One City Block
[Block 37 (2009) Ralph Johnson, Perkins & Will, architects /Images & Artwork: designslinger]
When we moved back to Chicago last summer after many years in the Los Angeles
sunshine, we found this building standing on the city's historic State Street. The shiny new structure, on a piece of property in the heart of the Loop, had stood vacant for almost two decades. An entire city block, part of a controversial plan, became a stellar example of everything that could go wrong in the realm of urban planning and redevelopment.
[Block 37, Washington Street facade /Images & Artwork: designslinger]
Designed by Ralph Johnson of Perkins & Will, the retail/office complex is named for the
numeric designation given to this parcel in the city's 1839 survey which laid out Chicago's famous street grid, Block 37. Prior to Johnson's building, the block contained a number of structures that dated from 1872 to the late 1920s. The Mc Carthy Building, built soon after the Chicago Fire of 1871, was one of the last immediate post-fire buildings still standing in the city and a designated landmark.
[Block 37, 108 N. State Street, Chicago /Images & Artwork: designslinger]
By 1972 the block, and several surrounding it, were deemed prime for an overhaul and
became part of a large urban renewal scheme. At first the plan called for the demolition of all the buildings in the seven block North Loop area of which number 37 was a component. Eventually things were scaled down a bit, and after years of heated discussion several historic buildings were deemed worthy of saving, but not so the Mc Carthy. Although a designated historic landmark, the city condemned the building and after protracted legal battles with preservationists, the courts found that the building could be torn down. So in 1989, one of Chicago's oldest structures became fodder for landfill.
It took almost another 20 years before something was built on the site of Chicago's first
designated-demolished landmark. And in a bitter twist of irony, the block is still a mess of dispute. Johnson wasn't happy when the building was downsized to the extent that the original design was so compromised it didn't look much like his building anymore. The building has had a number of developers have been called in to get a handle on things as the owners and banks have been battling it out while the project teeters on the edge of bankruptcy and foreclosure. The local CBS television affiliate has offices and a ground floor newsroom on the site where the Mc Carthy once stood. Now because of extensive budget cuts, the channel is looking to get out of their lease, but because of tax breaks given by the city they can't close-up their big-windowed TV studio where passersby can watch the news in action.
Posted by designslinger at 9/13/2010 2:06 AM 
Categories: Urban Planning
Tags: Perkins and Will commercial architecture urban renewal State Street urban development
Categories: Urban Planning
Tags: Perkins and Will commercial architecture urban renewal State Street urban development
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