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Type:
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Ordinance
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Status:
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Passed
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Title:
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Historical landmark designation of Episcopal Church of Advent and Parish House at 2900 W Logan Blvd as extension to Logan Square Boulevard Landmark District
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Topic:
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HISTORICAL LANDMARKS - Designation
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Attachments:
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1. O2017-8553.pdf
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Department of Planning and Development CITY OF CHICAGO December 7,2017 The Honorable Anna Valencia City Clerk City of Chicago Room 107, City Hall 121 North LaSalle Street Chicago, IL 60602 RE: Recommendation for the designation of the Extension to the Logan Square Boulevards Landmark District: Episcopal Church of the Advent and Parish House as a Chicago Landmark; 2900 W. Logan Boulevard Dear Clerk Valencia: We are filing with your office for introduction at the December 13, 2017 City Council meeting as a transmittal to the Mayor and City Council of Chicago the recommendation of the Commission on Chicago Landmarks that the Episcopal Church of the Advent and Parish House be designated as an Extension to the Logan Square Boulevards Landmark District. The material being submitted to you for this proposal includes the: Recommendation of the Commission on Chicago Landmarks; and Proposed Ordinance. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. Eleanor Esser Gorski, AIA Deputy Commissioner Planning, Design and Historic Preservation Division Department of Planning and Development ends. Alderman Scott Waguespack, 32" Ward (via email without enclosure) 121 NORTH LASALLE STREET, ROOM 1000, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60602 ORDINANCE Extension to the Logan Square Boulevards Landmark District: Episcopal Church of the Advent and Parish House 2900-2906 W. Logan Blvd. (evens) 2550-2612 N. Francisco Blvd. (evens) 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 Extension to the Logan Square Boulevards Landmark District, comprised of the Episcopal Church of the Advent and Parish House ("the District Extension") located at 2900 W. Logan Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, legally described in Exhibit A attached hereto and incorporated herein, satisfies four (4) criteria for landmark designation as set forth in Section 2-120-620 (1), (4), (5), and (6) ofthe Municipal Code; and WHEREAS, the Building exemplifies the importance of Chicago's ecclesiastical architecture to the City's social and cultural history; and WHEREAS, the District Extension shares a common development and architectural character with the Logan Square neighborhood and the Logan Square District; and WHEREAS, the District Extension's congregation had a long history at 2900 W. Logan Boulevard. From its founding in 1901 by a small group of parishioners - including architect Elmer C. Jensen, to its growth and construction efforts in 1906 and again in 1927, to the changing demographics, whereby from the 1970s onward, the building was shared by the Iglesia Episcopal Nuestra Senora de las Americas until 2016; and WHEREAS, the District Extension possess an overall high quality of architectural design that forms a visually-cohesive building executed in both the Tudor Revival and Gothic Revival styles, complemented by similar materials, details, and scale; and WHEREAS, the District Extension is an excellent example of neighborhood-scaled ecclesiastical architecture executed in the Gothic Revival style. The Indiana limestone-clad building displays the characteristic features of the style, including the pointed-arch windows, buttresses, pointed arched archivolt and doorway, and stone tracery-framed stained glass windows; and 'i WHEREAS, the Parish House within the District Extension is an excellent example of neighborhood-based ecclesiastical architecture executed in the Tudor Revival style; including ashlar Indiana limestone cladding, battered walls, and half-timbering within the front-facing gables; and WHEREAS, the District Extension demonstrates a high degree of craftsmanship in traditional masonry construction; and l WHEREAS, Elmer C. Jensen, the architect ofthe District Extension, is a significant architect in the history of Chicago: known for his work under William LeBaron Jenney; as a partner in Jenney, Mundie, and Jensen; and for his longstanding partnership with William Bryce Mundie as part of Mundie and Jensen; and , WHEREAS, the firms of Jenney and Mundie; Jenney, Mundie, and Jensen; and Mundie and Jensen; were responsible for changing the skyline of Chicago, creating almost 30 skyscrapers between 1885 and 1939, succeeding Jenney's development ofthe nation's first skyscraper, the Home Life Insurance Building, in 1885; and WHEREAS, Jensen became known as the "Dean of Chicago Architects," for his contributions to the advancement of the field through a variety of professional organizations, his architectural abilities, his collection of archival materials, and, given that at the time of his death in 1955, he had spent