Office of the City Clerk - Record #: O2013-775

Record #:

O2013-775

Type:

Ordinance

Status:

Passed

Intro date:

2/13/2013

Current Controlling Legislative Body:

Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards

Final action:

3/13/2013

Title:

Historical landmark designation for Ukrainian Village District Extension (former) St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings at 913-925 N Hoyne Ave

Sponsors:

Misc. Transmittal

Topic:

HISTORICAL LANDMARKS - Designation

Attachments:

1. O2013-775.pdf

Date	Journal Page Number	Action By	Action	Result	Action Details	Meeting Details	Captions
3/13/2013	49298	City Council	Passed	Pass	Action details	Meeting details	Not available
2/26/2013		Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards	Recommended to Pass	Pass	Action details	Meeting details	Not available
2/13/2013	46135	City Council	Referred		Action details	Meeting details	Not available

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Department of Housing and Economic Development

CITY OF CHICAGO

January 28, 2013

The Honorable Susana Mendoza City Clerk City of Chicago Room 107, City Hall 121 North LaSalle Street Chicago, Illinois 60602

RE: Recommendation for Landmark Designation of the Ukrainian Village District Extension, comprised of the former St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings at 913 - 925 N. Hoyne Ave.

Dear Clerk Mendoza:

We are filing with your office for introduction at the February 13, 2013, City Council meeting as a transmittal to the Mayor and City Council of Chicago the recommendation of the Commission on Chicago Landmarks that the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings be included in the Ukrainian Village Chicago Landmark District.

The material being submitted to you for this proposal includes the:

1. Recommendation of the Commission on Chicago Landmarks; and

Proposed Ordinance.

r-o

Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.

35»

Sincerely,

Eleanor Esser Gorski, AIA Assistant Commissioner Historic Preservation Division Bureau of Planning and Zoning

ends.

cc:

Alderman Robert Fioretti, 2" Ward (without enclosure)

121 NORTH LASALLE STREET, ROOM 1000, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60602

O R D I N AN C E

Extension of the Ukrainian Village Landmark District to Include the (Former) St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings

913-925 N. Hoyne Ave.

WHEREAS, pursuant to the procedures set forth in the Municipal Code of Chicago (the "Municipal Code"), Sections 2-120-630 through -690, the Commission on Chicago Landmarks (the "Commission") has determined that the Ukrainian Village District Extension, comprised of the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings (the "District Extension"), located at 913-925 N. Hoyne Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, as more precisely described in Exhibit A attached hereto and incorporated herein, satisfies three (3) criteria for landmark designation as set forth in Sections 2-120-620 (1), (4) and (6) of the Municipal Code; and

WHEREAS, built between 1905 and 1906 by a congregation of German immigrants, the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings, which make up the District Extension, exemplify the broader history of the Ukrainian Village Chicago Landmark District (designated in 2002, and extended in 2004 and 2006) as a neighborhood built up by German ethnic immigrants for whom religion was a prominent part of daily life; and

WHEREAS, the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings share a common cultural history and architectural character with the 2200-block of West Walton Street, located one block west of the church and part of the Ukrainian Village Chicago Landmark District, which was developed exclusively by members of the St. John's congregation in 1907, just after the congregation moved into the neighborhood and construction of the church and school buildings was completed; and

WHEREAS, the congregation that built the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings had a long history in Chicago, tracing its origins to 1867 and remaining in existence for 107 years. For nearly seven decades of that history, the church was housed in the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings, and these buildings exemplify the important role that religious congregations have played in the cultural and social history of Chicago's neighborhoods; and

WHEREAS, the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings together possess an overall quality of design with similar massing, shared brick and stone materials and unified Gothic Revival-style details, forming a visually-cohesive parish complex; and

WHEREAS, the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings exemplify the Gothic Revival architectural style with their pointed-arch windows, buttresses, towers, polychrome materials and stained glass windows with ornamental tracery; and

WHEREAS, with their corbelled details, use of two colors of brick, and carved limestone details, the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings demonstrate a high degree of craftsmanship in traditional masonry construction; and

WHEREAS, the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings were designed by Worthmann & Steinbach, a proficient Chicago architectural firm best known as designers of Lutheran and Roman Catholic church buildings in the 1910s and 1920s; and

WHEREAS, Worthmann & Steinbach designed at least thirty residential buildings in the Ukrainian Village Chicago Landmark District, and there is a distinct architectural relationship between the architectural character of such district and the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings; and

WHEREAS, the Ukrainian Village Chicago Landmark District is one of Chicago's most intact historic residential neighborhoods composed of worker's cottages, two- and three-flat buildings, larger apartment buildings and a few high-style single family residences built by ethnic immigrants. Interspersed within and around the district are churches, including the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church, a building type closely associated with the development of Chicago neighborhoods; and

WHEREAS, the number of church buildings in and around the Ukrainian Village Chicago Landmark District especially conveys the importance of religion in the daily life of Chicago's immigrant neighborhoods, and their variety highlights the religious plurality that attracted immigrants to America; and

WHEREAS, consistent with Section 2-120-630 of the Municipal Code, the District Extension has a "significant historic, community, architectural, or aesthetic interest or value, the integrity of which is preserved in light of its location, design, setting, materials, workmanship and ability to express such historic, community, architectural, or aesthetic interest or value"; and

WHEREAS, on January 10, 2013, the Commission adopted a resolution recommending to the City Council of the City of Chicago (the "City Council") that the District Extension be designated a Chicago Landmark; now, therefore,

Be It Ordained by the City Council of the City of Chicago:

SECTION 1. The above recitals are hereby adopted as the findings of the City Council.

SECTION 2. The District Extension is hereby designated a Chicago Landmark in accordance with Section 2-120-700 of the Municipal Code.

SECTION 3. For purposes of Section 2-120-740 of the Municipal Code governing permit review, the significant historical and architectural features of the District Extension are identified as:

all exterior elevations, including rooflines, of the buildings visible from public rights of way.

SECTION 4. The Commission is hereby directed to create a suitable plaque appropriately identifying the District Extension as a Chicago Landmark.

SECTION 5. If any provision of this ordinance shall be held to be invalid or unenforceable for any reason, the invalidity or unenforceability of such provision shall not affect any of the other provisions of this ordinance.

SECTION 6. All ordinances, resolutions, motions or orders in conflict with this ordinance are hereby repealed to the extent of such conflict.

SECTION 7. This ordinance shall take effect upon its passage and approval.

Exhibit A

Extension of the Ukrainian Village Landmark District to Include the (Former) St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings

913-925 N. Hoyne Avenue Property Description

Legal Description:

LOTS 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, AND 37 IN SUBDIVISION OF THE SOUTH ¹/₂ OF BLOCK 9 IN SUFFERN'S SUBDIVISION OF THE SOUTH WEST 'A OF SECTION 6, TOWNSHIP 39 NORTH, RANGE 14 EAST OF THE THIRD PRINCIPAL MERIDIAN, IN COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

P.I.N. Number

17-06-323-001-0000

Commonly known as:

913-925 N. Hoyne Avenue Chicago, Illinois

CITY OF CHICAGO COMMISSION ON CHICAGO LANDMARKS

January 10, 2013

RECOMMENDATION TO THE CITY COUNCIL OF CHICAGO THAT CHICAGO LANDMARK DESIGNATION BE ADOPTED FOR THE

(FORMER) ST. JOHN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH AND SCHOOL

BUILDINGS

AS AN EXTENSION TO THE UKRAINIAN VILLAGE LANDMARK DISTRICT

913-925 N. Hoyne Ave.

Docket No. 2012-11

To the Mayor and Members of the City Council of the City of Chicago:

Pursuant to Section 2-120-690 of the Municipal Code of the City of Chicago (the "Municipal Code"), the Commission on Chicago Landmarks (the "Commission") has determined that the Ukrainian Village District Extension, comprised of the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings (the "District Extension") is worthy of Chicago Landmark designation. On the basis of careful consideration of the history and architecture of the District Extension, the Commission has found that it satisfies the following three (3) criteria set forth in Section 2-120-620 of the Municipal Code:

/. Its value as an example of the architectural, cultural, economic, historic, social, or other aspect of the heritage of the City of Chicago, State of Illinois, or the United States.

4. Its exemplification of an architectural type or style distinguished by innovation, rarity, uniqueness, or overall quality of design, detail, materials, or craftsmanship.

6. Its representation of an architectural, cultural, economic, historic, social or other theme expressed through distinctive areas, districts, places, buildings, structures, works of art, or other objects that may or may not be contiguous.

I. BACKGROUND

The formal landmark designation process for the District Extension began on June 7, 2012, when the Commission received a "preliminary summary of information" at the Commission's regular meeting of June 7^th from the Department of Housing and Economic Development ("HED") summarizing the historical and architectural background of the District Extension. At said meeting, the Commission voted to approve a "preliminary landmark recommendation" for the District Extension, based on its finding that it appeared to meet three of the seven criteria for designation set forth in Section 2-120-620 of the Municipal Code, as well as the integrity criterion set forth in Section 2-120-630(ii) of the Municipal Code.

The Commission's Landmark Designation Report for the District Extension, initially adopted by the Commission on June 7, 2012, and revised as of this date, which contains specific information about the District Extension's architectural and historical significance, is incorporated herein and attached hereto as Exhibit A (the "Designation Report").

At its regular meeting of August 2, 2012, the Commission received a report from Andrew J. Mooney, Commissioner of the HED, stating that the proposed landmark designation of the District Extension supports the City's overall planning goals and is consistent with the City's governing policies and plans. This report is incorporated herein and attached hereto as Exhibit B (the "First HED Report").

On August 29, 2012, the Commission officially requested consent to the proposed landmark designation from the Illinois Association of Seventh-day Adventists (the "Owner"), the corporation that holds the title of the (former) St. John Evangelical Church and School Buildings that comprise the District Extension. As of the end of the request-for-consent period on October 12, 2012, the Owner had not provided written consent to the proposed landmark designation of the District Extension as a Chicago Landmark, and this lack of written consent continues to date. Without written consent from the owner of the property, Section 2-120-650 of the Chicago Landmarks Ordinance requires the Commission to hold a public hearing on the Preliminary Recommendation with respect to the District Extension as a Chicago landmark.

II. PUBLIC HEARING

A public hearing was convened, as scheduled and noticed, on Tuesday, December 11, 2012, at 2:00 p.m. at the offices of the Historic Preservation Division, 33 N. LaSalle St., Room 1600. Commission member Anita Blanchard, M.D. served as hearing officer, assisted by Arthur Dolinsky, Senior Counsel of the Real Estate Division of the City's Law Department, as legal counsel to the Commission, and Eleanor Gorski, Assistant Commissioner of the Historic Preservation Division of the Department of Housing and Economic Development. The hearing was conducted in accordance with the Commission's Rules and Regulations, specifically Article II regarding the conduct of public hearings for landmark designation.

Matt Crawford, City Planner for the Historic Preservation Division of the City of Chicago, Department of Housing and Economic Development, gave a presentation on the proposed landmark designation.

Mr. Paul Saint-Villiers, Corporation Secretary of the Illinois Association of Seventh-day Adventists, representing the Owner, requested and was granted party status by the hearing officer and made a presentation in opposition to the designation.

Two statements were made by members of the general public, in favor of the proposed designation:

Lisa DiChiera, representing Landmarks Illinois.

Jonathan Fine, representing Preservation Chicago.

A letter of support for the proposed designation from Honorable Scott Waguespack, Alderman of the 32^nd Ward was also noted for the record.

The transcript from the public hearing is attached hereto as Exhibit C (the "Transcript").

III. SECOND HED REPORT

Prior to the Commission's vote on this final recommendation on January 10, 2013, the Commission received a second report from Andrew J. Mooney, Commissioner of the HED, outlining the structural conditions of the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church that were brought to light by Mr. Paul Saint-Villiers at the public hearing. This report is incorporated herein and attached hereto as Exhibit D (the "Second HED Report").

IV. FINDINGS OF THE COMMISSION ON CHICAGO LANDMARKS

WHEREAS, built between 1905 and 1906 by a congregation of German immigrants, the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings, which make up the District Extension, exemplify the broader history of the Ukrainian Village Chicago Landmark District as a neighborhood built up by German ethnic immigrants for whom religion was a prominent part of daily life; and

WHEREAS, Worthmann & Steinbach designed at least thirty residential buildings in the Ukrainian Village Chicago Landmark District, and there is a distinct architectural relationship between the architectural character of the District and the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings; and

WHEREAS, the Ukrainian Village Chicago Landmark District (designated in 2002, and extended in 2004 and 2006) is one of Chicago's most intact historic residential neighborhoods composed of worker's cottages, two- and three-fiat buildings, larger apartment buildings and a few high-style single family residences built by ethnic immigrants. Interspersed within and around the district are churches, including the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church, a building type closely associated with the development of Chicago neighborhoods; and

WHEREAS, members of the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church developed the 2200-block of W. Walton Street, now part of the Ukrainian Village Chicago Landmark District, and the District and St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School buildings share a common history and architectural character; and

WHEREAS, the Building satisfies three (3) criteria for landmark designation set forth in Sections 2-120-620 (1), (4) and (6) of the Municipal Code; and

WHEREAS, consistent with Section 2-120-630 of the Municipal Code, the Building has a significant historic, community, architectural, or aesthetic interest or value, the integrity of which is preserved in light of its location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, and ability to express such historic, community, architectural, or aesthetic interest or value; now, therefore,

THE COMMISSION ON CHICAGO LANDMARKS HEREBY:

Incorporates the preamble and Sections I, II, III and IV into its finding; and
Adopts the Designation Report, as revised, and dated as of this 10^th day of January 2013;

and

1. Finds, based on the Designation Report, the HED Reports and the entire record before the Commission, that the District Extension meets the three (3) criteria for landmark designation set forth in Sections 2-120-620 (1), (4), and (5) of the Municipal Code; and
2. Finds that the District Extension satisfies the "integrity" requirement set forth in Section 2-120-630 of the Municipal Code; and
Finds that the significant historical and architectural features of the Building are identified

as follows:

All exterior elevations, including rooflines, of the buildings visible from public rights of

way.

