Regarding the concerns expressed by local preservation groups in the past few weeks over the City of Chicago’s commitment to historic preservation, let’s set the record straight. Mayor Richard Daley, the Department of Planning and Development, and the Commission on Chicago Landmarks have been, and will continue to be, aggressive in the preservation of Chicago’s historic buildings and in finding new ways to keep them economically viable.
Since Daley took office in 1989, the City Council has approved 113 of Chicago’s 202 total landmark designations. When the Chicago Landmarks Ordinance was under fire and the future of 30 proposed landmarks (including such buildings as the London Guarantee Building and the Carbon and Carbide Building–both now being rehabilitated) was threatened, we successfully fought to strengthen the ordinance and save these buildings.
Since the Landmarks Commission was merged into the Planning Department in the early 1990s, historic preservation has been successfully used as a tool for economic development in the downtown Loop.
It has also spurred neighborhood revitalization in such neighborhoods as Bronzeville, North Kenwood and Edgewater.
For these and other initiatives, the mayor has been recognized as a national leader in historic preservation. The city has taken bold moves in saving the Medinah Temple and Tree Studios buildings from certain destruction, and in designating the Near South Side’s Motor Row area as a landmark district.
So far this year, we have proposed the landmarking of both the Ukrainian Village neighborhood and the Armitage and Halsted neighborhood commercial district to protect them from development pressure. We are preparing for even more designations this year.
But we must strike a balance between preserving our most significant architectural landmarks while not blocking the path to building the landmarks of our future.
That has always been part of the innovative spirit of Chicago architecture, and remains a guiding principle of Daley and this administration.