seventy years in the field; and WHEREAS, Jensen was a founding member ofthe Episcopal Church ofthe Advent, where he served in many capacities including choirmaster, organist, vestryman, Chair of the Fundraising and Building Committees, and two-time church architect, over the course of his almost fifty-year membership; and WHEREAS, the Logan Square Boulevards Landmark District was designated in 2004, in order to recognize the unique character and cohesiveness of the buildings lining Logan Boulevard; and WHEREAS, the Logan Square Boulevards Landmark District is one of Chicago's most intact historic residential neighborhoods composed of masonry two- and three-flat buildings and high-style, single-family residences. Like many ethnic Chicago neighborhoods, houses of worship are interspersed around the district, and the District Extension is in keeping with the historical development, and an appropriate extension, to the Logan Square Boulevards Landmark District; and WHEREAS, consistent with Section 2-120-630 ofthe 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 November 1, 2017 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 CFTY OF CHICAGO: SECTION 1. The above recitals are hereby adopted as the findings of the City Council. SECTION 2. The Building is hereby designated a Chicago Landmark in accordance with Section 2-120-700 of the Municipal Code.|1010| m. SECTION 3. For purposes of Sections 2-120-740 and 2-120-770 of the Municipal Code governing permit review, the significant historical and architectural features of the Building are identified as: a) All exterior elevations, including rooflines, of the buildings visible from the public rights-of-way. SECTION 4. The Commission is hereby directed to create a suitable plaque appropriately identifying the Building 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. |1010| EXHIBIT A Building Address 2900-2906 W. Logan Blvd. (evens); 2550-2612 N. Francisco Blvd. (evens) Permanent Index Number 13-25-313-031-0000 Legal Description LOT 17 (EXCEPT THE WEST 5 FEET THEREOF) AND ALL OF LOTS 15 AND 16 IN BLOCK 5 THE DIVISION OF LOT 4 IN HEALD, BARRON AND OTHERS SUBDIVISION OF THE N.E. % OF THE S.W. % OF SECTION 25, TOWNSHIP 40 NORTH, RANGE 13, EAST OF THE THIRD PRINICPAL MERIDIAN, IN COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS. CITY OF CHICAGO COMMISSION ON CHICAGO LANDMARKS November 2,2017 RECOMMENDATION TO THE CITY COUNCIL OF CHICAGO THAT CHICAGO LANDMARK DESIGNATION BE ADOPTED FOR EXTENSION TO THE LOGAN SQUARE BOULEVARDS LANDMARK DISTRICT: EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF THE ADVENT AND PARISH HOUSE 2900 W. Logan Boulevard Including the Following Address Ranges: 2860-2906 W. Logan Blvd. 2550-2612 N. Francisco Blvd. Docket No. 2017-04 To the Mayor and Members ofthe 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 Extension to the Logan Square Boulevards Landmark District, comprised of the Episcopal Church of the Advent and Parish House ("the District Extension") is worthy of designation as a Chicago Landmark. On the basis of careful consideration of the history and architecture of the Building, the Commission has found that it satisfies the following four (4) criteria set forth in Section 2-120-620 of the Municipal Code: 1. 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. Its exemplification of an architectural type or style distinguished by innovation, rarity, uniqueness, or overall quality of design, detail, materials, or craftsmanship. Its identification as the work of an architect, designer, engineer, or builder whose individual work is significant in the history or development of the City of Chicago, the State of Illinois, or the United States. Its representation of an architectural, cultural, economic, historic, social or other theme expressed through distinctive area, districts, places, buildings, structures, works of art, or other objects that may or may not be contiguous. BACKGROUND The formal landmark, designation process for the Building began on September 7, 2017, when the Commission approved a preliminary landmark recommendation (the "Preliminary Recommendation") for the Building as a Chicago Landmark. The Commission found that the Building meets four (4) ofthe seven (7) criteria for designation, as well as the integrity criterion, identified in the Chicago Landmarks Ordinance (Municipal Code, Section 2-120-580 etseq.). The Preliminary Recommendation, incorporated herein and attached hereto as Exhibit A, initiated the process for further study and analysis ofthe proposed designation of the Building as a Chicago Landmark. As part of the Preliminary Recommendation, the Commission identified the "significant historical and architectural features" of the Building as: • All exterior elevations, including rooflines, of the buildings visible from the public rights-of-way. Also, as part of the Preliminary Recommendation, the Commission adopted a Designation Report, dated September 7,2017, incorporated herein and attached hereto as Exhibit B. At its regular meeting of October 5, 2017, the Commission received a statement from David Reifman, Commissioner of the Department of Planning and Development, supporting the proposed landmark designation of the Building. In a letter dated October 13, 2017, the Commission officially requested the consent to the proposed landmark designation from the owner of the Building. On October 13, 2017, the Commission received