This recommendation was adopted u.v-*^-<Lrv-<:

Landmark Commission Hoyne Ave. Evangelical Lutheran Church Hearing Handout to Commissioners

The Illinois Association of Seventh-day Adventists just heard about today's Landmark Commission hearing yesterday when a newspaper reporter called the Adventist Church headquarters. No notice of the hearing was received in the mail.

On October 4,2012, the Illinois Assn. of SDA completed and submitted to the Dept. of Zoning and Land Use Planning, Landmarks Division, a form of Non-Consent of Landmark Designation, in cooperation with a Buyer, to maintain exemption from Landmark Status.

We respectfully request a continuance, to give time to present to the Landmark Commission staff all the particulars of the status of the projectreasons it should NOT be given Landmark Designation.

Structural Damage - The east wall of the church in the front of the sanctuary is bowing outward toward the alley behind the church, on the verge of allowing the horseshoe-shaped balcony ends to pull away from the wall and drop 20-teet to the floor. Two separate engineering studies have determined the damage will cost in excess of $1 Million to repair.
Vandalism - All of the copper plumbing and electrical wiring has been stolen from the church, along with 20+ antique brass door handles, 20+ lighting fixtures (sconces), and 6 small stained glass windows. The thieves also damaged all the radiators while removing them from the walls to steal the copper piping, and destroyed several urinals stealing the copper piping in the wall.
Flooding - Prior to Feb. 2009, an unknown water line from the street main, originally intended to service one of the 7-contiguous residential lots on which the church and school were built 100 years ago, burst and filled the basement with 2-feet of water. The gushing pipe ran into the vacant church for weeks without detection and for several more months afterward while the City of Chicago Water Dept. searched for a shut off valve which they never found. Without electric service and lighting in the dark, flooded church basement, a repairman finally discovered the source of the water was a copper line running from the water main, under the sidewalk and through the basement wall that had been pounded flat against the foundation to seal it 100 years ago!
Bare Sanctuary - All pews and church furnishings were removed and hauled away in 2005 because of their age and poor condition.

£rx(i(rot I

Heme!^Associates, Inc.

P.O. Box 187 Nlles, Ml 49120

Phone: (630) 325-7703 Fax: (630) 325-7714 E-mail henselrw@aol.com

Report on Central Hispanic Church 913 N. Hoyne Ave, Chicago, II

Date of inspection: February 4, 2002

Present: Ernesto Sanchez, Pastor

Richard HenseL Hensel Associates

Justin Hensel, Hensel Associates

Don Kirkman, AIA Purpose of report: Structural integrity

At the request of David Freedman, treasure of the Illinois Conference of Seventh Day

Adventist, we made preliminary structural inspection of the Central Hispanic SDA Church

located at 913 N. Hoyne Ave., Chicago, IL. We started the inspection in the balcony on the

North side. It was apparent that a considerable amount of movement has taken place over the

past years. It was difficult to measure the exact amount of movement due to apparent separation

of the floor and the wall in a number of locations. The difficulty was further complicated due to

recent repairs of tuck pointing of the exterior masonry walls and interior plaster repairs. The

pastor was fairly certain that the cracks have increased in size over the past 30 years of

ownership. To facilitate additional inspection for evaluating imminent danger of collapse, a

limited number of inspection holes would be needed to identify where this movement has taken

place. . . ,_;  . ,

As you can observe in this photo, the structure is comprised of vertical columns with notches on which the horizontal beams rest. There are no fasteners to secure the beams to the columns which was common practice when this building was built about 100 years ago. It appeared that the east wall may have moved away from the main structure in excess of 6 inches which may cause a threat of collapse. It is unknown how much "margin of safety" the horizontal beams may have before slipping off the vertical columns.

Report on Spanish church final 4/17/2002 page I of A

In the following photos you can see the movement that has created a large gap in the floor where it joins the east wall. A metal plate has been installed to "bridge" the gap.

The last photo above shows the repairs to the east exterior masonry wall. '

We then inspected the attic of the bell tower and saw that the brick has deteriorated severely. There is evidence of concrete patching done on the interior of the brick to slow down the deterioration of the masonry wall-The masonry has lost considerable structural integrity due to moisture and the freeze thaw cycle. It is difficult to determine if any of the masonry in the bell tower could be saved without further testing.

We also observed considerable masonry deterioration of the west wall of the main structure. It is apparent that there have been major water leaks that have contributed to accelerating the deterioration. The remaining exterior walls were not inspected, but it could be assumed that the West wall would be fairly typical of the masonry structural integrity of the entire building.

page 2 of 4

Report on Spanish church final 4/17, 2002

In these photos you can see the considerable amount of brick deterioration and repairs. In some places the bricks are so soft that very little effort is needed to chip away the brick with just your finger.

While we were in the attic it was observed that there is no insulation. The photo above on the left is the curved ceiling of the sanctuary and the photo on the right is looking at the bottom of the roof.

The Pastor said one of their biggest complaints is the lack of off street parking. It can take 30 minutes to find a parking space and then it is often 6 blocks away which is especially difficult for the elderly in the winter.

page 3 ot" J

Report on Spanish church final 4/17-2002

We also briefly looked in the attached building which needs considerable structural and aesthetic repairs. There are missing handrails, portions of the ceiling have fallen down and many areas of the floor are showing considerable settling. We did not have time to do a complete walk through of the attached building.

It is our best estimate that it would take a minimum of $2 -3 Million to complete structural and aesthetic renovations of both buildings. There will be many hidden additional structural issues that are hinted at by the considerable cracks in the floor of the entry, leaking roofs that have deteriorated the walls and fractured columns at the front of the sanctuary. The Estimate of $2 - 3 million could double to $4 - 6 million to upgrade the insulation, electrical, mechanical systems and to bring the building to the minimums for meeting the Illinois Handicap Accessibility requirements.

Recommendations:

Do not allow seating in the balcony or the main floor under the balcony on the north or south side of the sanctuary. An emergency exit must be maintained on both the main and second floor through these areas.
Consider selling the church as soon as possible. Perhaps the land may have more value than the building.
Get an estimate from a structural engineer for a study to determine the imminent danger of collapse of the current structural. If it is determined that there is a danger of a collapse, have the engineer determine the minimum structural repairs to create a "safe" building.
I would recommend that the services of Dr. Stanley Bell be used for further evaluation.

If there are any additional questions that you may have please call me at 630 325-7703. Thank you for the opportunity to work with you on the Hispanic SDA Church.

Sincerely,

Richard Hensel

page 4 of4

Report on Spanish church final 4/I7;'2002

Central Church

913 N. Hoyne Chicago, ILL. 60622

Built In 1905 A Beautiful Sanctuary

Wertech Construction 3852 Pierce St Unit A Riverside, CA 92503 Ph: (951) 785-4548 Fx: (951)784-0472

Wertech

CONSTRUCTION CO.

3852 Pierce St. Riverside, CA 92503 - PH: 951-785-4546 - FX: 951-785-0472

Walking through the structure of the main Sanctuary, one can only say that this is a beautiful building and is well constructed for the technology of its age. The building looks sound and strong with the exception of the following observations:

We have observed that the back wall of the building (adjacent to the alleyway) is warped due to age and the compression forces from the roofs load.

Wertech

¹ construction ca. ' ¹

3852 Pierce St. Riverside, CA 92503 - PH: 951-785-4546 - FX: 951-785-0472

'fits

The Exterior wall is pulling the interior wall located right behind the organs wind pipes.

The shifting of the interior wall next to the organs pipes is affecting the stability of the balconies located North and South of the main sanctuary.

Wertech

CONSTRUCTION CO

3852 Pierce St. Riverside, CA 92503 - PH: 951-785-4546 - FX: 951-785-0472

Predictable Consequences

The East brick wall (next to alley) is in danger of total collapse. This will cause a chain of structural failures including; collapse of the wall behind the organ pipes, the partial ends of the two balconies attached to the wall, and, without a doubt, 1/3 of the buildings roof and ceiling (this is the minimal amount of damage).

Budget to Repair

We have calculated that in order to make the building structurally sound it will cost approximately $700.000.00 (this is a budget figure only)

The Process

(3) STEPS ARE NECESSARY:

1. ENGINEERING - Will determine the best and most economic method to implement the

repair.

PERMITS FROM THE CITY - Engineering must be completed prior to this step. In this step, we must make the city aware of our intention to make an unstable building stable by showing them engineering plans.
REPAIRS - This will start as soon as engineering and permits are approved and ready. This phase will take approximately 8-12 work weeks.

Parking

We have some ideas as how to resolve the parking situation but feel that the sanctuary should be priority now as it is a safety hazard. .-^ \

Wertech

¹ ¹ ^ CONSTRUCTION CO. "l

3852 Pierce St. Riverside, CA 92503 - PH: 951-785-4546 - FX: 951-785-0472

NOTES:

Due to the fact that we are a company whose leadership is of the same faith, it is also in our interest to save our church as much money as possible. The process we implement will be the most economic. If the congregation decides on having our company do the work, we will, after a verbal notice, draw an official proposal with the cost to proceed with step one (engineering), again, we must mentions that a step by step process insures economic interest of the church. May God bless any decision the church makes.

Very Truly,

Werner Soto Wertech Construction Ph (951)785-4546 Fx (951)785-0472 Cell (951)500-4066

Exhibit A

LANDMARK DESIGNATION REPORT

Ukrainian Village District Extension:

St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings

913 - 925 N. Hoyne Avenue

Final Landmark Recommendation adopted by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks, January 10, 2013

CITY OF CHICAGO Rahm Emanuel, Mayor

Department of Housing and Economic Development Andrew J. Mooney, Commissioner

The Commission on Chicago Landmarks, whose nine members are appointed by the Mayor and City Council, was established in 1968 by city ordinance. The Commission is responsible for recommending to the City Council which individual buildings, sites, objects, or districts should be designated as Chicago Landmarks, which protects them by law.

The landmark designation process begins with a staff study and a preliminary summary of information related to the potential designation criteria. The next step is a preliminary vote by the landmarks commission as to whether the proposed landmark is worthy of consideration. This vote not only initiates the formal designation process, but it places the review of city permits for the property under the jurisdiction of the Commission until a final landmark recommendation is acted on by the City Council.

This Landmark Designation Report is subject to possible revision and amendment during the designation process. Only language contained within a designation ordinance adopted by the City Council should be regarded as final.

Ukrainian Village District Extension:

St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings

913 - 925 N. Hoyne Avenue

Dates of Construction: 1905-1906

Architects: Worthmann & Steinbach

Ukrainian Village is one of Chicago's most intact historic residential neighborhoods dating from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Its architectural character is defined by typical Chicago building types from that period: worker's cottages, two- and three-flat buildings, larger apartment buildings and a few high-style single family residences. Though these are commonplace building types in the city, Ukrainian Village stands out for its overall cohesiveness and physical integrity, evidence of careful maintenance by the generations of ethnic immigrants who settled there.

Though known as Ukrainian Village, the neighborhood was first settled and built by German immigrants. European immigrants who settled in the city's neighborhoods clung to religious traditions, and built churches, synagogues and religious-based schools, employing architecture to express faith, ethnic identity and pride, leaving neighborhoods such as Ukrainian Village with a rich and varied inventory of historic religious architecture. The former St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings at 913 - 925 N. Hoyne Avenue are fine examples of this tradition.

The historic and architectural significance of Ukrainian Village was first recognized in 2002 when a roughly six block area centered on Hoyne Avenue and Thomas Street was designated as the Ukrainian Village Chicago Landmark District. In 2004 the District was extended southward to include four blocks of Walton Street, and again in 2006 the District was further expanded to include blocks north and south of Walton Street. In terms of their age, architectural quality, and historic context, the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings are closely connected with the development of the Ukrainian Village District, and this Landmark Designation Report proposes including them in the District as a third district extension.

Built in 1906 by a congregation of German immigrants, the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings possess a strong historic and architectural connection to the early development of Ukrainian Village. The excellently-crafted brick masonry of the buildings reflects the larger character of the District, and the architects, Worthmann & Steinbach, designed at least thirty residential buildings in the Ukrainian Village District. Furthermore, in 1907 two members of the congregation purchased a five acre plot of undeveloped land to the west of the church. The land was subdivided and sold exclusively to members of the congregation who built their houses on it. These buildings survive today as the 2200-block of West Walton St., which is within the Ukrainian Village District.

