Each year since 2003, Preservation Chicago has highlighted historical places or objects — including churches, schools, warehouse districts and even wooden double-hung windows — that could be lost to demolition if action is not taken to restore them.
These are the more than 100 locations considered endangered by the group. Some have been highlighted multiple times during the past two decades.
Missing from this year’s list after three years at the top are the Century and Consumers buildings, a pair of century-old Loop skyscrapers that were threatened with demolition by the federal government, which acquired them in 2007 as a buffer and potential office expansion for the adjacent federal courthouse.
The vacant buildings in the 200 block of South State Street, among the last vestiges of the Chicago School of Architecture, were earmarked for demolition in 2022 after a proposal for a $141 million mixed-use redevelopment was shot down over security concerns raised by neighboring federal judges.
But after years of efforts by preservationists, the General Services Administration, which manages the government-owned buildings, determined they should be saved from the wrecking ball and repurposed, with development teams submitting proposals for adaptive reuse in January.
Sources: Preservation Chicago; Tribune reporting and archives
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