One of the few remaining buildings by Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan, and probably their last surviving wood-frame structure, may soon disappear. The 1888 house, designed for insurance tycoon George M. Harvey, is at 600 W. Stratford Place in Lakeview, less than a block from Lincoln Park and Lake Michigan. According to advocacy group Preservation Chicago, owner Natalie Frank recently told Alderman Helen Shiller she was about to apply for a demolition permit. Will the house be saved by being designated an official Chicago landmark, or demolished for still another stack of condo's? See all the photos and read all about what is shaping up to be a classic battle between clout and culture here.
Monday, July 17, 2006
What Do You Give Louis Sullivan for his 150th Birthday - How About One Less Surviving Building?
One of the few remaining buildings by Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan, and probably their last surviving wood-frame structure, may soon disappear. The 1888 house, designed for insurance tycoon George M. Harvey, is at 600 W. Stratford Place in Lakeview, less than a block from Lincoln Park and Lake Michigan. According to advocacy group Preservation Chicago, owner Natalie Frank recently told Alderman Helen Shiller she was about to apply for a demolition permit. Will the house be saved by being designated an official Chicago landmark, or demolished for still another stack of condo's? See all the photos and read all about what is shaping up to be a classic battle between clout and culture here.
"Classic battle between clout and culture" is a specific viewpoint position that doesnt help the cause of preservation at all. It is a rant, not an argument and it represents a viewpoint that doesnt recognize the real issue. It implies a rabid attidude reminiscent of the colledge socialist manifestos of the radical 60's, a turn-off to the very people who can help make preservation work.
ReplyDeleteThe real issue is whether the economic costs of preservation are paid by the entire society, or by the individual owner of a property deemed to be of cultural value.
Attacking the owners as anti-culture is simply divisive and an irrelevant point. It is not a conflict between good people and evil people. What we have is a failure of the preservation movement to convince the general population to pay the costs of preserving cultural properties.
Resorting to villifying and punishing individual property owners is counterproductive and doomed to long term failure.
You are not a journalist.
ReplyDeleteYou are giving the reader a bad name. Check your facts next time Lynn.
ReplyDelete