I was pleased to hear that the original Goldblatt’s store on West Chicago Avenue was to be saved. I heard that it was to be rehabbed and rented to the city for offices. I also heard that the agencies now housed in the Kraft building were to move to this Goldblatt’s building.
Now, the other shoe drops. As I feared, the Kraft building has been slated for demolition. TV reports tell us that Dan McLean will tear down the building as part of his new mega-development that will try to save North Pier and fill in much of the remaining vacant land in that area.
Why do we have to trade the Kraft building for Goldblatt’s? The Kraft has at least equal esthetic value, and although it is perhaps not as historic, it still has a good presence on Lake Shore Drive. Why must we always chase around to save old buildings? Saving one old building at the expense of another is counterproductive. There should be incentives for developers and architects to save even pleasant older buildings as a matter of course rather than tearing down the old as the default position.
