FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (5/24/99)
Contacts: Bill Lavicka 312/829-5562; Steve Balkin 312-341-3696
The Maxwell Street Historic Preservation Coalition (MSHPC), a non-profit group dedicated to preserving the memory and heritage of the great Maxwell Street Market and surrounding neighborhood, does not approve of the latest plans for redevelopment of the historical area by the University of Illinois at Chicago. The University's plan involves tearing down an entire block of historic buildings along Maxwell Street, letting the valuable land lie fallow for many years, and eventually filling the block with parking structures and other new buildings of undetermined purpose. The University also plans to demolish most of the original merchants' buildings along Halsted Street, in the shopping district between Maxwell Street and Roosevelt Road.
The new UIC plan calls for preservation of just nine original buildings, and attempts to create a historic district by merely attaching facades from demolished buildings. The original facades will be attached to new buildings and parking structures proposed for Maxwell Street. The Maxwell Street Historic Preservation Coalition stands firmly against this "facadism," and proposes a better alternative to secure the area as a viable historic district, while fulfilling university needs in the South Campus area.
THE PROPOSAL
The MSHPC, often challenged by the University and others to put its money where its mouth is when it comes to preservation, is now prepared to do just that. The Coalition proposes that the University donate or sell the area's historic buildings to the MSHPC for the same price the University paid for them. The Coalition will then do the work to save and rehabilitate them, raising funds, recruiting developers, and organizing and providing labor.
According to a Coalition spokesperson: "This offer is not made in jest, but is in fact a realistic alternative that we believe will ensure preservation while enhancing the South Campus environment and saving much money for the beleaguered university. One prominent Chicago developer, already committed to rehabbing buildings in cooperation with the Coalition, has informed us that there are easily fifty more property developers in the city who would jump at an opportunity to rehabilitate buildings on or near Maxwell Street."
Indeed, property redevelopment is occurring at record pace across the West Side. The Coalition can take charge to leverage these market forces in order to preserve and safeguard the historic district.
The MSHPC proposal does not represent a major departure from current plans for Maxwell Street. The Coalition embraces the McClier Plan, as released by the City of Chicago in March of 1999. This plan foresees the preservation of 27 buildings along Maxwell and Halsted Streets, and the relocation of eleven buildings from Halsted to infill open lots on Maxwell Street. This innovative plan opens the process up to the marketplace, bringing in the developers and the capital needed to undertake the work of preservation and create a vital retail district along a restored Maxwell Street.
Following the guidelines of the McClier Plan, the Coalition will coordinate its restoration work with the University, making it consistent with UIC needs in the South Campus area. The University shall suffer no expense in this process, and shall be rewarded with a restored historical area, dedicated to retail services and serving the new community of residents and students in the South Campus area. And, under auspices of the MSHPC, the revitalization of Maxwell Street and its transition to a restored and vital area shall happen much more quickly than under the most recent university plan.
UIC currently proposes a three-phase approach to restoration of the Maxwell Street area, with the first phase bringing demolition, and rebuilding occurring only in a much more distant Phase Three (perhaps up to 10 years later). There is currently no time-line is provided for these three phases. The MSHPC proposal, following McClier, calls for no destruction!
ADDENDUM: MSHPC vs. UIC : A Comparison of Plans
The Maxwell Street Historic Preservation Coalition believes its alternative achieves authentic preservation of the history and heritage of Maxwell Street Market. The University's current plan represents generic facadism, not authentic preservation. The University proposes a phased approach for Maxwell Street, one that will take years to implement. The UIC plan requires an expensive storage of the building facades; meanwhile the historical area is covered over with flat surface parking lots. The University's past record gives cause for concern that the plan may never get implemented at all past the demolition phase. Its destruction of the historical structures actually places the historical integrity of the area at great risk.
The MSHPC alternative calls for a much more rapid redevelopment. It preserves 27 buildings instead of imposing a mass demolition. It saves whole buildings, many in their original location, with much of their interior beauty preserved as well. The MSHPC alternative will impose no cost on taxpayers. Instead it opens the work up to professionals, bringing in private capital and leveraging the great wave of redevelopment that is currently sweeping over the West Side market.
SECOND ADDENDUM: Below is a brief review that allows cross-comparison of the two proposals.
UIC vs.. MSHPC
BUILDINGS
UIC: Only nine buildings, with facades of the demolished structures
MSHPC: Twenty-seven buildings under the McClier plan, eleven buildings moved to Maxwell Street
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COST
UIC: Estimates millions, at taxpayer expense
MSHPC: Developers and retailers will clamor to be in what is already a popular shopping district. Redevelopment will occur through the private market with no cost to the University or taxpayers
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TIMELINE
UIC: Up to ten years to implement a plan, with the historical district left empty
MSHPC: Redevelopment of existing buildings would begin right away, with rapid completion of a new shopping district on Maxwell Street.
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HISTORICAL INTEGRITY
UIC: Facadism, not real preservation - a generic plan looking like so many others across the city and suburbs - dominated by parking structures.
MSHPC: Authentic historical preservation, with application for National Register status for the buildings, and an interpretive museum of Maxwell Street history placed in the center of the area.
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LOCAL BUSINESSES ON HALSTED
UIC: Has no commitment to allow or assist local businesses to relocate in the new district. The University's destruction of their buildings will force them to relocate, removing them from a shopping district where they have been located for generations.
MSHPC: Existing businesses will stay in their buildings (although eleven buildings will be moved from Halsted to Maxwell), and no relocation to a new area will be necessary. MSHPC will engage in dialogue and encourage local businesses presently in the area to operate in the new district and to include historical displays related to the role their building, business, and family played in the history of the area.
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