The map at left shows the boundaries of the Ukrainian Village District and its extensions. The enlarged portion of the map at right shows the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School buildings which are proposed as a third extension to the District.

Built by German immigrants in 1905-1906, the parish complex of St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church is located in what is now known as Ukrainian Village.

District History and Development

The neighborhood known as Ukrainian Village is located in the West Town community area on the Northwest Side of Chicago. In 1843, New York financier Thomas Suffern purchased a 160-acre tract of land bounded by Chicago Avenue to the south, Division Street to the north, Western Avenue to the west and Damen Avenue to the east, the majority of the area now known as the Ukrainian Village neighborhood. For over three decades, Suffern held the land as an investment and it remained largely used for farming by the first European settlers to the area. The City of Chicago annexed land up to Western and North avenues in 1851, but the West Town area remained undeveloped until well after the Great Fire of 1871, when resettlement of outlying neighborhoods was driven by population growth in Chicago.

Development of Ukrainian Village as a residential neighborhood occurred in roughly three phases and areas beginning in the 1880s and lasting into the 1920s. The first phase of development began in 1886 when real estate developer William Kerfoot began to build distinctive brick worker's cottages in the vicinity of Haddon Street and Damen Avenue. Residential construction soon expanded to the southwest on Thomas and Cortez streets between Leavitt Street and Damen Avenue. This first area of residential development was designated as the Ukrainian Chicago Landmark District in 2002. Of the District's 254 buildings, approximately one third are finely-crafted brick worker's cottages built by Kerfoot from 1886-1905. High quality brick three- and two-flats built between 1892 and 1904 make up the majority of the District, though it also includes a handful of larger high-style single family residences.

A second phase of development began in 1890 expanding south and west. The fine worker's cottages, single family homes, and multi-family residential buildings on a four-block stretch of West Walton Avenue, between Damen and Western avenues best represent this second phase of development. As noted above, one of these blocks was developed by members of the congregation of St. John's. An area containing 147 properties was designated as an extension to the Ukrainian Village Chicago Landmark District in 2004. Like the original District, this first extension is made up of high quality brick worker's cottages and flat buildings. The St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School buildings were preliminarily included in this first extension. At that time the church was actively used as a house of worship and the congregation did not consent to the designation. Therefore both buildings were removed from the District pursuant to Section 2-120-660 of the landmarks ordinance.

During the third and final phase of development in Ukrainian Village, which lasted until the 1920s, residential development continued to the blocks north and south of Walton Street and west to Western Avenue. These areas were added to the designation as a second extension to the Ukrainian Village Chicago Landmark District in 2006. The 232 buildings in this area are made up almost exclusively of two- and three-story brick flat buildings, with a handful of larger apartment buildings.

Though it became associated with Ukrainian immigrants in the twentieth century, the neighborhood has hosted a variety of ethnic groups, including Germans, who first settled and built the high quality masonry buildings of the neighborhood, reflecting the German immigrants' fond-

ness for brick architecture. As Germans moved up the social ladder and out of the neighborhood they were replaced by waves of Slavic ethnic groups, including Poles, Russians and Ukrainians.

Ukrainian immigrants began to arrive in the neighborhood during the early years of the twentieth century and continued to immigrate in waves throughout the century. Many came to escape tremendous hardship in their homeland, including a lack of an independent state for most of the twentieth century and brutal Soviet rule that included engineered famines in the 1920s and 1930s in which 8 million died. As many perished later during World War II when Ukraine was caught between the German and Russian armies. In the post-war era the Ukrainians struggled for a measure of independence from the Soviet Union. This historical backdrop fostered within the Ukrainian immigrant community in Chicago a strong sense of cultural and national identity, and their close-knit neighborhood became known to Chicagoans as Ukrainian Village.

While Ukrainian Village is primarily a residential neighborhood, its blocks are peppered with religious buildings. The prominent role religion played in the daily life of Chicago's ethnic communities is well documented. In addition to worship in native languages, congregations provided a structure for communal advancement in the areas of education, charity, health care and business. In addition to St. John's, there are nine churches and one former synagogue in the one-quarter square mile area of the Ukrainian Village neighborhood. Two are located within the Ukrainian Village Landmark District: St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral at 2245 West Rice Street, completed 1915; and the former Christ English Lutheran, (now the Moorish Science Temple) at 1000 N Hoyne, built in 1893. The Holy Trinity Orthodox Cathedral at 1121 N. Leavitt, located just outside the boundary of the District, was designed by Louis Sullivan in 1903 and is a designated Chicago Landmark.

The number and variety of houses of worship in the Ukrainian Village neighborhood illustrate the important role religion played in sustaining ethnic communities as well as the religious pluralism that enticed many immigrants to America. They were built in styles familiar to ethnic groups and were designed to be high quality and substantial structures intended to serve for generations.

Design and Construction of the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings

German Lutherans have a long history in Chicago beginning in 1843, when forty families established St. Paul's German Evangelical Lutheran Church. By 1870 there were seventeen Lutheran congregations in the city, made up primarily of German and Scandinavian ethnic immigrants, and by 1890 Lutherans were the largest Protestant denomination in Chicago.

St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church was established in 1867 at a frame church built by the congregation at Bishop and Superior Streets. In 1869 this 400-seat church building was expanded with the addition of a transept. Even with this addition, the congregation struggled to accommodate an ever-growing number of members, mostly craft and agricultural workers who

Including St. John's, there are ten churches and one synagogue in the one-quarter square mile area known as the Ukrainian Village neighborhood:

First Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1894, (now the Leavitt Street Bible Church)
Holy Trinity Orthodox Cathedral, 1903 [Designated Chicago Landmark]
St. Peter's United Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1911, (now St. Volodymyr Ukrainian Orthodox)
Congregation Moses Montefiore, 1903 (now a Baptist congregation)
Christ English Lutheran, 1893 (now the Moorish Science Temple) [in the Ukrainian Village District]
St. Helen Roman Catholic Church, founded 1913, current building 1965
German Methodist Episcopal Church, 1901 (now St. Stephen, King of Hungary)
St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1905
German Zion's Evangelical Society Church, 1894 (now Hoyne Avenue Wesleyan)
St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral, 1915 [in the Ukrainian Village District]
Sts. Volodymyr and Olha Ukrainian Catholic Church, 1973

The congregation of St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church traced its origins in Chicago to 1867 when it built a frame church at Superior and Bishop streets (right). In 1905 the congregation sold the property and began building the new parish on then-undeveloped land at Walton Street and Hoyne Avenue.

?~l Historic photos of the St. John Evangelical Church (left) and School Buildings (below). The church's steeple was destroyed by fire after a lightning strike in 1935.

hailed from Germany's eastern provinces. In 1905 the congregation sold its Superior Street church and school buildings to the Archdiocese of Chicago, which established Holy Innocents parish on the site.

With the proceeds from the sale of this early property, the St. John's congregation purchased an undeveloped plot of land located approximately 1 mile west of its original location. Chicago architect Henry Worthmann was a member of the congregation who had previously completed several church designs, and his firm of Worthmann & Steinbach was the congregation's choice as designer of the new church and school buildings on the east side of Hoyne Avenue (as well as a parsonage at 910 N. Hoyne which is included in the first extension of the Ukrainian Village District). Construction of all three properties began in the summer of 1905. The school opened in September of that year and the church was dedicated on February 11, 1906.

The St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings are located at the southeast corner of Hoyne Ave. and Walton Street in the Ukrainian Village neighborhood. The church occupies the more visible corner at the north end of the lot and is built to the lot line on its west, north and east (alley) elevations. The school is located at the south end of the parcel, separated from the church by a small paved courtyard and slightly set back from the sidewalk. (The circa 1960 enclosed passage connecting the two buildings is not historic.) Together the buildings form a visually unified parish complex through their Gothic Revival-style designs and common use of dark-red face brick with light-colored accents. In relation to the surrounding neighborhood, the buildings employ materials, ornament and scale that are appropriate for a church and school, yet they are restrained so as not to overwhelm their surroundings.

The Church Building

The St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church Building has a cruciform plan with a cross-gabled roof covered with asphalt shingles. The load bearing exterior walls rest on a limestone plinth and are built up with dark-red face brick trimmed with carved limestone and cream-colored brick accents. The front elevation faces west and is composed of a central gable flanked on each end by a tower. The focal point is a Gothic Revival-style limestone portico that frames three entrance doors within pointed-arch openings with finely carved details. Above the entrance, the front facade is dominated by a large pointed-arch stained-glass window with wood tracery. The gabled parapet above the window is decorated with corbelled arches inspired by Romanesque churches. This corbelling, which continues in variations on the towers and side elevations, reveals a high degree of skilled craftsmanship in traditional masonry construction and is a hallmark of German brick architecture.

The majority of the church's windows are set within pointed-arch Gothic openings with wood frames and glazed with leaded glass. The window designs are based upon geometric and floral patterns rendered in colored and textured glass. Most of the windows are covered with non-historic protective glazing.

The towers framing the front facade are square in plan with buttressed corners. The taller north tower is composed of four stages with a louvered belfry at the top stage. Historic photos show

The west elevation of the St. John j Evangelical Lutheran Church Build- i ing (right) is composed of a central ^rgable flanked by towers. The pointed-arch windows with tracery and | limestone entrance portico place the building in the Gothic Revival style of architecture.

A selection of details (below) include:

The belfry stage of the north tower with its bands of corbelling,
The side elevation with tall stained-glass windows and buttresses,
A portion of the entrance portal with Gothic Revival-style ornament in carved limestone, and
Corbelling and blind arches at the gable which exhibit a high degree of craftsmanship in brick masonry.

Fig. b.

Fig. a.

Fig. d.

the north tower was originally topped with a steeple, though this frame structure was destroyed by fire after a lightning strike in 1935. The lower south tower is composed of three stages with pointed arch windows. Both towers are decorated with limestone and cream-colored brick trim, corbelled brickwork and blind openings.

The side elevations, facing north onto Walton Street and south onto the courtyard, are composed with three regularly-spaced bays with tall arched window bays set off by brick buttresses. These elevations are faced with the same face brick as the front elevation, though the transept bay facing the courtyard is common brick, an economizing measure given the minimal visibility of that wall area. Both transept bays are dominated by large windows with pressed-metal spandrels with quatrefoil decoration. The rear elevation facing east onto the alley is common brick decorated with blind arches and crosses, an unusual treatment for such a minimally-visible portion of the building.

As noted above, changes to the building include the loss of the north steeple in a 1935 fire. Decorative finials at the tops of the towers and roof peak have also been removed. Non-historic elements of the church include the protective glazing at the windows and the entrance doors. The interior of the building was not accessed and is not proposed as part of the landmark designation.

The School Building

While many denominations supplemented public education with Sunday Schools to educate their children, Lutheran and Catholic congregations typically built schools that provided both general and religious education. St. John's was no exception. The two-story St. John Evangelical Lutheran School Building is roughly square in plan with load-bearing brick walls and a flat roof. It measures 65 feet across its front facade and 90 feet deep from the sidewalk to the alley. An early Sanborn fire insurance map indicates that each floor contained four classrooms and a T-shaped corridor.

As with the church building, the primary elevation of the school faces west onto Hoyne Avenue and is built with dark-red face brick with cream-colored brick accents. The sidewalk-level entrance to the school is set within a limestone entry portico with Gothic Revival ornament. The German name of the school, Ev. Lutherische St. Johannis Schule, engraved above the entrance door graphically conveys the building's former German ethnic identity.

The composition of the front facade is a symmetrical arrangement of five bays with the central bay containing the stone entry portico, an arched window on the second floor and, above the flat roof, a false gable with heavy corbelling and blind arches. The two bays flanking the center have paired flat-headed windows on the first floor, arched windows on the second floor and smaller false gables with geometric panels of cream-colored brick at the roofline. The less-visible north elevation facing the courtyard, the south elevation facing a neighboring two-flat and the east elevation of the school facing the alley are common brick with arched window openings.

The windows and entrance door of the school building are not historic, and at the second floor, the arched portion of the window openings has been filled in with cream colored brick. The interior of the building was not accessed and is not proposed as part of the landmark designation.

The St. John Evangelical Lutheran School Building employs fine brickwork and Gothic Revival motifs to form, with the Church Building, a visually unified parish complex.

The German name of the school, Ev. Lutherische St. Johannis a detail of the central gable with heavy cor-

Schule, graphically conveys the building's former German belling, blind arches, and cream-colored

ethnic identity. _brick accents.

The Gothic Revival Style

A rise of interest in the church and university architecture of medieval France, England, and Germany during the nineteenth century inspired the Gothic Revival, a popular revival style of architecture in America and Europe for a range of building types. In Chicago, very plain examples of the style were found in the city's earliest churches, and the style continued to be used well into the twentieth century. Its association with centers of Christian worship and learning in medieval Europe made it most popular with Christian congregations and college campuses, though the Gothic vocabulary was applied to a range of building types including the Tribune Tower (1925, Howells and Hood).

