FASCINATING SUBJECT.
>> IT IS A PLEASURE.
>> 15 HISTORIC BUILDING IN THE
NORTH NEIGHBORHOOD ARE HEADED
FOR LANDMARK STATUS AFTER THE
COMMISSION CALLED FOR PROTECTING
THEM AT A MEETING THIS
AFTERNOON.
AS "CHICAGO TONIGHT'S" NICK
BLUMBERG REPORTS THE BUILDINGS
REPRESENT A KEY MOMENT IN THE
CITY'S HISTORY.
AND THEIR LANDMARK STATUS WOULD
MEAN RESTRICTIONS.
>> THE DAY JOHN MOVED INTO HIS
BUILDING ON RUSH STREET 30 YEARS
AGO HE SAYS A GUY WALKED IN AND
ASKED IF HE WAS THE NEW OWNER.
>> I SAID YEP AND HE SAID WOULD
YOU LIKE PICTURES OF IT.
>> HE USED TO BE A NEWSPAPER
PHOTOGRAPHER WHO HAD SHOTS OF
HIS HOUSE AND THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
>> AND THAT IS REALLY A COOL
CARVED DOORWAY AND NOW IT'S
MARBLE.
>> HE HELD ON TO THE PHOTOS FOR
DECADES AND LOVES THE HISTORY
BEHIND HIS BUILDING.
IT'S ONE OF 15 ON THE NEAR NORTH
SIDE BUILT IN THE LATE 1800'S
THAT ADVOCATES WANT TO PRESERVE.
MANY ARE BUSINESSES, THEY WERE
ORIGINALLY ALL HOMES FOR WELL TO
DO CHICAGOANS.
BEAUTIFULLY DESIGNED AND CRAFTED
TWO, THREE, FOUR-STOREY
STRUCTURES.
>> YOU SEE TALL BUILDINGS GOING
UP AND THE WONDERFUL LITTLE ROW
HOUSES THAT HAVE THESE CHARMING
BUSINESSES IN THEM, THE HUMAN
SCALE OF THESE STRUCTURES THIS
GIVES A SENSE OF PLACE, A SENSE
OF HISTORY.
>> AND THEY REPRESENT A FRESH
START.
BUILT IN THE YEARS AFTER OF
DEVASTATING FIRE HALF THE
BUILDINGS ARE BRICK AND
LIMESTONE, CARVINGS.
AND THE OTHERS ARE A MIX.
QUEEN ANN WITH FORM VARIED
COLORS.
SECOND EMPIRE WITH A FRENCH
INFLUENCE.
SOME HAVE A MEDIEVAL FLAIR FROM
ROMANNESQUE DETAILS AND SOME OF
THE ARCHITECTS WERE RESPONSIBLE
FOR REMARKABLE BUILDINGS LIKE
THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY AND THE
CHICAGO ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION.
LISA DICHIERA FROM LANDMARKS
ILLINOIS SAYS THE 15 ARE
SURVIVORS.
>> THE AMOUNT OF DEVELOPMENT
THAT HAS HAPPENED IN THE
NEIGHBORHOOD PARTICULARLY OVER
THE LAST 30 YEARS HAS REALLY
WIPED OUT A LOT OF THE REMNANTS
OF THE LATE 19TH CENTURY
DEVELOPMENT.
>> DESPITE THEIR HISTORIC VALUE
SOME PROPERTY OWNERS ARE WORRIED
THAT PRESERVATION EFFORTS WILL
TIE THEIR HANDS AND MAKE IT
DIFFICULT IF THEY WANT TO SELL.
IF THE LANDMARK DESIGNATION GOES
THROUGH, OWNERS CANNOT TEAR DOWN
THE BUILDINGS OR MAKE ANY
CHANGES TO THE HISTORIC FACADES.
JOHN CONNELLAN DOESN'T THINK
TEAR DOWNS ARE IN THE OFFING.
HE HAS SPOKEN OUT AT PUBLIC
HEARINGS.
ONE VOICED FEARS FOR HIS FUTURE
IF HE CANNOT FIND A BUYER.
>> HE SAID THIS IS MY
RETIREMENT.
BUT IF I CANNOT GET THE MONEY
OUT OF THE BUILDING, I DON'T
HAVE A RETIREMENT.
TO ME, THEY ARE NOT SELLING THIS
CONCEPT.
>> PRESERVATION ADVOCATES SAY
THEY UNDERSTAND OWNERS' CONCERNS
BUT THEY HAVE WATCHED THE FABRIC
OF THE CITY CHANGE.
>> WHEN I WAS GROWING UP IN THIS
NEIGHBORHOOD A LITTLE TOO TO THE
NORTH THERE ARE ROW HOUSES
CONVERTED INTO RESTAURANTS AND
BUSINESSES AND A LOT OF THOSE
HAVE GONE AND REPLACED BY TALL
BUILDINGS.
>> AN APPLICATION TO DEMOLISH
TWO OF THE BUILDINGS PROMPTED
THE CITY TO MOVE TO PRESERVE THE
STRUCTURES.
>> WITHOUT THE BUILDINGS WE
WOULD HAVE NO UNDERSTANDING OF
WHAT THE CITY LOOKED LIKE IN
THAT EARLY DEVELOPMENT PERIOD.
IF THEY ARE GONE THEY ARE GONE
FOREVER.
>> OWNERS CAN MAKE CHANGES TO
THE INTERIORS OF THE BUILDINGS
EVEN WITH THE LANDMARK
DESIGNATION.
WHILE IT'S NOT A DONE DEAL YET,
JOHN CONNELLAN SAYS...
>> YOU CAN'T BEAT CITY HALL.
SORRY ABOUT THAT, MAYOR.
>> FOR "CHICAGO TONIGHT" I'M
NICK BLUMBERG.
>> THIS AFTERNOON'S HEARING
STAFF NOTED THAT OWNERS ARE
ALLOWED TO BUILD ADDITIONS AT
THE REAR OF THE BUILDINGS IF
THEY ARE SETBACK FROM THE
STREET.