a consent form, dated October 13, 2017, and signed by Frarik Campise, JAB Real Estate, the owner of the District Extension, consenting to the proposed landmark designation of the District Extension. II. FINDINGS OF THE COMMISSION ON CHICAGO LANDMARKS WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 2-120-650 of the Municipal Code, the Commission shall notify the owner of its determination with respect to the proposed Chicago Landmark designation within 45 days after receipt of the owner's consent; and WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 2-120-690 of the Municipal Code, the Commission has reviewed the entire record of proceedings on the proposed Chicago Landmark designation, including the Designation Report and all ofthe information on the proposed landmark designation of the District Extension; and WHEREAS, the District Extension meets the four (4) criteria for landmark designation set forth in Sections 2-120-620 (1), (4), (5), and (6) of the Municipal Code; and WHEREAS, the District Extension exemplifies the importance of Chicago's public schools to the City's social and cultural history; and WHEREAS the District Extension shares a common development and architectural character with the Logan Square neighborhood and the Logan Square District; and |1010| WHEREAS, the District Extension's congregation had a long history at 2900 W. Logan Boulevard. From its founding in 1901 by a small group of parishioners - including architect Elmer C. Jensen, to its growth and construction efforts in 1906 and again in 1927, to the changing demographics, whereby from the 1970s onward, the building was shared by the Iglesia Episcopal Nuestra Sefiora de las Americas until 2016; and WHEREAS, the District Extension possess an overall high quality of architectural design that forms a visually-cohesive building executed in both the Tudor Revival and Gothic Revival styles, complemented by similar materials, details, and scale; and WHEREAS, the District Extension is an excellent example of neighborhood-scaled ecclesiastical architecture executed in the Gothic Revival style. The Indiana limestone-clad building displays the characteristic features of the style, including the pointed-arch windows, buttresses, pointed arched archivolt and doorway, and stone tracery-framed stained glass windows; and WHEREAS, the Parish House within the District Extension is an excellent example of neighborhood-based ecclesiastical architecture executed in the Tudor Revival style; including ashlar Indiana limestone cladding, battered walls, and half-timbering within the front-facing gables; and WHEREAS, the District Extension demonstrates a high degree of craftsmanship in traditional masonry construction; and WHEREAS, Elmer C. Jensen, the architect of the District Extension, is a significant architect in the history of Chicago: known for his work under William LeBaron Jenney; as a partner in Jenney, Mundie, and Jensen; and for his longstanding partnership with William Bryce Mundie as part of Mundie and Jensen; and WHEREAS, the firms of Jenney and Mundie; Jenney, Mundie, and Jensen; and Mundie and Jensen; were responsible for changing the skyline of Chicago, creating almost 30 skyscrapers between 1885 and 1939, succeeding Jenney's development of the nation's first skyscraper, the Home Life Insurance Building, in 1885; and WHEREAS, Jensen became known as the "Dean of Chicago Architects," for his contributions to the advancement of the field through a variety of professional organizations, his architectural abilities, his collection of archival materials, and, given that at the time of his death in 1955, he had spent seventy years in the field; and WHEREAS, Jensen was a founding member of the Episcopal Church ofthe Advent, where he served in many capacities including choirmaster, organist, vestryman, Chair of the Fundraising and Building Committees, and two-time church architect, over the course of his almost fifty-year membership; and WHEREAS, the Logan Square Boulevards Landmark District was designated in 2004, in order to recognize the unique character and cohesiveness of the buildings lining Logan Boulevard; and |1010|WHEREAS, the Logan Square Boulevards Landmark District is one of Chicago's most intact historic residential neighborhoods composed of masonry two- and three-flat buildings and high-style, single-family residences. Like many ethnic Chicago neighborhoods, houses of worship are interspersed around the district, and the District Extension is in keeping with the historical development, and an appropriate extension, to the Logan Square Boulevards Landmark District; and WHEREAS, consistent with Section 2-120-630 ofthe 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
THE COMMISSION ON CHICAGO LANDMARKS HEREBY:
Adopts the recitals, findings^and statements of fact set forth in the preamble and Sections I and .II hereof as me findings of th^
Adopts the Designation Report, as revised, and dated this 2nd day of November^ 201 % and
•3. Finds, based on the'DesignationM^ the,Cgm^ssipn, that the District Exterteidh thFinds that the District Extension satisfies the "integrity" requirement set forfh.in Section 2-120t630 of the Municipal Code; and
Finds that the significant historical and architectural features of the District Extension are identified as follows:
(a.) All exterior elevations, including rooflines, of the buildings visible from the public rights-of-way.