Characteristic features of the Gothic Revival style are its overall vertical emphasis and the pointed arch combined with a variety of other architectural features such as buttresses, towers, polychrome materials and stained glass windows with ornamental tracery. All of these features are employed in the design of the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church Building and to some degree at the St. John Evangelical Lutheran School Building.

The corbelled brickwork used in the design of both buildings is not a Gothic element, but a feature of Romanesque architecture, the style of religious architecture that preceded the Gothic in Europe and a style that also enjoyed a revival in the nineteenth century.

Later History of the Congregation

In 1907, two members of the congregation, Albert Beilfuss, who was also a Chicago alderman, and Charles Thorns, purchased a tract of undeveloped land to the west of the church and subdivided the property into house lots sold exclusively to members of the congregation. In his brief history of the congregation, written in 1942 on the occasion of the congregation's 75th anniversary, the congregation's pastor, Reverend Paul Sauer, described the transaction:

Mr. Charles Thorns and Alderman Beilfuss bought five acres ofprairie a block west of the church, and had them laid out in lots, for sale only to members of St. John's. Through the center of the plot, Walton Street was extended from Leavitt to Oakley, all lots facing on Walton Street. At our picnic in July 1907, the lots were offered to our members at cost, $900, except the corner lots which sold higher. Mr. Thorns chose the south side of Walton at the corner of Leavitt Street; Deacon Albert Streger across the street, on the north side of Walton at the corner of Leavitt, where he still lives. Alderman Beilfuss erected his residence on the north side of Walton at the corner of Oakley Avenue. Here was a solid block owned on both sides of Walton Street by our members.

That solid block of St. John's congregants is the 2200-block of Walton Street which is part the first extension to the Ukrainian Village District, designated in 2004. Alderman Beilfuss' two-flat survives at 2258 W. Walton, as does Mr. Thorns' at number 2205 and Deacon Streger's at number 2200. With the exception of one building, the 2200-block of Walton appears today just as it did when occupied by members of the congregation. Most of the buildings are brick two-flats built between 1907 and 1914. Worthmann & Steinbach designed nearly half of these, and not surprisingly there is a strong visual relationship between the designs of the Walton Street

flats and the parish buildings, particularly in the use of two colors of brick and corbelled brick decoration.

In later years the St. John's congregation struggled with whether to continue its worship practice and school instruction in German, a question that rose to prominence during World War I when anti-German sentiments were inflamed. The congregation adopted limited English in 1919, and by 1927 the native language had disappeared from the parish. In 1937 the congregation Anglicized its name from Evangelisch Lutherische St. Johannis Kirche. Those words, though mostly effaced, are still visible in a tablet above the church door.

In his 1942 history of St. John's, Reverend Sauer noted that at the time of his writing most of the congregation had moved from the neighborhood, and there were discussions about moving the parish a third time. Indeed new Lutheran congregations were formed by members of St. John's in the Austin and Edgewater neighborhoods. Despite the erosion of members, the congregation of St. John's continued to use the church and operate the school until 1974. The parish was dissolved that year and the building was sold to the Seventh Day Adventists who established a Spanish-speaking congregation at the church and a social service center in the school building.

A circa 1907 photograph taken from the north tower of St. John's Church looking west down Walton Street. The 2100-block is in the foreground, and the yet-undeveloped 2200-block is in the background. The 2200-block would be developed exclusively by members of the congregation. This photograph was likely taken by Reverend Paul Sauer who later wrote the congregation's history.

The 2200-block of W. Walton Street, already part of the Ukrainian Village District, was developed exclusively by and for members of St. John's congregation beginning in 1907.

The photo at upper left shows a row of two-flats on the south side, revealing the visual cohesiveness that characterizes Ukrainian Village.

These three houses on the block were built by prominent members of St. John's and all three were designed by Worthmann & Steinbach:

2200 W. Walton St. built in 1909 by Albert Streger, Deacon of St. John's,
2258W.Walton St, built by congregation member and Alderman, Albert Beilfuss, in 1908, and
2205 W.Walton St., built in 1907 by Charles Thorn.

The St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings were designed by Henry Worthmann, a member of the congregation, and John Steinbach. Their firm of Worthmann & Steinbach designed a great number and variety of buildings in Chicago from 1903 to 1928, but they are perhaps best known for their church buildings. Some of the most impressive of these are:

Holy Innocents (1912, 743 N Armour),
St. Mary of the Angels (1920,1850 N Hermitage),
St. Hyacinth (1921, 3636 W. Wolfram), and
1. St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral (1915, 2238 W. Rice)

Fig. c.

Fig. d.

Architects Henry Worthimann and John Steinbach

The St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings were designed by the Chicago firm of Worthmann & Steinbach, a prolific architectural practice and arguably one of the city's most accomplished church designers.

Henry Worthmann (1857-1946) was born in Germany, where he received his formal education before immigrating to the United States as a young man. He apprenticed in an architectural firm before opening his first office in Chicago in 1888. Worthmann's early commissions were mainly residential projects for clients located in the area now known as Ukrainian Village. However, building permit records in American Contractor magazine attribute six churches to Worthmann between 1900 and 1903.

John G. Steinbach (born 1878, date of death not known) was born in Austria and immigrated with his family to the United States while a child. He established himself in independent practice in Chicago before joining Henry Worthmann in 1903 as the junior member of a partnership which would last twenty-five years. City directories locate the firm's early office at 625 W. Chicago Avenue from which they relocated to the Ashland Block on the northeast corner of Clark and Randolph Streets.

Worthmann & Steinbach were an exceptionally prolific firm, with many residential (mostly two - and three-flat buildings), commercial, and institutional commissions. Thirty-one of the firm's flats are included as contributing buildings in the Ukrainian Village Landmark District, including its extensions. Their thirteen-domed Byzantine Revival-style St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral is included in the second extension of the Ukrainian Village District. Eight of their flat buildings are included as contributing to the Logan Square Landmark District, as are their school and rectory buildings for St. John Berchmans Church. Three commercial buildings by the firm contribute to the Chatham-Greater Grand Crossing Commercial Landmark District on Chicago's South Side.

While their practice was broad in the types of buildings they designed, Worthmann & Stein-bach's are best known for churches they designed for Lutheran and Roman Catholic congregations in the city. Many of their Lutheran church buildings resemble St. John's in their moderate scale and high-quality brick construction with Gothic and Romanesque details. Lutheran churches similar to St. John's by Worthmann & Steinbach include Our Savior for the Deaf (1904, 2127 W. Crystal Street), Jehovah Lutheran (1915, 3736 W. Belden Avenue), Bethlehem Lutheran (1919, 10300 S. Avenue H), and Hope Evangelical Lutheran (1921, 6400 S. Washtenaw Avenue). The firm's later Lutheran clients built larger, more elaborate churches than the early immigrant congregations, and a fine example is the former Our Redeemer Lutheran Church (1923, 6430 S. Harvard Avenue), which is a distinguished English Gothic-style church rendered in carved limestone.

Arguably the firm's best-known commissions are three monumental Catholic churches designed for Polish parishes: Holy Innocents (1912, 743 N. Armour Street), St. Mary of the Angels (1920, 1850 N. Hermitage Avenue), and St. Hyacinth (1921, 3636 W. Wolfram Street).

These imposing churches were designed in a combination of Renaissance and Baroque styles with exuberant decoration on both their exterior and interiors. The massive domes and towers of these churches dominate the landscape of the neighborhoods where they are located, and stand as evidence of the historic Polish enclaves centered along Milwaukee Avenue.

Criteria for Designation

According to the Municipal Code of Chicago (Sect 2-120-690), the Commission on Chicago Landmarks has the authority to make a recommendation of landmark designation to the City Council for an area, district, place, building, structure, work of art or other object within the City of Chicago if the Commission determines it meets two or more of the stated "criteria for designation," as well as the integrity criterion.

The following should be considered by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks in determining whether to recommend that the Ukrainian Village District Extension, consisting of the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings, be designated as a Chicago Landmark.

Criterion 1: Value as an Example of City, State or National Heritage

Its value as an example of the architectural, cultural, economic, historic, social, or other aspect of the heritage of the City of Chicago, State of Illinois, or the United States.

Built between 1905 and 1906 by a congregation of German immigrants, the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings exemplify the history of the Ukrainian Village Chicago Landmark District as a neighborhood built up by German ethnic immigrants for whom religion was a prominent part of daily life.
The St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings share a common cultural history and architectural character with the 2200-block of West Walton Street, located one block west of the church and part of the Ukrainian Village Chicago Landmark District, which was developed exclusively by members of the St. John's congregation in 1907, just after the congregation moved into the neighborhood and construction of the church and school buildings was completed.
The congregation that built the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings had a long history in Chicago, tracing its origins to 1867 and remaining in existence for 107 years. For nearly seven decades of that history, the church was housed in the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings, and these buildings exemplify the important role that religious congregations have played in the cultural and social history of Chicago's neighborhoods.

Criterion 4: Exemplary Architecture

Its exemplification of an architectural type or style distinguished by innovation, rarity, uniqueness, or overall quality of design, detail, materials or craftsmanship.

In their materials and design, the school and church buildings of St. John's are visually related to each other and compatible with the surrounding neighborhood.

The St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings together possess an overall quality of design with similar massing, shared brick and stone materials and unified Gothic Revival-style details, forming a visually cohesive parish complex.
The St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings exemplify the Gothic Revival architectural style with their pointed-arch windows, buttresses, towers, polychrome materials and stained glass windows with ornamental tracery.
With their corbelled details, use of two colors of brick, and carved limestone details, the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings demonstrate a high degree of craftsmanship in traditional masonry.
The St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings were designed by Worthmann & Steinbach, a proficient Chicago architectural firm best known as designers of Lutheran and Roman Catholic church buildings in the 1910s and 1920s.
Worthmann & Steinbach designed at least thirty residential buildings in the Ukrainian Village Chicago Landmark District, and there is a distinct architectural relationship between the architectural character of the District and the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings.

Criterion 6: Distinctive Theme as a District

Its representation of an architectural, cultural, economic, historic, social or other theme expressed through distinctive areas, districts, places, buildings, structures, works of art, or other objects that may or may not be contiguous.

The Ukrainian Village Chicago Landmark District (designated in 2002, and extended in 2004 and 2006) is one of Chicago's most intact historic residential neighborhoods composed of worker's cottages, two- and three-flat buildings, larger apartment buildings and a few high-style single family residences built by ethnic immigrants. Interspersed within and around the district are churches, including the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church, a building type closely associated with the development of Chicago neighborhoods.
The number of church buildings in and around the Ukrainian Village Chicago Landmark District especially conveys the importance of religion in the daily life of Chicago's immigrant neighborhoods, and their variety highlights the religious plurality that attracted immigrants to America.
Members of the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church developed the 2200-block of W. Walton Street, now part of the Ukrainian Village Chicago Landmark District, and the District and St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School buildings share a common history and architectural character.

Integrity Criterion

The integrity of the proposed landmark must be preserved in light of its location, design, set-

ting, materials, workmanship and ability to express its historic, community, architecture or- aesthetic value.

The St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School buildings possess excellent physical integrity on their exterior. The parish complex remains in its original location and its historic setting, residential buildings built at the same time as the church and school, remains intact. The building's historic materials, including dark-red brick accented with carved limestone and cream-colored brick, remain in place. The overall Gothic Revival style-design of both buildings remains intact as expressed in its pointed-arch windows with tracery and stained glass, buttresses and vertical towers. The overall quality of the brick masonry, especially the corbelled details, as well as the finely carved limestone entrances, exhibits a high degree of craftsmanship.

The most prominent change to the church building is the loss of its steeple, which was destroyed by fire after a lightening strike in 1935. Destruction of steeples by lightening is not a rare condition for church buildings of this vintage, and the absence of the steeple in this case does not inhibit the building's ability to convey its historic and architectural value. Other changes to the building include the removal of masonry finials at the tops of the towers and at the peak of the gable. Rooftop decoration like this is especially susceptible to the effects wind and weather and was likely removed due to deterioration at some point in the middle of the twentieth century. Other changes to the church building are minor and reversible and include the replacement of the exterior doors and the addition of protective glazing at the windows.

Similarly, changes to the school building are minor and typical for school buildings of this vintage. These include the replacement of the entrance doors and windows. The top of the pointed -arch openings of the second floor window have been infilled with brick, a change that likely occurred when the windows were replaced. Despite these changes, both buildings both continue to express their historic architectural and aesthetic values.

Significant Historical and Architectural Features

Whenever an area, district, place, building, structure, work of art or other object is under consideration for landmark designation, the Commission on Chicago Landmarks is required to identify the "significant historical and architectural features" of the property. This is done to enable the owners and the public to understand which elements are considered most important to preserve the historical and architectural character of the proposed landmark.

Based on its evaluation of the Ukrainian Village District Extension, consisting of the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings, the Commission staff recommends that the significant features be identified as:

All exterior elevations, including rooflines, of the buildings visible from public rights of way.

Selected Bibliography

Chicago Tribune

Commission on Chicago Landmarks. Chatham-Greater Grand Crossing Commercial District Landmark Designation Report. Chicago: City of Chicago, 2007.

