On Wednesday May 24, early in the morning, a wrecking crew hired by the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) stealthily blocked off the area in front of the Civil War era Shah's Building at 721 W. Maxwell Street and demolished the building in its entirety. People interviewed on the street said that destroying Maxwell Street's oldest building was done in retaliation for the Maxwell Street Historic Preservation Coalition filing a new application to place the area on the National Register of Historic Places.

Folkorist Janelle Walker, who is the Coalition's Secretary says, "I think the word it out in preservation circles that our National Register application for the Maxwell Street Historic District is very tight, well done. UIC attorneys have gone to Springfield to try to block our application but so far have been unsuccessful. UIC is desperate."

On June 9, in Barrington, Illinois, the Coalition will formally present its case before the Illinois Historic Sites Advisory Council (IHSAC), an official state body that makes National Register recommendations to the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

Coalition member and former UIC Hillel director Elliot Zashin says, "There are two key periods of historical relevance, the turn-of-the-century period of Jewish immigration and the blues era, which began in the 1920s and continued through 1950 and beyond. The Maxwell Street neighborhood is of immense historical importance. We would have preferred the University to apply for national register status, but it is clear that UIC and its developer partners have no concern or respect for the history of Maxwell Street."

Coalition member Bill Lavicka says, "UIC is used to striking its deals behind the scenes. If they can't get their way using public legitimate means, they find another way. Is it a coincidence that wives of two of the developers are on the IHPA board of directors? But the Illinois Historic Sites Advisory Council (IHSAC) is not a bought-off group. They are professionals and we expect they will render a favorable decision. That is what UIC is afraid of so, in retribution, they destroyed the oldest building in the district."

Coalition Vice President and Roosevelt University Economics Professor Steve Balkin says, "UIC administrators propagandize that they are 'forced' to tear down the buildings, then they turn around and say they respect the history of Maxwell Street. If that were true, they would at least have salvaged some of the artifacts from the Shah's Building, like its beautiful glass front or some samples of the Civil War-era timber construction. But they didn't. Their wreckers just smashed it. If UIC did not want it, they should have notified us so we could save some things. They did the same thing last year with some of the old peddler sheds we were trying to preserve. As far as I'm concerned, they are vandalizing our American heritage."

Coalition President Chuck Cowdery comments, "UIC keeps telling the press that they will save eight buildings on the east side of Halsted, but since they won't submit those buildings to the National Register, they can renege and tear them down at any time, as is their style. We are asking that the buildings they claim they want to preserve, and others, be placed on the National Register. UIC does not like that and this is how they take revenge."

The Coalition is petitioning University of Illinois President James Stukel to place a moratorium on demolition until the Coalition's application has gone through the official National Register application process.

For more information, visit the website of the Maxwell Street Historic Preservation Coalition <www.openair.org/maxwell/preserve.html>. Also visit the webpage with information about the Shah's Building <www.openair.org/maxwell/prare.html> and examine our application for the National Register of Historic Places <cowdery.home.netcom.com/natreg/NOMP1.htm>.

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