6. Recommends the designation as an Extension to the Logan Square Boulevards Landmark District.
Rafael M. Leon, (Enairman Commission on Chicago Landmarks
Dated:/r^r- L) *>6\7
STATEMENT FOR COMMISSIONER REIFMAN RE: EXTENSION TO THE LOGAN SQUARE BOULEVARDS LANDMARK
DISTRICT: THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF THE ADVENT AND PARISH
HOUSE
The Department of Planning and Development supports the designation of the Church of the Advent as an extension to Logan Square district.
When the District was designated, the Church of the Advent, along with a number of houses of worship, was identified as a contributor to the District. However, several of these congregations chose to opt out of the District.
This area of boulevards, along with many of the city's boulevards, will soon be listed on the National Register as part of the Chicago Park Boulevards Historic District.
In recent months, the church was sold to a new owner who is requesting designation. With their reuse proposed, it makes sense to add these buildings as an extension to the landmark district.
EXHIBIT A
LANDMARK DESIGNATION REPORT
Extension to the Logan Square Boulevards Landmark District:
Episcopal Church of the Advent and Parish House
2900 West Logan Boulevard
Final Landmark Recommendation adopted by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks, November 2, 2017
CITY OF CHICAGO Rahm Emanuel, Mayor
Department of Planning and Development David Reifman, 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.
Contents
Introduction |910|Logan Square History and Development |910|Design and Construction of the First Church,
Now the Parish House |910|Design and Construction ofthe Church Building 10
Architect Elmer C. Jensen 15
Criteria for Designation 20
Significant Historical and Architectural Features 22
Appendix A: Firm Name Changes 23
Selected Bibliography 24
|1010|Logan Square Boulevards District Extension: Episcopal Church of the Advent and Parish House
2900 W. Logan Boulevard
Dates of Construction: 1905-06 (Parish House), 1926-27 (Church) Architect: Elmer C. Jensen
Draftsman in the office of William LeBaron Jenney (1884-1905), Partner in Jenney, Mundie, & Jensen (1905-1907) and Mundie & Jensen (1907-1936)
This extension of the Logan Square Boulevards District includes the Episcopal Church of the Advent (1926-27) and its attached Parish House (1905-06). Located on the Northwest Side of Chicago, the Logan Square Boulevards District is one of the largest, best-preserved residential streetscapes in the City's boulevard park system. Logan, Kedzie, Palmer, and Humboldt boulevards are lined with single-family residences, two- and three-flats, and small apartment buildings combined with commercial, institutional, and religious buildings that exemplify the rapid expansion of the city's neighborhoods at the turn of the twentieth century. Overall, the buildings and the boulevards combine to form one of the most handsome historic streetscapes in Chicago.
The historic and architectural significance of Logan Square was first recognized in 2004, when a roughly 28-block area comprised of some 350 buildings was locally designated as the Logan Square Boulevards Landmark District. The district's period of significance spans from 1880 to 1930, with most of the buildings constructed between 1890 and 1920. The buildings were largely constructed in the decades' prevailing architectural trends, which created a cohesive variety of architecture. The Episcopal Church of the Advent and Parish House aligns with the architectural character of the district and the larger historical development of Logan Square.
Founded in 1901, the Episcopal Church ofthe Advent possesses a strong historic and architectural connection to the early development of Logan Square. The modest, well-crafted period revival details of the building's exterior reflect the larger architectural character ofthe Landmark District. The current building was constructed in two phases, the original church in 1905-06, which the congregation had outgrown by the 1920s, and the new church, completed in 1927. The older portion is now referred to as the Parish House and newer as the church. Both iterations were designed by prolific Chicago architect Elmer C. Jensen. Jensen lived in the Logan Square neighborhood, and served as a founding member of the congregation, choirmaster, fundraiser, church architect, and in his professional life, he was a partner in one of Chicago's leading architecture firms -Jenney, Mundie, and Jensen. The Church of the Advent was Jensen's home church, and a small professional masterpiece in which he was personally invested.
