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Chicago Tribune
March 22, 2002

Farms and prison on endangered list

By David Mendell
Tribune staff reporter

Diversifying its annual list of "top 10" endangered historic structures, Illinois' leading preservation advocacy group announced Thursday it wants to save the Joliet Correctional Center, several farms in Kane County and an abandoned apartment complex on the South Side.

The list signals where the 2,000-member Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois will devote its resources. Historically, the group has concentrated heavily on preserving Chicago's plethora of architecturally significant buildings, but the 2002 list includes a variety of suburban and a few Downstate structures.

The council is now in court fighting the Soldier Field renovation plan, and Soldier Field was given an "honorary 11th designation." It's the first time the Bears' home has made the list because preservationists were unaware a year ago that the city would unveil such a drastic overhaul.

The Soldier Field battle, as well as the current struggle to save to the old Chicago Mercantile Exchange Building, show that preservationists must be fleet afoot for surprises. Thus, the list unveiled Thursday is just a scouting report, not a final game plan for the council's year.

Otherwise, only two Chicago structures made the list: the Rosenwald Garden Apartments in the 4600 block of South Michigan Avenue, and the Nathan W. Huntley House, 836 N. Paulina St.

Ernest A. Grunsfeld, the architect of the Adler Planetarium, designed the five-story, cream-colored Rosenwald apartment complex in 1929. Later, the structure was given new life by Julius Rosenwald, a Sears executive and philanthropist, to provide low-income housing.

The building, which is now uninhabited and owned by the city, is in poor condition but has much historical significance, said David Bahlman, the group's president.

"This is a place that was very, very important as a piece of affordable housing for the African-American community, and we really need the public's help if we are going to save it," Bahlman said.

The building has not been granted city landmark protection status largely because it failed to gain the backing of Ald. Dorothy Tillman (3rd), said an official familiar with the city's review of the building.

Few buildings received city landmark designations without the support of the local alderman. Tillman could not be reached for comment Thursday.

The Huntley House in the East Village neighborhood, meanwhile, already has generated much neighborhood support for its preservation. Built in 1859 and one of the few pre-Great Chicago Fire structures still standing, the Italianate-style house is one of the city's oldest single-family homes.

Its owners, Robert Ranquist Sr. and Robert Ranquist Jr., want to raze the structure and replace it with a seven-unit condominium building. But in the face of opposition from the neighborhood's East Village Association, they have said they are open to other offers.

A committee of the city's Commission on Chicago Landmarks did not recommend protected landmark status for the building, citing asbestos infestation and excessive alterations to its exterior.

Also making the council's list was the state prison in Joliet. The last of its inmates were transferred from the maximum-security facility in February, ending the building's 144-year history as one of the country's oldest active prisons.

Bahlman conceded that saving the prison will be one of the most difficult battles because it cannot easily be renovated for another use. The prison is not immediately threatened with demolition but made the list for historical significance.

"It is going to take some heavy lifting and creative thinking to come up with an adaptable-use plan for that structure, and we wanted to put out an early-warning message," Bahlman said. "It is so important to save it, not only for Illinois, but for the entire country for its history of penal philosophy."

The preservation group also is targeting three farms in Kane County that could be paved over by the state for a new outerbelt expressway. The state's proposed 33-mile, 400-foot wide Prairie Parkway would begin at I-88 near Kaneville and run south through Big Rock Township before crossing into Kendall County.

The Chicago area already has lost too much of its historic farmland, Bahlman said, and saving the Mount Green, Merritt Davis and William Davis farms is an imperative, he said.

"One of the best things Chicago has going for it outside the city is its rural heritage," Bahlman said. "You start destroying all these farms and you lose that heritage forever."