Commission on Chicago Landmarks. Logan Square Boulevards District Landmark Designation Report. Chicago: City of Chicago, 2004.

Commission on Chicago Landmarks. Ukrainian Village District Landmark Designation Report. Chicago: City of Chicago, 2002.

Commission on Chicago Landmarks. Ukrainian Village District Extension Landmark Designation Report. Chicago: City of Chicago, 2004.

Commission on Chicago Landmarks. Ukrainian Village District Extension II Landmark Designation Report. Chicago: City of Chicago, 2006.

Hiestand, Amy E., and Vincent L. Michael. Spires in the Streets: A Planning Guide for the Effective and Creative Preservation and Maintenance of Chicago's Historic Religious Properties. Chicago: Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois, 1990.

Holli, Melvin G., and Peter d'A. Jones, ed. Ethnic Chicago: A Multicultural Portrait. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1995.

Kantowicz, Edward R. "To Build the Catholic City." Chicago History Fall (1985): 4-27.

Kantowicz, Edward R. and John J. Treanor, ed., The Archdiocese of Chicago: A Journey of Faith. Ireland: The Universities Press, 2006.

Koenig, Rev. Msgr. Harry C, ed. A History of the Parishes of the Archdiocese of Chicago, Vol. I. Chicago: The Archdiocese of Chicago, 1980.

Lane, George A., S.J. Chicago Churches and Synagogues: An Architectural Pilgrimage. Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1981.

Sauer, Paul. Diamond Jubilee Booklet: First St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Hoyne Avenue and Walton Street, Chicago, Illinois. Chicago: The Ideal Press, 1942.

Obituary, Illinois Society of Architects Monthly Bulletin July-Aug. (1946): 8.

Acknowledgements

CITY OF CHICAGO

Rahm Emanuel, Mayor

Department of Housing and Economic Development

Andrew J. Mooney, Commissioner

Patricia A. Scudiero, Deputy Commissioner, Bureau of Planning and Zoning Eleanor Esser Gorski, Assistant Commissioner, Historic Preservation Division

Project Staff

Matt Crawford, research, writing, photography and layout Lisa Napoles, research, writing and photography Terry Tatum, editing Eleanor Esser Gorski, editing

Illustrations

Department of Housing and Economic Development: pp. 2, 5, 8, 10, 13, 14, 17 (bottom), 19 (bottom).

Chicago History in Postcards, http://chicagopc.info/evangelical_lutheran_churches.htm: p. 19 (top).

John Chuckman Collection, https://chuckmanchicagonostalgia.wordpress.com: p. 17 (top).

Courtesy of George Matwyshyn: pp. 6 (bottom left), 12.

Sauer, Paul. Diamond Jubilee Booklet: p. 6 (top right, bottom right).

COMMISSION ON CHICAGO LANDMARKS

Rafael M. Leon, Chairman John W. Baird, Secretary Anita Blanchard, M.D. James M. Houlihan Tony Hu

Christopher R. Reed Mary Ann Smith Ernest C. Wong Andrew J. Mooney

The Commission is staffed by the:

The Department of HOUSING and

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Department of Housing and Economic Development

Bureau of Planning and Zoning

Historic Preservation Division

33 N. LaSalle St., Suite 1600

Chicago, Illinois 60602

312.744.3200 (TEL) ~ 312.744.9140 (FAX)

http://www.cityofchicago.org/landmarks

Printed June 2012; reprinted January 2013.

Department of Housing and Economic Development

CITY OF CHICAGO

August 2, 2012 Report to the Commission on Chicago Landmarks on the

Ukrainian Village District Extension: St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and, School Buildings 913 -925 N. Hoyne Ave.

' The Department of Housing and Economic Development finds that the proposed designation of the Ukrainian Village District Extension, which consists of the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings, as an extension of a Chicago Landmark district supports the City's: overall planning goals for the surrounding West Town community area and is consistent with the City's governing policies and plans.

The former St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings at 913-925 Ni Hoyne Avenue are located in the Ukrainian Village neighborhood within the larger West Town community area. Ukrainian Village is one of Chicago's most intact historic residential neighborhoods: dating from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and portions of the neighborhood have been designated as a Chicago Landmark district in 2002, 2004 and 2006. Built in 1906 by German immigrants, the former St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings are proposed as an extension to the district.

The buildings are located in an RT-4 zoning district, which is intended to accommodate a mix of housing types including detached houses.^two- flats, townhouses and low-density, multi-unit residential buildings. The RT-4 district also permits a range of public building types, including schools, and places of religious: assembly.

In. 2002 the City of Chicago published A Plan for the Chicago's Near Northwest Side which included the Ukrainian Village neighborhood. The Plan states that the historic character of the neighborhood "is a major component of the quality of life it offers" and that City of Chicago will continue to protect and preserve, the most significant buildings and districts through landmark designation.

Public transportation serving the subject properties^includes CTA bus service on Chicago, Western and Damen Avenues and Division Street; and the.CTA Blue Tine subway stations at Chicago Avenue and Division Street.

The Department supports the designation of the former St. John Evangelical Lutheran'Church and School Buildings as an extension to the Ukrainian Village District. Preserving buildings such as this provides many long-term benefits to the City. Landmark designation encourages the preservation and rehabilitation through a range of incentives. Designation also supports economic development, employment and an enhanced property tax base. It serves as a model for sustainable development by

121 NORTH LA SALLE STREET. RO0M1OOO, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 00602

retaining existing buildings and adapting them to modern conditions. Preservation of Chicago's architectural heritage attracts tourists and new residents as well as contributes to the quality of life for Chicago citizens.

In conclusion, landmark designation of the former St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings as an extension to the Ukrainian Village District supports the City's overall planning goals for Chicago's West Town community area and is consistent with the City's governing policies and plans.

Exhibit C

COMMISSION ON CHICAGO LANDMARKS

PUBLIC HEARING REGARDING

(FORMER) ST. JOHN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH AND SCHOOL BUILDINGS AS AN EXTENSION TO THE UKRAINIAN VILLAGE LANDMARK DISTRICT 913 - 925 North Hoyne Avenue

Tuesday, December 11, 2012 Historic Preservation Division 33 North LaSalle Street, Room 1600 2:00 p.m.

Docket No. 2012-11

Anita Blanchard, M.D., Hearing Officer Commission on Chicago Landmarks

Mr. Arthur S. Dolinsky, Senior Counsel Department of Law

Real Estate and Land Use Division

Ms. Eleanor Esser Gorski, Assistant Commissioner

Department of Housing and Economic Development Historic Preservation Division

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COMMISSION ON CHICAGO LANDMARKS

PUBLIC HEARING REGARDING

(FORMER) ST. JOHN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH AND SCHOOL BUILDINGS AS AN EXTENSION TO THE UKRAINIAN VILLAGE LANDMARK DISTRICT 913 - 925 North Hoyne Avenue

Tuesday, December 11, 2012 Historic Preservation Division 33 North LaSalle Street, Room 1600 2:00 p.m.

Docket No. 2012-11

Anita Blanchard, M.D., Hearing Officer Commission on Chicago Landmarks

Mr. Arthur S. Dolinsky, Senior Counsel Department of Law

Real Estate and Land Use Division

Ms. Eleanor Esser Gorski, Assistant Commissioner

Department of Housing and Economic Development Historic Preservation Division

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HEARING OFFICER BLANCHARD: Good afternoon, everyone. I would like to call this public hearing to order.

My name is Dr. Anita Blanchard. I am a member of the Commission on Chicago Landmarks, and I will be the hearing officer for today's hearing.

Seated next to me is: Eleanor Gorski, the Assistant Commissioner of the Historic Preservation Division of the Department of Housing and Economic Development, and Arthur Dolinsky, the Senior Counsel of the Real Estate Division of the City's Law Department, who is the Commission's counsel for today's public hearing.

I will now summarize the nature of today's hearing.

The Commission on Chicago Landmarks was established and is governed by the Municipal Code of Chicago. The procedures for today's public hearing are contained in Article II, of the Commission's Rules and Regulations governing hearings on landmark designation.

The purposes and duties of the Commission are set forth in the Municipal Code

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and include the identification, preservation, protection, enhancement, and encouragement of the continued utilization and the rehabilitation of such areas, districts, places, buildings, structures, works of art, and other objects having a special historical, community, architectural, or aesthetic interest or value to the City of Chicago and its citizens.

The Commission carries out this mandate by recommending to the City Council the specific areas, districts, places, buildings, structures, works of art, and other objects be designated as official Chicago landmarks. The Commission bases its recommendations on the seven criteria set forth in Section 2-120-620 of the Municipal Code and the integrity criterion set forth in Section 2-120-630 of the Municipal Code.

The purpose of today's hearing is for the Commission to receive relevant facts and information to assist the Commission in deciding whether to recommend that the Ukranian Village District Extension comprised of the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings, hereinafter the "District Extension," meet the

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criteria set forth in Section 2-120-620.

The format of the hearing will be as

follows:

First, Eleanor Gorski, the Assistant Commissioner of the Historic Preservation Division, will review the chronology of events related to the proposed designation that has led to today's hearing.
Then, I will rule on any reguests for party status to the hearing by property owners, as well as other individuals or organizations.
After that, the Historic Preservation Division staff will make a presentation summarizing the Preliminary Landmark Recommendation for the proposed District Extension.
After the staff's presentation, property owners or other individuals who have been granted party status will have the opportunity to ask questions of the staff.
1. Then those who are granted

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party status by me will be able to make

a presentation regarding the proposed

landmark designation.

* Lastly, any members of the

public who wish to make brief statements

concerning the proposed landmark

designation may do so.

The owner of the property in the District Extension, or their representatives, have the right to make a statement for or against the proposed designation. They also have the right to ask questions of Historic Preservation Division staff at the conclusion of the staff's presentation of the Commission's Preliminary Landmark Re commenda t ion.

The Landmarks Ordinance also allows the owners of the property in the District Extension and other individuals and organizations to request status as a party to the hearing. Parties to the hearing's proceedings can make longer and more detailed presentations for or against the proposed landmark designation that can include submitting photographs and other documents, as well as presenting testimony from their own

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witnesses. Parties may also question any other party's witnesses and question the Historic Preservation staff member who presents the Preliminary Landmark Recommendation.

Only those who want to make a more detailed presentation, beyond a statement or question, need to request party status. Those wishing to request party status should fill out a blue appearance form and return it to a member of the Historic Preservation Division staff. Those f o r.m s are at the table by the door.

If you wish to be a party, and you have filled out a blue appearance form requesting party status, I will call on each of you in turn and consider your party request. If you have not filled out a blue appearance form, but wish to be a party, please do so now.

I want to note that the Commission's Rules and Regulations strictly limit presentations at this landmark designation public hearing to information solely relevant to whether or not the proposed designation meets criteria for Chicago Landmark designation. Information relating to zoning, permit applications, the building code, or

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potential economic impacts is not to be heard or entertained during these proceedings.

The owners of the property in the District Extension who do not want to be parties and members of the general public are welcome to make statements at today's hearing. If you want to make a statement in support of the proposed landmark designation, please fill out a green appearance form. If you want to make a statement in opposition to the proposed landmark designation, please fill out a pink appearance form. Please include your name, address, and the organization you represent, if any. These forms are at the table by the door and should be completed and returned to a member of the staff at this time.

Now, I will ask Ms. Gorski to outline the chronology of events that have led to this public hearing and incorporate the Commission's documents that are relevant to the proposed designation into the record.

MS. GORSKI: Thank you.

At its regular meeting of June 7, 2012, the Commission on Chicago Landmarks approved a preliminary landmark recommendation, otherwise

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the "Preliminary Recommendation," for the Ukranian Village District Extension, comprised of the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings, known as the "District Extension," as a Chicago Landmark. The Commission found that the District Extension appears to meet three of the seven criteria for designation, as well as the integrity criterion, identified in the Chicago Landmarks Ordinance, Municipal Code of the City of Chicago, Section 2-120-580.

The Preliminary Recommendation, identified as Commission Document 1, initiated the consideration process for further study and analysis for the possible designation of the District Extension as a Chicago Landmark. As part of the Preliminary Recommendation, the Commission preliminarily identified the significant historic and architectural features of the District Extension, comprised of the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings as:

* All exterior elevations, including rooflines, of the buildings visible from the public rights-of-way.

As part of the Preliminary

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9*>

Recommendation, the Commission adopted a preliminary summary of information, dated June 7th, 2012, and identified as Commission Document 2.

The Department of Housing and Economic Development, on behalf of the Commission, notified the owner of the District Extension, the Illinois Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists, the "owner," of the Preliminary Recommendation in a letter, dated June 15th, 2012, which is identified as Commission Document 3.

The research notebook compiled by the Commission staff regarding the proposed Chicago Landmark designation of the District Extension is identified as Commission Document 4.

At its regular meeting of August 2, 2012, the Commission received a report, identified as Commission Document 5, from Andrew J. Mooney, Commissioner of the Department of Housing and Economic Development, stating that the proposed landmark designation of the District Extension supports the City's overall planning goals and is consistent with the City's governing policy and plans.