|1010|
Within the boundaries ofthe existing Logan Square Boulevards Landmark District, there are 10 additional churches (shown here) that were identified eligible for designation, but were not included in the designation, as houses of worship have the option to decline landmark designation.|1010|2521-25 W. Logan Blvd.; St. John Berchman Roman Catholic Church
2836-40 W. Logan Blvd.; Assembly of Christian Church/formerly Eleventh Church of Christ, Scientist
2900-04 W. Logan Blvd.; The Episcopal Church of the Advent and Parish House
2451-612 N. Kedzie Blvd.; Armitage Baptist Church
2412-2416 N. Kedzie Blvd.; Temple of Kriya Yoga
3058-3070 W. Palmer Blvd.; Old Holy Resurrection Serbian Orthodox Church
2157-67 N. Humboldt Blvd.; St. Sylvester Roman Catholic Church
2101-05 N. Humboldt Blvd.; Bethel Lutheran Church
1908-10 and 1900-06 N. Humboldt Blvd.; Assembly of Pentecostal Church of Jesus Christ/ formerly Bnai David Ohave Zeder Synagogue
1900-1906 N. Humboldt Blvd.; Ecclesia Evangelica Bautista/ formerly Temple Baptist Church
Logan Square History and Development
In the early part of the nineteenth century, the unincorporated settlements of Maplewood and Jefferson, that would become Logan Square, were prairies and farmland. The earliest European settlement began in 1836, when New Yorker Martin Kimbell laid claim to 160 acres of land in the township of Jefferson and other settlers soon joined him. By the 1850s, the area's first roads developed along the North West Plank Road, later named Milwaukee Avenue. Interest in the area grew during the years following the Great Chicago Fire in 1871 as the Chicago & North Western Railroad extended north and west out of Chicago, and opened its Maplewood station at Diversey and Milwaukee avenues, which spurred residential development. Particularly, moderately priced frame houses immediately began to dot the landscape, as they were cheaper to build and the wooden construction was allowed in the area - unlike the city proper where post-fire buildings were subject to strict fireproofing codes. The economical prices and speedy construction attracted large numbers of German and Scandinavian immigrants, who were moving northwestward from the city along Milwaukee Avenue.
Meanwhile, in response to the suburban development, and citizen's requests for parkland, the State of Illinois created park commissions to develop parks around the growing city. This led to the development of the park boulevard concept designed by the architects and designers of the West Park, South Park, and the Lincoln Park Commissions. The West Parks Commission was responsible for the parks that became known as Humboldt, Garfield, and Douglas Parks and the boulevards, including Logan, Humboldt, and Kedzie Boulevards, that linked the parks together. In 1871, architect and engineer William LeBaron Jenney completed the first designs for the West Parks Commission, and incorporated naturalistic features similar to those proposed by his friend Frederick Law Olmsted for the South Parks Commission. Jenney's designs, however, were only partially realized due to budget constraints and placed on hold for many years. Together, the park commissions aimed to create a series of wide, park-like boulevard medians that connected larger parks, and encircled the city an "emerald necklace" of lush, beautiful recreational and relaxation spaces, pedestrian promenades, and neighborhood anchors that would attract new residents and development.
In response to this suburban growth, the city annexed Jefferson township in 1889 and the community's name changed to Logan Square. Within a few years, the Metropolitan Elevated began operating trains that ran from the Loop to stations at Milwaukee and Fullerton, which led to even more construction and boulevards became lined with graystone and brick two- and three-flat buildings and single-family residences for the more affluent Scandinavian and German immigrants. In 1905, Jens Jensen became the chief designer for the West Parks Commission, and fully implemented the plan for the park boulevards in this area, altering and refining Jenney's previous plans.
The neighborhood has always been primarily residential, but it is also peppered with a variety of churches. The prominent role religion played in the daily life of Chicago's ethnic communities is well-documented, but it was often about more than worship, and included shared cultural experiences, such as holidays and native-language worship services, and a structure for social advancement, particularly in education, charity, and business. Many names in the Church ofthe Advent's newsletters appear to be of Scandinavian origin, but it is unknown if this was a Scandinavian-specific church.
