Chicago OKs Demolition of City Landmark for Parking
By Margaret Foster | Online Only | Mar. 14, 2007
Some said it was too good to be true.
Instead of siding with a developer in January, the Commission on Chicago Landmarks nixed Prism Development Company's plan to demolish a 1927 city landmark and reuse its facade on a new 40-story condo tower. As Chicago Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin put it, "Pigs flew."
Last week, however, the commission approved Prism's revised plan, which reduces the number of parking floors in the Farwell Building's footprint but still calls for its demolition. The commission cited the 11-story building's deteriorating limestone cladding as its reason for approval.
"It's obvious that the building has very severe problems structurally, but the steel frame of the building is in fine shape," says David Bahlman, executive director of Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois. "Our point of view is that a solid preservation project does not include demolition of the entire structure, nor would it include a tower on top of an 80-year-old city landmark."
Bahlman's group and the National Trust's Midwest Office urged the commission to reject Prism's revised plan.
"We do not feel that any substantive changes have been made to the proposal," said Royce Yeater, the Midwest Office's director, at the Mar. 8 hearing. "At least four floors of parking will remain on Michigan Boulevard, which is an inappropriate and unacceptable use for one of the most visible, desirable, and vital locations in the city."
Designed by Philip Maher, the Farwell Building has been an official city landmark since 2004.
Read more about the Farwell Building on Preservation Online >>
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