In a letter dated August 29th, 2012,

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the Commission officially requested the consent to the proposed landmark designation from the owner. A copy of this letter, which requested the return of the written consent form indicating consent or non-consent by October 12, 2012, is identified as Commission Document 6.

As of the end of the request-for-consent period, i.e., October 12th, 2012, the owner had not provided written consent to the proposed landmark designation of the District Extension as a. Chicago Landmark, and this lack of written consent continues to date. Without written consent from the owner of the property, Section 2-120-650 of the Chicago Landmarks Ordinance requires the Commission to hold a public hearing on the Preliminary Recommendation with respect to the District Extension as a Chicago Landmark.

In a letter dated November 7th, 2012, and identified as Commission Document 7, the Commission notified the owner of the hearing scheduled today.

Notices of the hearing date were posted as signs in the public right-of-way bounding the District Extension, and were published as a

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legal notice in the Chicago Sun-Times. A letter from Chicago Department of Transportation Deputy Commissioner William Cheaks, identified as Commission Document 8, attests that the signs advertising the hearing date were posted on November 26, 2012. A certificate from the Chicago Sun-Times attesting to the publication on November 13th, 2012, of the legal notice for today's public hearing date is identified as Commission Document 9. The public hearing notice was also posted on the Department of Housing and Economic Development's website.

Copies of photographs and text used in the Commission staff's presentation at today's hearing are identified as Commission Document 10.

And that concludes my record. HEARING OFFICER BLANCHARD: Thank you, Eleanor.

In a moment, I will rule on requests to become a party at today's hearing.

First, regarding the property owner, or their representative,' wishing to present themselves as parties to the hearing.

To reiterate: If the owner of the

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property, or their representative, only wishes to make a statement for or against the proposed landmark designation, he or she does not have to declare himself a party. A property owner may still make a verbal statement during the public statement portion of the hearing or may present for the record a written statement. A property owner also retains the right to ask questions of the Historic Preservation Division staff member who presents the preliminary landmark recommendation.

However, the Commission's Rules and Regulations give the owner of the property being considered for landmark designation a right to be a party to the hearing. If they declare themselves a party, they can_:then participate in the. hearing beyond making a verbal statement, submitting a written statement, or asking questions of the division staff after the presentation.

If declared a party, a property owner can also make a presentation for or against the proposed landmark designation. In addition to an oral or written statement, such presentations may include documents, photographs, and/or testimony from witnesses about whether or not the property

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meets landmark criteria. A party's witnesses may be questioned about their presentations by any other party, Historic Preservation Division staff, or the hearing officer.

Anyone requesting party status should have filled out a blue appearance form and returned it to a member of the Historic Preservation Division staff.

Please note that, in fairness to other parties, I will not allow potential parties to declare themselves later in the public hearing. Therefore, you should ask to be a party at this time if you wish to be considered one.

MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: Including the owner?

Including the HEARING OFFICER BLANCHARD: Yes.

MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: -- representative of the

owne r ?

HEARING OFFICER BLANCHARD: Yes. MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: So to be declared a party, I have to fill out --

HEARING OFFICER BLANCHARD: A blue form. MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: -- a blue form.

(Brief pause.)

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1-4

HEARING OFFICER BLANCHARD: Thank you.

Let the record show that Paul Saint-Vi11ers [phonetic]

MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: Saint-Villiers .

HEARING OFFICER BLANCHARD: -- Saint-Villiers of 619 Plainfield Road, Willowbrook, Illinois, representing the owner of the property being considered for designation wishes to be recognized as a party.

Other parties may include certain persons, organizations, or legal entities pertinent to these proceedings.

If you are an interested individual or a representative of an organization and simply want to make a verbal or written statement "for or against the proposed designation, you may do so without asking to be a named party to the hearing. You can also make a statement during the public statement portion of the hearing.

However, the Chicago Landmarks Ordinance states that a person, organization, or other legal entity whose use or enjoyment, or whose members' use or enjoyment of the property proposed for designation may be injured by either the

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designation of the property, or the failure to recommend designation, may become a party to this designation hearing. In addition, persons, organizations, or other legal entities residing in, leasing, or having an ownership interest in real estate located within 500 feet of the line of the property proposed for landmark designation may also become parties.

Again, the Commission's Rules and Regulations provide the same rights and obligations to a qualified interested party as it does to a property owner who has declared themselves a party. Parties can make presentations for or against the proposed landmark designation, which may include not just an oral or written statement, but also documents, photographs, or other testimony from witnesses as to whether or not the property meets landmark criteria.

I have no additional blue forms.

Next, we will hear a presentation by Matt Crawford, the Historic Preservation Division staff, summarizing the preliminary landmark recommendation for the District Extension.

MR. CRAWFORD: Thank you, Commissioner

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Blanchard.

The former St. John Lutheran Parish consists of these church and school buildings, which were designed architects Worthmann & Steinbach and built from 1905 to 1906 by German immigrants.

These buildings came to the attention of the staff and 32nd Ward Alderman Scott Waguespack, in April of this year when they were advertised for a sealed bid auction which occurred on May 11th. However, as of today, the website of the Recorder of Deeds of Cook County still shows that the Illinois Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists remains entitled to these properties --and has been in title since 1998. Both buildings appear to be vacant.

The Commission on Chicago Landmarks has preliminary found that the District Extension meets three criteria for Chicago landmark designation, including:

Criterion 1, for its exemplification of aspects of Chicago's history;
1. Criterion 4, for exemplary

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architecture;

* And Criterion 6, for the architectural and historic themes that the buildings share with the wider Ukranian Village Landmark District.

The neighborhood now know as Ukrainian Village is located in the West Town community area on the Northwest Side of Chicago.

As these 1908 photos show, the land remained largely undeveloped until the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when German immigrants began to settle in the area.

Today, Ukranian Village is one of Chicago's most intact historic residential neighborhoods, with a range of building types that were characteristics of Chicago from the 1880s through the 1920s, including workers' cottages, two- and three-flat buildings, larger apartment buildings, and a few high-style single family homes .

Though these are characteristic historic building types in Chicago, Ukranian Village stands out for its overall cohesiveness and physical integrity, evidence of careful maintenance

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by the generations of ethnic immigrants who settled here.

The neighborhood became associated with Ukranian immigrants relatively recently, however numerous ethnic groups have called it home.

The Germans came first, and the many high-quality masonry buildings of the neighborhood reflected the German fondness for and skill in brick construction.

As Germans moved up the social ladder and out of the neighborhood, they were replaced by waves of Slavic ethnic groups, including Poles, Russian, and Ukrainians.

The significance of Ukrainian Village was first recognized in 2002, when a roughly six-block area centered on Hoyne and Thomas Streets was designated as the Ukranian Village Chicago Landmark District.

Since then the district has grown incrementally. In 2004, it was extended south to include four blocks of Walton Street.

And again in 2006, the district was expanded to include blocks north and south of Walton Street.

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The St. John's Church and School Buildings, shown here in red, are proposed as a third extension to the district.

While primarily a residential neighborhood, Ukranian Village is peppered with religious buildings.

Including St. John's, shown here in red, there are ten churches and one synagogue building in the one-quarter square area shown here

The prominent role religion played in the daily life of Chicago's ethnic communities is well documented, and the variety of churches reflects the religious pluralism that attracted many immigrants to America in the first place.

Two churches, at left, are located within the current boundaries of the Ukranian Village District: The St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral and the former Christ English Lutheran Church.

Located just outside the border of the district is Louis Sullivan's Holy Trinity Orthodox Cathedral, which was designated as a Chicago Landmark individually in 1979.

Lutheran immigrants from Germany

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began arriving in Chicago as early as the 1840s, and by 1890 Lutheranism was the largest Protestant denomination in the City.

The Lutheran congregation that built the St. John Church and School Buildings was established in 1867, when they built this frame church at Bishop and Superior Streets.

In 1905 they sold this property to the Archdiocese of Chicago.

And with the proceeds from the sales, the congregation purchased undeveloped land on Hoyne Avenue for a new parish complex.

Chicago architect, Henry Worthmann, was a member of the congregation who had previously completed several church designs, and his firm of Worthmann & Steinbach was the obvious choice for the commission.

Construction began in the summer of 1905. The school opened in September of that year, and the church was dedicated in February of 1906.

The buildings are located at the southeast corner of Hoyne and Walton Street. The church building occupies the more visible corner of the parcel, and the school is located at the south

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end of the lot.

Together the buildings form a visually-unified parish complex through their Gothic Revival-style designs and common use of dark red face brick with 1 ight-co1ored accents.

The front of the church consists of a central gable flanked by a pair of buttressed towers. A carved stone portico marks the entrance to the church.

The pointed arch windows have wood tracery and leaded stained glass.

Here are a few here are a few details of the church, which illustrate the building's high degree of craftsmanship in traditional masonry.

The corbelled, or stepped, brick details are characteristic of German architectural fashions at this time, and reflect the ethnic character of the congregation.

The common brick rear elevation of the church facing the alley is decorated with blind arches, an unusual embellishment for this less-visible elevation.

Lutheran and Catholic congregations

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typically educated their children in parish schools and St. John's was no exception.

The eight-c1assroom school building was built concurrently with the church using the same materials and styling.

The importance of the school to the congregation is reflected in the handsome design of the building. The limestone portico, cream-co1ored brick, and the corbelling echo the church.

And here are a few details of the school building's fine brickwork. The German-language name of the school above the entrance graphically conveys the school's German ethnic identity.

The less-visible rear elevation of the school facing the alley is plainly treated with common brick walls and arched window openings.

As noted above, the St. John Church and School Buildings were designed by the Chicago architectural firm of Worthmann & Steinbach.

Active from 1903 to 1928, this prolific firm designed a range of building types, including commercial and residential work. However, they were best known for their Lutheran and Catholic

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churches.

This slide shows three of their most prominent churches, all designed in the Renaissance-Revival style for Polish Catholic congregations in the City.

An important episode in the history of St. John's occurred in 1907 when two members of the congregation purchased a five-acre plot to the west of the church.

The plot is shown in the background of this historic photo, which was taken from the belfry of the church.

The land was subdivided, and Walton Street extended through it. At the church's summer picnic in 1907, the lots were sold exclusively to members of the congregation, who built their houses there, forming a solid block of St. John's members.

That block survives as the 2200 block of West Walton Street, which is within the existing Ukranian Village Chicago Landmark District.

The congregation's development of this block establishes a historic link between St. John's and the larger district.

These three houses on the block were

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built by prominent members of St. John's, and all three were designed Worthmann & Steinbach, who designed the church and school, and at least thirty other residences in Ukrainian Village.

Not surprisingly then, there is a strong architectural relationship between the parish buildings and the surrounding landmark district .

In addition to the three landmark criteria just discussed, the Commission on Chicago Landmarks also preliminarily found that the St. John Church and School Buildings meet the separate integrity criterion found in the Chicago Landmarks Ordinance.

The most prominent change to the church building is the loss of its steeple, which was destroyed by fire after a lightning strike in 1935. This is a relatively common occurrence for church buildings of this vintage.

Other changes to the building include the removal of some ornament at the top of the towers and at the peak of the gable. Minor and reversible changes include the replacement of the exterior doors and the additional protective glazing

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over the stained glass windows.

The circa 1960 enclosed passage connecting the church and school buildings is not historic and could be removed.

Changes to the school building are minor and include the replacement of the entrance doors and windows. The arched portions of the windows has also been infilled with brick.

Taken together, the changes to the church and school do not hinder the buildings' ability to express their historic and architectural value.

It should be noted that the St. John Church and School Buildings were included in the preliminary recommendation for the 2004 extension to the Ukranian Village Landmark District.

At the time, the Seventh-Day Adventists used the building for religious ceremony. During that designation process, the owner did not consent; therefore, both properties were removed from the District as required by the' Chicago Landmarks Ordinance.

As noted earlier, the buildings today appear to be vacant and not in use.

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The buildings are located in the 32nd Ward, and Alderman Waguespack supports the proposed designation, and we have a letter to that effect.

The Commission on Chicago Landmarks has preliminarily identified the significant historical and architectural details as being the following:

* All exterior elevations, including rooflines of the building visible from the public rights-of-way.

Thank you.

HEARING OFFICER BLANCHARD: Thank you, Matt. And that concludes the staff's presentation. Now we will take questions for Mr. Crawford.

I want to reiterate that any property owner, whether or not a party to the hearing, and any other party may ask questions of the staff. Questions must relate to whether the proposed designation meets the criteria set forth in Section 2-120-620 of the Municipal Code.

We will begin by taking questions for Historic Presentation Division staff from the

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property owner or owner's representative.

If you have a question, please come forward and state your name and whether you are the owner, the owner's attorney, or the owner's expert witness .

MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: In my ignorance of the proceedings, I don't have a specific question, but I have quite a bit of information that I'm sure would be very beneficial to the Commission and those present from the Committee.

HEARING OFFICER BLANCHARD: So' we'll take that at the time when we hear your statement.

Are there any other questions?

There's only one party, the property owner's representative, as we've noted in the blue appearance form, and that property owner opposes the 1andma r k.

