Samuel Wolff, Ph.D., <sam@israntique.org.il> Date: Mon, 16 Dec 1996
Dear Chancellor Brodski,
It has come to my attention that the University of Illinois at Chicago intends to destroy the Maxwell Street district in order to erect a luxury hotel complex and condominiums. I would like to voice my opposition to this plan, both from a personal and a professional standpoint.
On a personal level, my roots are on the street. My grandfather, also Samuel Wolff, sold caps there all of his life, and an uncle sold fruits and vegetables (he is still in business, having moved south on Halsted). As a youth I sold both caps and fruits and vegetables there during the Christmas season. Thus, I have a familial attachment to the area, but that is not enough to warrant its protection and preservation.
Professionally, I am an archaeologist (and friendly with Jim Philips from your university), and archaeology means destruction. That is to say, whatever I excavate is gone forever, and it can never be seen or dug up again. In certain cases, when the site has historic or touristic importance, care is taken to preserve and reconstruct it. I take my job seriously, since I have a responsibility to future generations of people who will live and/or visit Israel or who otherwise have an attachment to the land of Israel.
In the same manner, you, who have the power to recommend destruction or preservation of Maxwell Street, have a responsibility to future generations of Chicagoans or visitors to Chicago. Once its gone, its gone- only the memories, articles and books will remain. But if it will be preserved as an historic district, like Printers Row, the old Water Tower, or Boston's Faneuil Hall, you will not only have decided to save a portion of Chicago's past but also open a window to the economic development of the area in the future- to attract tourists from the nearby luxury hotel and residents from the condos and beyond- by refurbishing the buildings and opening, for example, ethnic museums or even night clubs in the traditions of klezmerim and Chicago jazz/blues.
I hope you will take the lead of the Israel Electric Corporation, who sponsored an excavation I directed in an area destined to be included in a mammoth project- the erection of a new power plant. After they paid the money for the excavation, and after I had discovered a nice Iron Age settlement, I asked if there was some way the site could be preserved within the large development project. They responded positively, since the location of the site did not impinge on any of the major building activities in the region. Similarly, I sincerely hope you will find a way to recommend the preservation of a portion of Maxwell Street within the proposed Maxwell/Halsted Street urban project under discussion.
Sincerely yours,
Samuel Wolff, Ph.D.
Israel Antiquities Authority
Jerusalem, Israel
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