Four blocks of the Lincoln Park neighborhood, between Arlington and Deming Places, have been designated a historic landmark district.
The City Council, on Sept. 27, approved the historic district designation, which protects buildings that contribute to the neighborhood’s character.
More than 100 buildings in the district — the 500 and 600 blocks of Deming and Arlington ; the 2400 block of Geneva Terrace; and the 2400 and 2500 blocks of Orchard Street — were built well before World War II with many erected in the late 19th and early 20th Century.
The buildings’ styles reflect the area’s evolution from a working-class neighborhood of wood-frame single-family houses to a community with elaborately detailed brick buildings that went up in the 1890s. Two- and three-flat buildings date to the early 20th Century.
The residences include architectural styles that range from Italianate, Romanesque and Italian Romanesque to Queen Anne, Arts and Crafts, Tudor revival and Art Deco revival, said Preservation Chicago executive director Jonathan Fine.
“It is a large variety of styles and a long period of significance,” Fine said.
Preservation Chicago worked closely with area residents and Ald. Vi Daley (43rd) to win landmark designation.
“There were many community meetings held over the last [three] years, and the designation had support from Arlington-Deming Neighbors, who formed to create the landmark district with support from the Park West Community Association,” Fine said, adding that a few owners were opposed.
The few buildings that don’t contribute to the neighborhood’s historic character, will not be protected.