Now we will hear a presentation from the property owner's representative. Presentations may include an oral or written statement, documents, photographs, and/or testimony from the witness. Presentations should be no longer than 60 minutes and must be limited to whether the proposed designation meets the landmark criteria set forth

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in Section 2-120-620 of the Municipal Code.

Information ruled by the hearing officer as not relevant to whether the property meets landmark criteria may not be entered into the hearing record. Also, to the extent any presentations include testimony from witnesses or any other parties may question we may question the presenter providing the testimony.

Now we will hear the presentation from the sole party in opposite of a landmark designation. So, Mr. Saint-Villiers, please come forward and state your name, the organization or legal entity you represent, and the address of your property for the record.

MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: I know my address is useless ...

HEARING OFFICER BLANCHARD: Everyone.

MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: My name is Paul Saint-Villiers, and I serve as the secretary of the Illinois Association of Seventh-Day Adventists, a religious corporation established in 1890. And the primary purpose of our religious corporation is to provide ownership -- or as a holding company of all of the Adventist churches and schools throughout

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the State of Illinois. All of our congregations form a corporation, and on their behalf that corporation holds title to all real estate.

I had come initially to request a continuance of this proceeding because, as I shared with one of your Commission members, our office did not receive written notice of this hearing until yesterday when a newspaper reporter called us and had questions to ask. And I suspect that there are several reasons that that is the case.

Our corporate offices are located off of Kingery Highway in Willowbrook, outside the North-South Tollway, and all of our officers and staff live outside that area. So we would not have driven by the property on Hoyne Avenue and seen the sign; we did not receive any notice in the mail; and we don't -- I don't know that any of us receive the newspaper in which the notice was published.

I'm simply stating the facts as to why we were not aware that this hearing was taking place. But we are here today, so I guess it really is neither here nor there as to whether or not we knew in advance because. I do have everything that I would have brought had I had advance notice.

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It is my understanding that this property was purchased by the Illinois Association of Seventh-Day Adventists for our Chicago Seventh-Day Adventist Church in 1974. I heard something in the presentation that the Commission made that it wasn't purchased until '98. I don't believe that's correct. We've owned it since 1974.

It was purchased and operated as a Seventh-Day Adventist church until it was discovered that there are structural defects so serious that the congregation was in danger if they continued to worship in the building. That is the only reason that that congregation began searching for an alternative site and, ultimately, purchased the Christian Science Church on Logan Boulevard and moved their congregation to that home and began attempts to sell the Logan -- or the Hoyne Avenue prope rty.

I have in my possession two engineering studies that show, if you're familiar with the property, that the east wall of the church, which is on the alley, is beginning to bow outward toward the alley. And that wall is what holds up the horseshoe-shaped balcony in the

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sanctuary. If the wall continues to bow at the rate that it has been bowing for the last decade, in very short order that balcony is going to pull out of the wall and drop 20 feet to the ground.

The two engineering studies, one by a firm in Michigan and another from California, who were brought in to inspect the property, determined that just the structural repair without taking into consideration any other related repairs that might be desirable at the time would cost in excess of $1 million. And for that primary reason, the congregation, that did not have $1 million to invest in this beautiful historic building, began to look for an alternative location, found it, moved, and the property has been on the market since 2005.

I have in my briefcase as well a historic record of all of the contracts that have been written for sale of that property to various developers in the City of Chicago, many of them I'm sure known to this Commission, that had various types of plans for use of the structures.

One of them did intend to invest the kind of money it would take to repair it, but most of the rest when they inspected realized that

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it was best to be razed and the site redeveloped, simply because of the extreme cost and the structural defects.

Now, this whole situation has been terribly complicated, because when the congregation moved from that location, we boarded up the property and made every human attempt to keep vandals out of the building. We had an assigned watchman who came by periodically to make sure that the property wasn't being disturbed; and yet, vandals were able to slip in through basement windows at night, stole every piece of copper plumbing, every piece of copper wiring, all of the brass sconces, over 20 antique brass doorknobs, stripped the radiators off the walls and stole all of the salable guts from the radiators, stripped urinals off the walls to take out the plumbing.

Once that vandalism occurred, it left no question that that building is beyond reasonable condition for repair. The structural defects of the wall on the alley, the fact that that balcony is soon to collapse, and now all of the plumbing and electrical and many of the historic fixtures in the building no longer exist.

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There is yet one more problem that involves the City of Chicago Water Department. We were informed after the building was vacated -- it had been vacated for about three and a half years we had been informed by the watchman that he thought he heard water running as he was inspecting the property, but he couldn't identify where it was coming from. And so we began to investigate and discovered that there was water leaking somewhere under the foyer.

To make a long story short, that church and school were built on seven contiguous residential lots 100 years ago. Each one of those seven residential lots when the City was putting in the infrastructure to service those lots, they provided waterlines from the water main in the street to each of the lots. When the church was built on that residential lot, one of those water-lines, we discovered, was simply fed through the foundation wall under the foyer and beat over with a sledgehammer to seal it. It was never even noticed or seen because the basement is not occupiable. The basement is dark and smelly and 100 years old.

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When that line burst in February sometime before February of 2009, it began to fill that basement with water. It got over 2 feet deep before it was determined what the source was. And in the interim, the Water Department and I have record of every contact with the Water Department --the Water Department sent multiple crews over six months, and those crews were unable to find the leak and unable to find any shutoff valves to stop any such leaks. And even after we had a workman find the leak, they were unable to find the shutoff.

So it was eventually stopped, but what damage that water did on top of a building with a bowing wall, an about-to-co11apse balcony, with no electrical in the building, no plumbing in the building, no historic fixtures in the building. All of the pews and furniture were in such disrepair by 2005, they were also removed and hauled away.

So what you have there is a shell with serious defects and that has been terribly vandalized. Some of the stained glass have been removed and stolen as well.

That is the primary reason that for the past seven years we have rejected the option

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for historic landmark designation, simply because we knew with all of these facts known, that any potential buyer was going to have to raze the property because of the extreme expense of trying to restore it to its historic beauty and significance.

We, at one point, found a developer who was willing, as I said, to invest that money. He presented a plan to the Chicago Zoning Board that included a specific number of condominium units utilizing the church building and its shell, as historic landmark designation would require. And in order for his project to be profitable, he needed a specific number of units.

The Zoning Board apparently, as we understand from the buyer who withdrew his offer, applied the setback requirements, rather than for his entire project, applied them for each of the units, and it cost him three units and the project was no longer viable.

That is the only developer who was ever willing to invest the kind of money it would take to repair this decaying building. All of the other offers have been made by those who had other

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plans for the site, for razing of the building, and other types of development on that site.

Now, at this point, the Illinois Association of Seventh-Day Adventists I know your records show the Illinois Conference; that is a non-incorporated religious body. The corporation used to be called the Illinois Conference Association, but about 20 years ago, the word "conference" was removed because of the confusion.

But at this point, we -- truthfully, we wish -.- we see the beauty of the structure. We bought the building in 1974 because of its beauty. We wish it were feasible, practical, even possible to restore that building to its original beauty so that a historic landmark could be preserved. But with the engineering reports and the advice that we have gotten from numerous experts, it simply was not practical, and it would have taken far more than any of our congregation or our corporation had to invest in a property primarily for the purpose of preserving a historic landmark, because it can no longer function as a home for one of our congregations until that money is spent.

HEARING OFFICER BLANCHARD: Thank you.

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I would like to label the submission and summary as Exhibit 1, as submitted by Mr. Saint-Villiers.

I had a couple of questions, sir. One question I had: You purchased the property in 1 97 4.

MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: That's my understanding.

HEARING OFFICER BLANCHARD: When did the property become vacant?

MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: 2005.

The engineering reports were obtained in 2002 and I believe 2003 or '4. The congregation was told by these engineers, You need to get out now, and so the congregation moved out in 2005, and the property was immediately placed on the market and was -- it was receiving numerous bids. And as I've stated already, other departments of the City were aware, and they, were receiving requests for rezoning or special use, these types of things, since 2005.

Unfortunately, the vandalism that occurred around 2007 and '8 has rendered the building almost impossible to sell. We have attempted to still market it. And, ultimately, as

URLAUB BOWEN & ASSOCIATES, INC. 312.781.9586

you're aware, we had no choice but to turn to the auction company that we contracted with to auction the property. And that's when the Commission and the alderman became more interested in the property because of the marketing that was done to sell it through that auctioning company, Sheldon Good & Company.

HEARING OFFICER BLANCHARD: And is that your plan in the future, to continue with that property?

MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: We are willing to listen to anyone who has a reasonable, feasible option for us to exercise. It is obviously, it is our hope and desire to liquidate the property.

In fact this isn't significant to this Commission and I only present it to just show you the significant loss that is going to be taken here that property was appraised before even in its condition, before the collapse of '08, in the range of $3 million; 3 to 3.5. And we received offers, which I have documentation to show, in the 3.2 range, and they -- you know, as the years went by, as we got closer to '08 and that economic collapse was being anticipated and money began to dry up, the offers dwindled to 2.4, 2.3, and down.

URLAUB BOWEN & ASSOCIATES, INC. 312. 781.9586

The contract that was brought to us by Sheldon Good was for $700,000, and that was withdrawn. So we are virtually giving the property away. No one wants it because of the serious structural and other defects.

HEARING OFFICER BLANCHARD: Thank you for your testimony.

MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: Certainly.

HEARING OFFICER BLANCHARD: Do any other parties have questions?

MS. DiCHIERA: I have a quick question.

Has there has the building been in building court at all due to these structural issues? Are any citations on the building? So has it been

MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: I have no idea.

MS. DiCHIERA: By the City, has there been --have there been citations on the building?

MS. GORSKI: Not that we're aware of,, no.

MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: Well, it may have been beneficial because that would have forced something to be done. And I know that the City has, in the past, at City expense, demolished unsafe structures

And, you know, we purchased it as a

URLAUB BOWEN & ASSOCIATES, INC. 312. 781. 9586

small congregation. We don't have deep pockets as a corporation. We're simply facilitating the owner' ship by these relatively mid-sized congregations.

Yes ?

MS. GORSKI: If I may, I was wondering if you had copies of the engineering reports you had done?

MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: I can -- you could make photocopies of them.

MS. GORSKI: And I'd like to submit those as exhibits to this process.

And then I did have one follow-up question: You mentioned that you received offers on the property starting in 2005

MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: Correct.

MS. GORSKI: -- when the church was vacated.

So --

MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: And I have a printout of that as well, if you'd like.

Here are the two engineering reports MS . GORSKI : Okay.

And that was not due to landmark status, obviously, but rather due to the building condition that it fell through.

MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: Now, mind you, when we

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received the notice this summer that the Landmark Commission was more actively pursuing the landmark designation

MS . GORSKI : Right.

MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: -- it behooved us to be sure to speak openly and honestly with any potenti buyer as to this landmark status.

MS. GORSKI: Of course. Um-hmm.

MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: And when we completed the form that I shared with you, it was done in cooperation with the buyer. Obviously the buyer couldn't afford to invest that kind of money only to have it designated a historic landmark and not be able to do anything with it and be upside down on that.

MS. GORSKI: I do want to make a point that numerous folks came in to talk to our division about reuse of the buildings. In addition, our division here is part of the Department of Zoning, so we work closely with them on projects.

So we will check into the zoning issue as well. Thank you for bringing that to our attention.

MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: Yeah. That was about -

URLAUB BOWEN & ASSOCIATES, INC. 312. 781.9586

it was probably about six or seven years ago that we had in our files that that --

MS. GORSKI: Oh, six or seven years ago.

MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: -- redevelopment plan was submitted to the City and the Zoning Commission applied the setback differently than the engineer and architect and owner-deve1 oper had anticipated.

MS. GORSKI: Okay.

MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: And that's what reduced the number of units and killed the project.

MS. GORSKI: Thanks for the clarification. I thought that was the

MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: No.

MS. GORSKI: recent discussion.

MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: No. This recent one, we have not been informed as to the potential development or use of that property.

Do you wish copies of the --

HEARING OFFICER BLANCHARD: Do you have any other things that you'd like to submit as exhibits?

MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: Yes. I think you were interested -- let's see here ...

Yeah. This is reporting their purchase let's see ...

URLAUB BOWEN & ASSOCIATES, INC. 312. 781. 9586

HEARING OFFICER BLANCHARD: So anything that you feel is pertinent and relevant, you can definitely submit as an exhibit.

MS. GORSKI: Can I make copies of these?

MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: Yes. I have another document that is specifically the offers that we'd received. And as I read this one, it includes a lot of other different types of information --

MS. GORSKI: That's fine.

MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: -- that isn't specific to that.

MS. GORSKI: And there was one other question in regards to the flooding to the property. MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: Yes.

MS. GORSKI: So that happened after the --

MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: That happened in 2009.

MS. GORSKI: So did you have a follow-up evaluation done that looked at any possible damage to the building?

MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: We did not call the engineers back because the water did not cause, what we could visually see, any further structural p r ob1ems.

MS. GORSKI: Right. Right.

URLAUB BOWEN & ASSOCIATES, INC. 312. 781. 9586

MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: But, mind you, because there's no electricity in the building, you're in a dark, wet basement.