After World War 1, the neighborhood was at the beginning of a transition period, as the first-wave settlement of Germans and Scandinavians started to move out, and Polish and Russian Jewish families started to move in. More rental apartments and flats were created during this time, and by 1925, the area's last sizable tract of land was developed. The Church of the Advent and Parish House is indicative of the neighborhood's history, including its residential development after the Chicago Fire; the creation of the park-boulevards system; the immigration of Scandinavians and Germans; and the area's plateau as development was complete, with families both settling in and moving out.
|1010|Design And Construction Of The First Church, Now The Parish House
According to various historical accounts of the congregation's founding, church members first met in 1901 at Overbeck Hall at 2517 W. Fullerton Avenue. The fledgling congregation was classified as a "mission church" by the Episcopal Diocese instead of a parish (a parish is defined as being self-supporting, while mission relies on financial support from the Diocese). During 1902 and 1903, the mission was led by Rector Daniel Goodwin and services were held at a variety of social halls in the Logan Square neighborhood. Under Reverend Goodwin's direction, the church purchased the lots where the church and parish house now stand for a total of $5,250, and the seller donated $1,000 from the sale to the church's construction funds. The Diocesan Board of Missions had offered the small congregation a gift of $1,500 on the condition that they raise enough funds to match the donation within six months. The goal was met and throughout the church's first three years, the congregation raised enough money to build a new home by soliciting donations from church members.
They commissioned one of their parishioners, architect Elmer C. Jensen, to design the new church. Jensen had been a founding a member of the church, member of the first communion class, choirmaster, and organist among other roles. By this point in his professional life, Jensen was a senior draftsman in one of Chicago's most recognized firms, the office of William LeBaron Jenney and William Bryce Mundie (Jenney & Mundie), and on his way to becoming a partner in the firm. The church does not appear to have been completed under the direction of Jenney & Mundie, but rather was a side commission, with a personal connection for Jensen.
Jensen sought to create a design that would inspire worshippers. He chronicled his desires in a 1906 article he wrote for The Advent newsletter, just after the church's opening;
Beautiful environment in a church building undoubtedly creates spiritual emotion, hence the importance of having our surroundings of good taste, harmonious in color, and above all, in perfect order. Order is said to be heaven s first lay, and if this is true of heaven, why not equally applicable to the church on earth? An environment of perfect order whether in church or in our secular surroundings, induces repose, and in the church makes the mind receptive to spiritual emotion.
After an initial round of fundraising, to generate more donations, a 1906 article in The Advent prodded parishioners:
Here is a place where a few dollars count. If this $500 can be pledged before Easter, it will mean that the Church of the Advent can have an oak front door instead of a pine one, it will mean that the windows can be filled with stained glass instead of common glass, that the heating plan can be installed, a suitable alter constructed, pews instead of chairs, etc. is it worth making a special effort? The most of our subscriptions have been for small amounts... how much will you pledge?
Ground was broken on the first church in December 1905, with the first services scheduled for June 3, 1906, however just before the opening, a fire destroyed a portion of the chapel and the service had to be postponed. After a quick rebuilding effort, within 37 days of the fire, the building was restored and dedicated on July I st.
The original church now functions as a Parish House and it is located at the rear ofthe lot behind the present church. Looking from Logan Boulevard down the Francisco Avenue elevation, the church's Tudor Revival style parish house becomes visible. The primary elevation is two-and-a-half stories tall and faces west onto
|1010|
The Church of the Advent (now the Parish House) when it was completed in 1906. The church displays hallmark characteristics ofthe Tudor Revival style including the front-facing gables, half-timbering with wood and plaster within the gables, and the rusticated masonry. (Photo from The Advent newsletter from the Elmer C. Jensen Collection, Ryerson and Burnham Libraries, The Art Institute of Chicago.)
|1010|
Reverend Gerald Moore is shown counting rolls of pennies collected by the church's Sunday school children. The Tribune called the church "the church that pennies built." (Photo from The Chicago Daily Tribune, August 8, 1926.)
(TTtTDTOfE r&oto.l
CHILDREN COLLECT 100,000 PENNIES FOR CHURCH. The Rev. Gcrland Moore of the Episcopal Church of tJic Advent .ind a group of children measuring mass of coins gathered to aid the parish's building* fund.
The Parish House was designed in the Tudor Revival style. Characteristic features of the style include the battered walls, pointed arch openings, front facing gables, and half-timbering within the gables. (Photo credit. Department of Planning and Development)
|10 10|
Francisco Avenue. A small entry projecting portico capped with a wood-shirigled gabled roof inset with half-timbering forms the primary entrance at the left-facing side. To the right-facing side, is the taller portion of the building featuring a two-story volume for the sanctuary space at the first level, situated above the raised basement. The sanctuary volume is denoted by the double-height window opening (that once housed intricate wood tracery and stained glass windows), capped by a second gabled roofline inset with half-timbering. At the basement level, beneath the large sanctuary window are two pointed-arch windows. The building's two gables are visually connected by a crow stepped gable
The west elevation is unadorned red brick with four bays of windows separated by brick buttressed piers. The south elevation of the parish house was subsumed by the 1927 church to which it is attached.
