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Chicago Icons

One of the Michigan Avenue buildings slated for a rooftop addition is the 1893 Chicago Athletic Association, designed by Henry Ives Cobb. Current plans propose demolishing a significant portion of the vacant building's structure and several elaborate interior spaces to accommodate a multistory stepped glass hotel tower.

Although the proposed construction has been designed to not be visible from across the street, and has been justified on that basis, the mass of the tower would greatly disrupt the historic skyline as viewed from Grant Park, Millennium Park, and the lakefront.

Illinois preservation advocates fear that this project, if approved, will set a precedent for similar proposals within the landmark district.

Continued Effects of Katrina

After Hurricane Katrina devastated the U.S. Gulf Coast in 2005, the National Trust named historic neighborhoods of New Orleans and historic communities and landmarks of the Mississippi Coast to its "11 Most Endangered" list for 2006.

Now three years after Katrina, some damaged buildings have been rebuilt or restored, but others have been lost and many continue to languish.

One success is Beauvoir in Biloxi, Mississippi, the last residence of Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy. The storm-damaged house was restored, and reopened in June 2008.

Charity Hospital in New Orleans has not fared as well. A significant local example of Art Deco architecture, and the second-largest hospital in the United States when it closed, the hospital suffered water damage from Katrina-caused flooding. The Louisiana State University (LSU) Medical System deemed the building unsafe, and it has remained vacant since September 2005.

The H-shaped building was designed by the firm of Weiss, Dreyfous & Seiferth in the late 1930s. The hospital entity that was housed within, known for serving the poor, was founded in 1735.

As the Charity Hospital building stands empty and at risk of deteriorating beyond repair, LSU is moving forward with plans for a new medical complex in the adjacent Mid-City neighborhood, alongside a new facility for the Veterans Administration.

The plans call for demolition of some 200 homes and buildings constructed prior to 1880 in 25 blocks of the Mid-City Historic District, despite the existence of a largely vacant site nearby. The neighborhood houses hundreds of people and includes several historically significant buildings, including the 1920 Deutsches Haus and 1879 McDonogh No. 11 School.

Civil Rights Landmark

In Topeka, Kansas, one of the physical reminders of a major Civil Rights milestone stands vacant, deteriorating, and at risk of demolition.

Sumner Elementary School (1936) was the then-all-white school to which African-American student Linda Brown was denied admittance in 1951.

The class action suit filed on behalf of her and 19 other Topeka students was eventually heard by the U.S. Supreme Court as part of Brown v. Board of Education. The landmark 1954 ruling in that case struck down the "separate but equal" doctrine and mandated that all public schools be desegregated.

Sumner Elementary was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987, and the City of Topeka purchased the school in 2002, with funding from the State Historic Preservation Office.

But despite a covenant that prevents demolition (through 2012) and requires the city to maintain and protect the building with the ultimate goal of reuse, the city has failed to effectively maintain the school, largely due to limited resources. In June 2007 the Topeka City Council authorized staff to take the initial steps toward demolition.

A campaign has been launched to find a developer who could purchase the school and rehabilitate it for a new use without compromising its historic character.

Immigrant History

With echoes of its 2007 listing of Brooklyn's industrial waterfront, the National Trust has named New York City's Lower East Side neighborhood to its list of endangered historic sites.

Home to waves of immigrants since the 18th century, this storied Manhattan neighborhood is now undergoing rapid development. New hotels and condominium buildings tower over the tenement streetscape. Haphazard renovations have led to the destruction of architectural detail, and modern additions to historic buildings contrast sharply with the neighborhood's scale and character.

In 2007, permits were approved for the full demolition of 11 buildings on the Lower East Side, compared with just one in 2006. Among the buildings that has been lost is the First Roumanian Synagogue.

Although the Lower East Side was placed on the National and State Registers of Historic Places in 2000, such designations do not preserve a neighborhood's appearance or regulate real estate speculation.   >>>

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SUBSCRIPTION SAMPLE The buildings along the west side of Chicago's Michigan Avenue look down on the extensive parks that separate downtown Chicago from Lake Michigan. Photo: Courtesy Landmarks Illinois Extra Large Image Development pressures threaten the historic streetwall. Photo: Courtesy Landmarks Illinois Extra Large Image Current threats to the Art Deco-style Charity Hospital and adjacent Mid-City neighborhood in New Orleans, Louisiana, can be traced back to Hurricane Katrina. Photo: Chris Kirsch Extra Large Image Charity Hospital has been vacant since it was damaged by Katrina floodwaters and then famously evacuated. Photo: Todd Callender Extra Large Image Charity Hopsital was designed by Weiss, Dreyfous & Seiferth. Photo: Maitri Venkat-Ramani Extra Large Image Plans for a new hospital to replace Charity threaten the nearby Mid-City Historic District. Photo: Walter Gallas Extra Large Image Sumner Elementary School in Topeka, Kansas, was one of the schools at the center of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education. Photo: Amy Cole Extra Large Image Despite the cultural significance of Sumner Elementary (1936), the City of Topeka began in 2007 to take steps toward demolition of the school. Photo: Amy Cole Extra Large Image   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.