. The committee approves last meeting’s minutes.
More details on the first item, the 1516 North LSD property. Here’s the street view. https://t.co/8GUYoo8lls
The item passes unanimously with the staff recommendations. Next up is the properties at 2042-44 N. Halsted. Here’s a current street view. https://t.co/RUSlCyLiNd
The permit is for “new dormers on 2044 N. Halsted and new three-story rear additions at both properties.”
This is a picture of the proposal. The metal gate would be added between the two properties. https://t.co/YfuoIGURog
Just a side note: I’m always impressed by how much consideration goes into how the proposed changes would change the dialogue between the different buildings around it, how it will look from different points on the street, how to make modifications less visible, etc. https://t.co/B6ne3fosNn
This permit is approved unanimously.
Our penultimate item is proposed design modifications for the commercial building at 917 W. Fulton Market.
The proposed changes include “a new 1-story rooftop addition, roof deck and pergolas on the existing building at 900 W. Lake.” Here’s a modeled view of the new addition. https://t.co/qaWSgbsV1v
Commissioner Hughes asks about the change in depth on the brick facade from two feet to 18 inches. She’s worried about too many flat-looking buildings in the area. The architect says that this change was to improve the views for office tenants. https://t.co/UPirOAfbFu
This permit passes unanimously, too. Last up: a property at 2154 W. Potomac. https://t.co/k1sTk19DAQ
The proposal is for the “addition of new visible rooftop dormers” (see plan pictured here). Commission passes it unanimously as well.
At 3:13 PM, we adjourn. Thanks for tuning in, all! https://t.co/6AluY7VnL6