The parish house remains a fine example of the Tudor Revival style, which is loosely based on a variety of 16th century English building traditions including simple folk houses to large-scale medieval manor houses that were popular during the reign of the Tudors. The Tudor Revival style emerged in the nineteenth century as a combination of historical influences including the European Aesthetic movement, which emphasized the picturesque and art for the sake of beauty, and the Arts and Crafts movement, which focused on materials and rustic architecture, along with the Victorian-era's interest in medieval England. In the United States, the style gained popularity in the 1880s and remained steadily popular in high-end residential and institutional design throughout the turn of the twentieth century. From the late 1910s through the 1940s, the style was immensely popular in residential architecture, including small-scale single-family houses and builder tracts.
Character-defining features of the style include the overall asymmetrical composition with emphasis placed on high-pitched, gabled roofs; elaborate chimney designs and details; and a combination of masonry exteriors with ornamental half-timbering (stucco inset with wood). The style often includes small or projecting entry-ways; Gothic and rounded-arched windows; and decorative bay windows. The parish house retains many of these features including the rustic masonry construction, arched entryways, half-timbering, and asymmetrical gabled rooflines.
Design and Construction of the Church Building
In early 1910, after almost six years with the Church of the Advent, Father Goodwin resigned. His tenure was followed by less financially astute leaders, and by 1916, the Church of the Advent was heavily in debt and was forced to petition the Diocese for reversion from parish status to mission status. In The Advent newsletter, these were referred to as "very trying times...with morale... low, but faith was strong." In 1917, Reverend Gerald Moore brought a new interest in the church and shepherded a sense of community that gained new members and re-gained old members, and the mission began to regrow. Within three-and-a-half years, under his leadership, the church had received enough donations from members to eliminate its debt and reinstate its parish status. In the 1920s, in response to the congregation's growth and need for space, the congregation launched a campaign for a new, larger church.
Deemed the "Church that Pennies Built," by the Chicago Tribune, the new church was funded through a vast, energetic fundraising campaign that solicited donations from every member household and members of the community, with the enthusiastic goal to raise $60,000 in one week. 120 "soldiers" were organized into teams of six and received instructions, name cards, and addresses for prospective donors, along with a map to each house to ensure that each "campaigner may work under the most favorable time saving conditions." "A fleet of automobiles" were used and instructions were given instructing each campaigner to tell their prospects about "the comprehensive needs of the community, the necessity for more adequate facility if the church is to function for the betterment of the community and to enlist active moral and financial support ... it is to be a campaign of education and money raising."
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Pleading to the congregation through a letter in The Advent, Reverend Moore wrote, "I have never made an appeal that the Advent has not answered. NO goal has been set that we have not finally reached ... work and give most generously, that the GOAL of $60,000 may be reached by February 15th." The $60,000 goal was slightly less than half of the estimated construction costs of $125,000, with the remaining $60,000 secured through a five-year mortgage. In the same newsletter, architect Elmer Jensen penned an essay entitled "A Plea for Beauty and Order in Our Church," where he wrote:
There are those who feel that a church building should be simple even to bareness, and others who realize what are the qualities of a church. I quote from Cram's Church Building: 'First of all, a church is a house of God, a place of His earthly habitation, wrought in the fashion on heavenly things, a visible type of heaven itself.' Speaking of medieval cathedrals, he says, 'all the wonders of art-the hand-maid of religion, all the treasures gatheredfrom many lands, ... show the deep devotion of faithful men, and their solemn knowledge of the majesty of that presence that should enter and dwell therein.
As the congregation reached its fundraising goal and with the remainder of the financing secured through the bank, the church's Building Committee comprised of the Rector, Wardens, and Jensen, visited several of the Episcopal Diocese's recently constructed and remodeled churches on the North Shore and the western suburbs for design inspiration. In addition to the sanctuary, the program for the church included space for religious education, and the work of volunteer guilds.
In The Advent, Jensen wrote about his plans for the design of the new church, affirming that the building would be designed in what is "commonly called the Gothic Style;.which is considered the style best adapted for Episcopal churches." With construction funds secured, the Building Committee then spent April 1926 collecting donations for Jensen's services to draft the architectural plans during May, anticipating that construction would start in early June. The Advent praised Jensen, giving him all credit by saying, "Again* Mr. Elmer Jensen came to the fore and his plans for the new church as a definite part of the chapel were accepted. Work went rapidly on the new structure." Between June 1926 and June 1927, the church was constructed mostly in keeping with Jensen's plans.
