Walter Papciak never could stand to throw anything away. Not even old shoes or out-of-style clothing.
”I guess it`s the Polish and Bohemian in me,” he said. ”I just don`t like to see anything go to waste. When I can`t use something, I always try to give it to someone who can.”
Now Papciak has something he can`t use. It`s a brick two-flat at 2131 W. Chicago Ave. Two weeks ago he bought the lot the building is on to turn it into a parking lot for his store, Columbia Furniture at 2125 W. Chicago Ave. He needs the lot. But he has no use for the building.
”But it bothers me to just tear the place down,” Papciak said. ”It`s that nice old architecture, and it`s well built. Solid, like they made them in the old days. It has 16-inch walls, 10-foot ceilings and a brand new roof. It`s kind of a shame to see a building like this go to waste. I`d like to give it to someone. They can have the building free. They just have to move it to another lot.”
Papciak said he thinks it is feasible to move the two-flat, which last had a bar on the first floor and an apartment on the second. He said the building is 50 feet long and 22 feet wide.
”It has nice possibilities,” Papciak said. ”I`ve seen people take these old two-flats that might have had a store or a bar on the first floor and turn them into beautiful residences. You`d get yourself a lot of living space that way. Or you could have two fine apartments.”
Papciak and his son, Wally, run the furniture store Papciak`s father began in 1920. It has been at the Chicago Avenue location for 58 years.
”I figure I have been a very fortunate man,” Papciak said. ”I`ve had some good breaks. I`d like to give someone else a good break who could use one.
”Take the building, buy a lot somewhere around here for $4,000. I figure to move it nearby would cost maybe $6,000. Then with a lot of hard work fixing up the place, you got yourself a $100,000 building for $10,000.
”I know, I know, it sounds so good you think there`s a trick to it. But there`s no trick. It just bothers me to tear down a perfectly good building, and I wouldn`t do it except I need the parking space. So let me give it away. Free. You know, `Have building, will travel.` ”
