Chicago Debates Fate of 1938 Housing Project
By Margaret Foster | Online Only | Dec. 8, 2009
The Julia C. Lathrop Homes opened in 1938. This rendering illustrates Landmarks Illinois' reuse plan for Lathrop's 30 historic buildings.
Credit: Antunovich Associates Inc.
The city of Chicago is redeveloping a 75-year-old public housing project in Chicago, and its residents want its 30 historic buildings to be preserved rather than lost to the landfill.
Three years ago, the Chicago Housing Authority announced that it planned to demolish the Julia C. Lathrop Homes, a Works Progress Administration creation, to make way for a new high-rise housing project.
Yet the Lathrop Homes "are viable and can be updated to today's living standards," says Lisa DiChiera, advocacy director of Landmarks Illinois, which last week unveiled reuse study of the complex. Landmarks Illinois placed the Lathrop Homes on its list of the state's 10 most endangered historic properties in 2007.
Saving the buildings is more "green" than tearing them down, Landmarks Illinois points out. According to its reuse study, the two-story brick buildings are structurally sound and can be gutted to create larger units. Since the 1938 complex is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, a developer can utilize historic tax credits to cover 20 to 25 percent of the project costs.
Whether the city will agree to reuse the buildings remains uncertain. Demolition work is scheduled to begin next year on the Lathrop Homes complex, and only about 200 of 924 units are still occupied. In the coming weeks, the Habitat Company, on behalf of the Chicago Housing Authority, plans to release a request for qualifications for developers. Landmarks Illinois hopes that its renderings will convince the city to choose a preservation-friendly developer.
Matt Aguilar, spokesman for the housing authority, says that a working group of residents, city officials, and the local alderman has met throughout the year to discuss the future of the Lathrop Homes. So far, he said in an e-mail, "no predetermined plan exists regarding unit distribution, income mixes or total number of units. Such a determination can only occur when the Working Group completes its task and the planning process begins in earnest with the selection of a development partner and the engagement
of the broader community."
Watch more about the effort to save the Lathrop Homes on YouTube
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Comments
Submitted by ginny at: December 11, 2009
It looks to me like the Lathrop Homes need to be saved. Nothing will be gained by tearing them down and building uglier high-rise buildings, which are not really family friendly in themsleves when you think about it. These are historic buildings built by the WPA in the 1930's and should be saved, some units made larger to accommodate families, and some changed into stores, restaurants, a public library, etc.