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| click images for larger view |
As I've written before, most people think that the job of the Commission on Chicago Landmarks is to safeguard Chicago's precious architectural legacy, and if you look at its long history and list of protected landmarks, as well as the outstanding work done, day in and day out, by the Commission's superb staff, you could be forgiven that conclusion.
In actually, however, the most fundamental role of the Commission is to make sure landmarking never gets in the way of connected developers. Once upon a time, the Commission fought a long and ugly battle with developer John Buck over the destruction of Mies van der Rohe's Arts Club building for the marzipan nightmare that is 600 North Michigan. The Commission lost. And it learned its lesson.
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| Farwell Building |
. . . or the Walter Gropius, Bauhaus inspired buildings of the Michael Reese Hospital campus, which the Commission willfully refused to even consider as Richard J. Daley executed a desperate scorched-earth demolition for a Chicago Olympics that would never be.
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| Kaplan Pavilion, Michael Reese Hospital |
Then, in an act of truly dazzling cynicism, the Commission suddenly scheduled Prentice on its December agenda and in a matter of minutes unanimously granted preliminary landmark designation to Goldberg's masterpiece, and then gave its blessing to the building being destroyed.
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| image courtesy Studio/Gang, Jay Hoffman |
They clearly give the lie to the claim that Prentice and future needs can't co-exist in a mutually beneficial way, but Northwestern can't be bothered. Why should they, when they have the Mayor of Chicago firmly in their back pocket, cheerleading their fervent but ultimately specious mantra, “Goldberg must be destroyed!”
Court challenges have resulted in a stay in demolition, with preservationists having to refile their lawsuit - and have it accepted by Circuit Court Judge Neil Cohen - by a date in early in February to keep the bulldozers at bay.
In preparation for that event, the Commission on Chicago Landmarks is set to again vote for Prentice's demolition at their next regular monthly meeting February 7th. “God is in the details”, someone once said, probably while puffing on a good cigar, and it's telling that while the Commission's agendas have always been signed by secretary and long-time commissioner John Baird, February's Prentice-killing agenda is signed by a new secretary, Ex-Officio member and Housing and Economic Development head Andrew Mooney, lest anyone be the least bit confused as to who's really running things over there.
The court has intimated that the Commission voting for landmark designation and then voting against landmark designation in immediate succession just might be a violation of what the landmarks ordinance intended when it talked about open public process, so now we have this new charade in which the Commission will vote to rescind designation again, this coming February 7th. Zero public hearings have been held, but now there's an entire month between the vote to designate and a vote to revoke designation, so we've made it all look legit, right Judge Cohen?
As usual, the draft resolution re-condemning Prentice to the dust reads as it were written by Northwestern itself. You can check it all out for yourself here.
The Save Prentice coalition's response, after the break . . .
Statement from Save Prentice Coalition Regarding the Commission on Chicago Landmarks’ Feb. 7 Agenda
Chicago – January 27, 2013 – The Save Prentice Coalition issued the following statement today in response to the Commission on Chicago Landmarks’ agenda for their February 7, 2013 meeting:
The City has acknowledged that the November 1, 2012 meeting of the Commission on Chicago Landmarks was deficient. Indeed, the presiding judge found that the amount of time and notice given for the Nov. 1 meeting was “arbitrary and not transparent.”
The Save Prentice Coalition has presented four detailed reuse plans that meet the research needs of Northwestern, create 1,560 more jobs than Northwestern's plan, and preserve a vital piece of our city's architectural heritage – Bertrand Goldberg’s Prentice. Regrettably, the University has refused even to discuss these options. Instead, the institution that owns 44% of Streeterville claims that options do not exist.
Meanwhile, the City’s revised DHED report, released Friday, merely rejects the Coalition’s economic projections with one paragraph, while parroting Northwestern University’s unsubstantiated assertions throughout the entire five-page document.
Currently, the meeting and proposed rejection of a preliminary landmark recommendation for Prentice violate the Landmarks Ordinance. The Landmarks Commissioners must hold a full hearing on Prentice, allow the Coalition to present evidence regarding the architectural value and integrity of this unique architectural milestone, and base their decision on the criteria set forth in the Ordinance. The Coalition encourages the Commission to keep this process transparent and non-preordained, to base its decision on the proper considerations, and to follow the letter and spirit of the Landmark Ordinance with respect to this important and historic building.
SAVEPRENTICE.ORG
About the Save Prentice Coalition
Save Prentice is a coalition of organizations that includes AIA Chicago, DoCoMoMo, Landmarks Illinois, The National Trust for Historic Preservation, and Preservation Chicago. Our mission is the preservation and reuse of the iconic – and now threatened – Prentice Women’s Hospital designed by noted Chicago architect Bertrand Goldberg in the early 1970s.
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