Permit Review Committee

The Commission on Chicago Landmarks is responsible for recommending buildings, structures, sites and districts for legal protection as official Chicago landmarks.

They also review alterations to existing landmarks and review possible demolitions to structures of historic significance.

Today’s meeting should be streamed on Vimeo here: https://livestream.com/accounts/28669066/events/9117952
It is not live yet.

It is now 10 minutes past the scheduled start time and the stream has still not gone live.

At 1pm the stream is now live and the meeting is started. Gabriel Ignacio Dziekiewicz starts the roll call.

The first property in discussion is the Laramie State Bank Building, 5200 W. Chicago. One caller spoke in favor of the proposed work at this building.

The second property is Greenstone Church in the Pullman District. The proposal would replace existing deteriorating serpentine stone.

Ward Miller of Preservation Chicago calls in favor of the proposed rehabilitation of the Congress Theater, 2117-2139 N. Milwaukee. The theater has been closed since about 2013. Miller calls it one of the “grand movie palaces’ that has survived.

Lilia Z., the owner of project #7 at 2211 W. Walton, is seeking to add a third level to the existing two-flat building.

“We are not developers, we are here for the longhaul.” -Lilia Z. of Ukrainian Village District

The public comment portion of the meeting ends, as there are no other public speakers for any other properties.

Back to the first project, the Laramie State Bank Building… it has been closed since 2012. Austin United Alliance is the current owner of the building. They want to rehabilitate the building for commercial use as part of a larger community development.

Here’s a look at some of the things that need to be replace: https://t.co/1TYnfgm8me

The interior will be revamped for commercial use, with an added elevator. The proposed changes to the inside areas are not considered historic and will not affect the historic exterior items.

No questions for the applicant and no points of discussion are brought up by the commissioners.

The motion passes unanimously.

Moving on to a presentation on Greenstone Church in the 9th Ward.

Greenstone United Methodist Church owns this building. These images show the deterioration of the serpentine stone used on the building, which the owner is proposing to replace. https://t.co/xgkoiKCn5h

Replacement patches have been used to repair some of the stone over the years, but the owner says that cast stone is the best alternative to match the color and texture of the original stone, preserving its authenticity with a longer lasting material.

Owner also says the current state of the bell tower is a safety hazard, and are proposing repairs to not only the stone, but the perimeter sealant, the concrete stairs, glass, etc.

Wong asks a question on authenticity of the proposed texture that will be created along the border of the bell tower. Rachel Will, on the engineer team of this project, explains that the goal is to match what the building would have originally looked like as much as possible.

Item #2 is passed.

The rehabilitation of the Congress Theater would include a new rooftop deck, ground-floor retail and 17 dwelling units.

All of the property’s storefronts would need to be rehabilitated. The theater entry doors would be retained.

The signage proposal: https://t.co/cVKVIWi4sY

Here’s a look at what the inside of this revamped Congress Theater would look like. Historic photograph in the bottom-right corner for reference. https://t.co/7vS7qUUDQ0

Ernie Wong ask about the 17 dwelling units included in the proposal. John Reynolds of the owner group clarifies that it is 16 units that will remain true to the design of the original apartments. He says that they will be affordable housing units.

The Congress Theater item passes.

Item #4 is the Logan Square Boulevards District, 3055 W. Logan. The applicants are planing a full interior and exterior rehabilitation.

This diagram shows the west elevation and proposed restructure of the window bay. They will provide material samples to Historic Preservation staff for approval. https://t.co/OfjhLtO3vi

The motion passes.

Item #5 at 641 W. Arlington in the 43rd Ward is the proposed third level addition I mentioned previously in this thread.

This is what the addition would look like: https://t.co/NCyDvUwp3W

The proposal claims that the rooftop would not be visible from the front of the building (straight on), but a mock up shows that it would be visible from the street at certain angles. https://t.co/00EkT54RVG

Robert McFadden, architect on the project, says that the owners of the building are a young couple who are growing their family and want to best utilize the space in their building while also maintaining the original structure.

There’s a lot of debate over what to do with a proposed planter that would be added in order to keep it out of visibility.

This motion passes.

On to item #6 Mid-North District at 643 W. Arlington. The owner wants a visible addition to the side yard: guard rails and ramp.

The owners are looking to add accessibility to this building to attract future tenants.

This motion passes.

Now on to Item #7, 2211 W. Walton. This is the final item on the agenda.

This is what the addition to this building would look like from across the street. https://t.co/weKWXtgiHy

The addition is even more visible from the side. https://t.co/ufOywpkFCJ

Because of this, the applicant is moving the addition back by 5 feet from the mock up version. They also decreased the height.

The Historic Staff cannot recommend that this application is approved until they complete the submission with a new mock up.

The architect says that they do have a more accurate, updated rendering of the project that they will show us- but it does not change the Staff’s recommendation because it was provided so last minute (yesterday).

This is a video mock up of the modified plans. https://t.co/IfCc8ahfIe

Joyce Ramos says the mock-up is not sufficient, as the rendering should have shown the view from across the street.

The motion is to adopt the staff recommendation as established today.

With no further business, there is a motion to adjourn at 2:56 pm. End of meeting and end of my coverage today.