MS. GORSKI: Sure.

MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: But it does appear as though obvious mold problems have developed, and things of that nature, because of all the water.

And we were extremely frustrated at the City of Chicago Water Department, because we would -- we could come to the site -- I would drive in from the suburbs to the site, let them in, and, I hate to say it, but men would hold up the building for a few hours and leave and not find the leak, not find the shutoff valve, and the water continued to run until we found the problem.

MS. GORSKI: Sure.

And the basement is currently dry? The water has drained out?

MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: No, no.

It's my understanding -- well, the gentlemen who have actually been in the basement, because you have to kind of crawl to get there, is probably -- 100 years ago, is properly a dirt floor basement, or has become virtually a dirt floor

URLAUB BOWEN & ASSOCIATES, INC. 312. 781.9586

basement by decay. So you can imagine 2 feet of water on that sitting for a long time and having to just be soaked into the soil and into cracks of whatever was there.

MS. GORSKI: So you don't really know that.

MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: There's not --

MS. GORSKI: Okay. That's fine.

MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: It's not a basement you'd want to go into.

MS. GORSKI: Thank you.

HEARING OFFICER BLANCHARD: Well, thank you for your testimony and your submission. MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: Sure.

HEARING OFFICER BLANCHARD: Now we will hear statements from members of the general public in favor of the proposed landmark designation.

Let's begin with Lisa DiChiera, at 53 West Jackson, Chicago, Illinois. She is representing Landmarks Illinois.

Please come forward, state your name, your interest, and the company that you represent.

MS. DiCHIERA: Thank you.

Lisa DiChiera, director of Advocacy

URLAUB BOWEN & ASSOCIATES, INC. 312. 781.9586

Landmarks Illinois. We're here in support of the landmark designation.

We're thankful to the alderman for bringing it to the attention of the Commission and the staff because, clearly, the building and the school are appropriate to be added within the district that exists.

Clearly, as Matt showed from the map, it was carved out; and from a historic and architectural perspective meets the criteria to be an extension to this district.

We'd be interested to understand more relative to the condition of the building because, of course, Landmarks Illinois would like to be helpful in any way possible, whether it's relative to future marketing of the property or further assessment on the condition of the property, especially since this last engineering report is from so many years ago. So it is possible we could, as an organization, try to help in any way possible.

But we are here to support this

designation.

Thank you.

URLAUB BOWEN & ASSOCIATES, INC. 312. 781.9586

HEARING OFFICER BLANCHARD: Thank you.

We will now hear a statement from Jonathan Fine. He is representing Preservation Chicago in support of the landmark designation. MR. FINE: Good afternoon.

My name is Jonathan Fine, and I'm

the executive director of Preservation Chicago. And, secondly, I am also a former resident of Ukranian Village, a 17-year resident, and I continue to own property in Ukranian Village. As part of our mission at Preservation Chicago, we worked with then Alderman Ted Matlack and community residents to institute the Ukranian Village historic district. So our organization has a keen interest in the preservation of this district and part of that district where the church is.

So consequently, St. John's Church is an important element of that district, and we would very much like to see it remain. It is truly a landmark in both the large "L" and small "1" sense. So, therefore, we are here in support of this designation and we wish it to move forward.

I do want to acknowledge the challenge that we have, not only in this city but

URLAUB BOWEN & ASSOCIATES, INC. 312. 781.9586

throughout this country, of what do we do with our large, historic, religious structures. This is a sometimes impossible challenge with regards to keeping congregations strong and addressing those challenging maintenance issues. And so we do acknowledge that those challenges exist, and we, as an organization, are trying to do everything we can to make it easier for congregations not only to stay in their buildings, but also to maintain and enhance those wonderful historic buildings that not just benefit that congregation, but benefit the entire community.

Thank you.

HEARING OFFICER BLANCHARD: Are there any other questions or comments?

MS. DiCHIERA: I guess -- Lisa from Landmarks Illinois I would just like to ask further: Sir, you said that there was an offer on the building when it first went up for sale. So was that offer turned down when it was in the two to three million range or was there never a concrete offer that came f rom that?

MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: No. There were between 20 and 30 offers, both verbal and written. There

URLAUB BOWEN & ASSOCIATES, INC. 312. 781.9586

were contracts executed throughout these last seven years. Every one of them ultimately came to either a withdrawal of the offer by the potential buyer after his due diligence, for obvious reasons; or they simply, as it got closer to 2008, overestimated their ability to obtain financing, and they ultimately had to withdraw the offer.

MS. DiCHIERA: And the only other question I had was regarding the school building. Is the school building considered in the same condition or is the

MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: The school building, as far as we are aware, has no structural defects, but there was extreme vandalism in that building as well. And, of course, with no heat and no electric, the plaster, and things of that nature, over the last few years have continued to deteriorate. So I'm sure that the costs to restore that building have now escalated as a result of the vandalism and not because of specific structural defects.

HEARING OFFICER BLANCHARD: But to reiterate your point, if you did have a willing investor who wanted to rehab these buildings

MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: There was only one.

URLAUB BOWEN & ASSOCIATES, INC. 312. 781.9586

HEARING OFFICER BLANCHARD: But in the future, if one came forward, you would be

MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: Obviously.

HEARING OFFICER BLANCHARD: -- willing to recons ide r .

MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: Yes. In fact, we will do anything to liquidate that property.

Obviously we are not real estate investors. We only hold title because we had a congregation worshipping in there. We have much more important things to do than to worry about the property in Chicago that's constantly being vandalized, that is a threat to collapse, at least one wa11 of it.

HEARING OFFICER BLANCHARD: Now that we have the copies, I want to again thank you for the submissions, and I'd like to label them Exhibit 1, 2, and 3, submitted by Mr. Saint-Villiers.

As outlined in the Commission's Rules and Regulations ...

Actually, there are three documents that you have submitted, right?

MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: I brought three copies of the --

URLAUB BOWEN & ASSOCIATES, INC. 312. 781.9586

HEARING OFFICER BLANCHARD: So Exhibits 1, 2,

and 3 .

As outlined --

MR. SAINT-VILLIERS: -- information about the or concerns about the structure.

HEARING OFFICER BLANCHARD: Yes.

As outlined by the Commission's Rules and Regulations, I am required to rule on the relevancy of the submission, as a submission must relate to how the building meets or fails to meet criteria for designation. In the interest of time, I will defer my ruling until after the hearing on the significance.

We do not have an alderman's statement, and we do not have any statements in opposition to the designation by the public. Is thatcorrect?

If this is the case, this concludes today's public hearing. The Commission will consider the entire record, including the transcript of today's hearing, at its regular meeting on January 10th, 2013, and determine whether to make a final recommendation to City Council on the proposed landmark designation of the District

URLAUB BOWEN & ASSOCIATES, INC. 312.781.9586

Extension.

The meeting is open to the public and will make place at 12:45 p.m. in Room 201-A in City Hall.

Thank you again for attending today. (The pubic hearing in the above-entit1ed matter was adjourned.)

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SS :

COOK

ILLINOIS

STATE OF

COUNTY OF

Ma r c i a

Yoshizumi, a Certified

Shorthand Reporter in and for the County of Cook and State of Illinois, do hereby certify that I reported in shorthand the proceedings of said hearing as appears from my stenographic notes so taken and transcribed under my direction.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal of office at Chicago, Illinois, this 23th day of December 2012.

Illinois CSR License 84-003537

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Department of Housing and Economic Development

CITY OF Cll [('AGO

January 10, 2013 Second Report to the Commission on Chicago Landmarks on the

Ukrainian V illage District Extension: St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings 913 - 925 N. Hoyne Ave.

Pursuant to Section 2-120-650 of the Chicago Landmarks Ordinance, a public hearing was held on the proposed designation of the Ukrainian Village District Extension, which is comprised of the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Buildings. At the hearing, Mr. Paul Saint-Villiers, Corporation Secretary of the Illinois Association of Seventh-day Adventists, representing the owner of the buildings, stated that the Church building had adverse structural conditions. At the hearing Mr. Saint-Villiers also provided two reports on the condition of the structure which were prepared in 2002 and 2007 and are attached to the record of the public hearing as Exhibits 2 and 3.

Given this new information, arrangements were made by HED staff to inspect the building which were accommodated by Mr. Saint-Villiers. On December 18, 2012, staff from the Historic Preservation Division and a Conservation Inspector from the Department of Buildings conducted a non-destructive, visual inspection of the exterior, interior and attic of the Church building. The crawl space below the church was inaccessible. The exterior and interior of the school building were also inspected.

The brick east elevation (or rear wall of the Church building facing the alley) has a slight outward bulge that is slightly visible from the exterior. Signs of damage caused by the movement in this wall arc more visible on the interior where the ends of the horseshoe balcony meet the walls of the church on the north and south sides of the sanctuary. On the north side, there is a gap ranging in width from 1" to 10" between the floor of the balcony and the plaster wall. This gap appears to be caused by the outward movement of the wall. On the south side of the balcony, a similar separation was observed but it was not as large. Other conditions observed at the east wall above the balcony are large cracks in the plaster which indicate movement in the wall.

According to the structural report prepared in 2002. the church pastor at the time reported that these cracks had been visible for thirty years (i.e. since 1972) and that they had gradually increased over time. A comparison of photos from the 2002 report with the conditions observed on December 18, 2012, indicates that the movement has not increased, though this is difficult to confirm with a simple visual inspection. Similarly the visual inspection has limited value in identifying the cause of the wall's movement. Possible causes include settlement of the foundation and/or shear load on the wall caused by the fire escape mounted on its exterior. Penetrations in the masonry caused by the attachment of the tire escape may also have allowed water infiltration into the masonry and weakening of the wall.

Crawford, Matt

From:

Sent:

To:

Cc:

Subject: Attachments:

Apaiioo, Jose

Wednesday, January 02, 2013 2:43 PM Crawford, Matt

Gorski, Eleanor; Rodriguez, Irma

RE: Church and School on Hoyne - 913 N. Hoyne Inspection

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Hello,

The site is consisted of two properties. One is a school and the other is a church, both are made of brick masonry with some stone. The Church was the focus of the inspection and the dangerous and hazardous condition that will be discussed.

The church rear wall on the East elevation has a slight bulge that is slightly visible. The interior of the church is where the dangerous condition is more visible. At the balcony areas the wall and the balcony supports have separated with the wall moving outward. The separation is about 1" to 10" along the East wall on the North portion of the balcony the separation is not as large on the South portion of the balcony. There are cracks along the plaster that is next to the iron supports and along some of the interior plaster walls. The wall and the balcony have become separated over time. When the church was first constructed there was no exterior fire escape along the East elevation, years later a fire escape was added because of the exiting issue. The balconies only had one exit that was towards the front of the building with two stairs on either side that connected to the first floor and exited the building. This caused an exiting issue and the city probably did not approve the layout so a fire escape was added. As time has passed the current fire escape is not an old one but looks more modern so it must have been removed and repaired countless times.

The following are reasons for the wall issue: First the original church walls are not built to support such weight second the way the fire escape is connected, the connections do not go all the way through the walls or steel does not appear embedded into the wall like normal fire escape connections are required. Third the amount of water that has entered into the church walls has weekend the masonry walls that the amount of efflorescence is evidence of this. So as time has taken a toll, with the weight of the fire escape and the immense weakening of the masonry wail with the water penetrating the following have begun to place a strain on the wall and cause the separation.

From looking at the last architectural report that was conducted by Hensel Associates, Inc. and the contractor Wertech construction co. and comparing it to the recent inspection the wall does no appear to be moving anymore. The Wall is not dangerous and hazardous, but the fire escape should be removed to lessen any strain on the wall until the wall can be repaired and a new fire escape installed properly. A thorough tuck-pointing and steel lintel repair project should also be done. The balcony can be repaired once the exterior wall issue is corrected, both conditions could be repaired at the

same time.

I would suggest a proper structural engineer conduct a through critical exam of the area with openings of the wall to verify the fire escape connections and whether any more action should take place.

The rest of the church walls and school need tuck-pointing and the windows need repair, the school windows along the alley need to be boarded up to keep anyone from breaking them and gaining entry. The school is in need of interior repairs there are plaster cracks in the walls, but the structure is in good shape. The church owners are required to keep the area clean and should make arrangements for someone from the church to check on the property once a week.

The buildings and the site is in good shape and a good location for something new and improved.

I have attached the following photos for your use and review.

Crawford, Matt

From: Sent: To: Cc:

Subject:

Aparicio, Jose

Wednesday, January 02, 2013 4:57 PM Crawford. Matt

Gorski, E'eanor; Rodriguez, Irma

RE: Church and School on Hoyne - 913 N. Hoyne Inspection

Hello,

On more thing I did forget to advise you on. The owners must register the buildings under the vacant building program as required by code. They must also post a property manager sign on the property in case of emergency on both properties where it is visible. Please inform the current owners of this and any potential new owners.

I hope this helps and if you have any questions please call or email me.

Thank You! Jose Aparicio Building Inspector Exterior wail, Life Safety, Department of Buildings 120 N. Racine Phone: (312) 743-3511 Fax: (312) 743-7425 SI00903fdiarvofchicaqo.org

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