We knew there had to be fall-out from the implosion of the economy, but now we're starting to get quantification on just how bad it is. Just in time for Christmas eve, Crain's Chicago Business published a report on cuts among Chicago's architectural firms, with Solomon Cordwell Buenz downsizing by about 25%, DeStefano+Partners by 10% (in conjunction with 10% salary cuts for the survivors), OKW Architects by 30%, and SOM/Chicago shedding 100. The Architectural Record has a similarly dismal report, with a notable exception. Perkins+Will spokesman Howard Weiss says there have been no pink slips among the firm's 1,750 person workforce.
Better news from Hyde Park, where a grant for an undisclosed sum from the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, with the Hyde Park Kenwood Community Conference as fiscal agent, is bankrolling the establishment of the Southside Preservation Action Fund, which expects to soon be providing small financial grants to cover expenses and/or professional services for projects such as historic research, photographic documentation, public lectures and tours, recorded interviews and oral histories, mediation, and the like.
I hope the HPKCC puts up a decent page about the program soon. The link they have up is already broken, which does not bode well.
ReplyDeleteEh, SPAF is just getting started and the web presence is far from a first priority. Actually, if you wanted to volunteer your time or excellent photos to SPAF online, southside preservation might gain some momentum.
ReplyDeleteThe Conference (I'm on the board) is a pretty good fiscal agent for the programs we take on and the SPAF chiefs are fervent preservationists with a track record of securing grants. I'm pretty excited about this.
love to look at old pictures
ReplyDelete