A large fire occurred early Friday morning, December 31, 1999 at the historic Nabisco Building, 720-724 W. Maxwell Street. This large four story building, built in 1899, was the first expansion factory of the D.F. Bremner Bakery, which became the American Biscuit Company, and later on the Nabisco Corporation. Mr. Bremner's original bakery on O'Brien Street in the Maxwell Street area received a big boost in sales by being untouched by the Chicago Fire, as was the rest of the Maxwell Street area. D.F. Bremner was a Captain and hero in the civil war in the 19th Illinois Regiment. He used part of his wealth from the bakery cartel to be the first person to initiate Catholic missionary activities to African-Americans in Mississippi. His great grandson Edward Bremner Jr. still operates the Bremner Biscuit Company but it is now headquartered in Denver.

95 year old, nearly blind, Edward G. Bremner, a Winnetka resident and D.F. Bremner's grandson, said he saw pictures of the Maxwell Street building but does know much about it since it was sold before he was born. Bremner said, "My Grandfather produced Eureka Bread just after the Chicago Fire. It had DFB stamped on each loaf. My grandfather said it stood for Damn Fine Bread."

Steve Balkin, Roosevelt University Economics Professor and Vice President of the Maxwell Street Historic Preservation Coalition said, "This is a terrible loss. This was Maxwell Street's last remaining manufacturing building. It was the largest of the remaining 60 historic buildings and was to be the anchor building in a Maxwell Street Historic District that could have housed a multitude of retail shops, loft apartments, and even an indoor public market. I thank the Fire Department for sending many trucks to the scene to make sure the fire did not spread. I have not yet read the Fire Department reports of what happened but the fundamental cause of the fire was intentional negligence by the University of Illinois. They buy buildings with tenants in them, kick them out, and leave the buildings abandoned, in disrepair, and unsecured, susceptible to fire. They cause blight and are rewarded for it by getting a TIF. We have again nominated this area for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Sites. Maybe this is UIC's dramatic way of again showing non-cooperation. I am afraid that the closer we get to actually including this area on the National Register, the more fires we are likely to see."

Janelle Walker, Indiana University folklorist and Secretary for the Coalition, said, "This is an ominous way to start the 21^st Century, to start destroying what got us here. The winds saved Maxwell Street from the Chicago Fire but UIC neglect and slumlording are destroying it now. What UIC is doing to Maxwell Street will be a stain on its reputation out into the milleniums."

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