Starting from the Logan Boulevard elevation; the building is two-and-a-half stories clad in light gray Indiana limestone with a gabled roof covered in green slate shingles; with a stepped gabled parapet, typical of Gothic buildings. Raised up a few steps from the sidewalk level is the entry portico, a smaller one-story block, capped with stepped gable parapet and flat roof. The pair of stained wooden doors with a matching wooden tympanum above is surrounded by a Gothic-arched archivolt, all of which is flanked by three-quarter-height, buttressed piers ending in pointed arches, inset with Gothic quatrefoils. In terms of exterior design, the entry portico eases the transition from the taller mass of the sanctuary space, around the corner to the side aisle elevation, which is composed of buttressed piers alternating with the stained glass windows. The stained glass windows for the church were designed and created by the Linden Glass Company, a Chicago-based studio (cl 888-1934), best known for their earlier work for Prairie school masters, including Frank Lloyd Wright and George W. Maher.
The east-facing Francisco Avenue elevation consists of five bays set off by of buttressed piers. The mass is divided into two volumes with a lower projection that contains the church's single side aisle and the upper, inset portion of the sanctuary volume. Each bay of the lower volume contains a gang of three stained glass windows with slight Gothic-arched limestone tracery inset within a rectangular opening, while the upper level of windows contains an intricate composition of limestone tracery and stained glass, inset within a Gothic arched opening. The west-facing elevation is composed of four bays set off by buttressed piers with double-height Gothic-arched stained glass windows. The first bay is clad in the same Indiana limestone as the rest of the church, while the other bays are clad in a smooth, light gray brick.
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DEDICATE NEW EPISCOPAL CHURCH TODAY
After the intense fundraising campaign and months of construction, the Church of the Advent was dedicated in 1927. (Photo from The Chicago Daily Tribune, October 16, 1927)
The new Episcopal Church ol the Advent at 2300 Logut boulevard, which will be dedicated todi; by Bishop Charles P. Anderson. The dedication service will open a week ol lestivities at the church The pastor is the, Rev. Gerald Grattan Moore.
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The Church ofthe Advent in March 2017.
B. C. Photos of The Episcopal Church ofthe Advent, taken March 2017.
A. Francisco Avenue elevation with projecting side aisle and clerestory pointed arch stained glass win-
dows. The parish house can be seen at the far right.
Gothic-arched window with limestone tracery and stained glass window at the front elevation.
The pointed arch doors surrounded by a limestone archivolt.
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F.
Photos ofthe Parish House, taken March 2017.
Francisco Avenue elevation of the Parish House.
Detail of the entryway to the Parish House, not the arched entry board and batten application within the gable, and the small stained glass windows.
Detail of the stained glass windows along the side aisle ofthe church.
Photo of the stained glass windows, designed by the Linden Glass Company, (looking out from sanctuary on to east side yard).
The Church of the Advent exemplifies the Gothic Revival style of architecture, one of the most popular and important historically-based styles employed in the United States during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Based on medieval European buildings from the mid-12th through 16th centuries, a more formal version of Gothic Revival quickly gained momentum, particularly for ecclesiastical architecture.
One of the first examples of.Gothic Revival in the U.S. is New York's Trinity Church (1839-1846, extant) by architect Richard Upjohn, who is regarded as the father of the movement in America. St. Patrick's Cathedral (1858-1895, extant) by James Renwick, also in New York, is another prominent example of the style. Ren-wick later designed one of Chicago's best-known Gothic Revival churches, Second Presbyterian Church (1874, 1900, extant, 1939 S. Michigan Avenue, designated Chicago Landmark). Other prominent examples of the Gothic Revival in Chicago, include the Cathedral of St. James (1856-7, 1875, extant, 65 E. Huron Street); Holy Family Church (1858-60, extant, 1800 W. Roosevelt Road); and the neighborhood-scaled Episcopal Church of the Atonement (1889-90, extant, 5749 N. Kenmore Avenue) by Henry Ives Cobb and later, J.E.O. Pridmore.
In addition to churches, the style was also widely used for university buildings, where it is often referred to as "Collegiate Gothic." The popularity was largely due to the historical influences of English universities, such as Oxford and Cambridge, on American higher education standards, combined with the medieval Gothic style's historical associations with moral uplift. The Gothic Revival style prevailed, particularly for ecclesiastical purposes, well into the 1930s and 1940s. Characteristic features of the style include an overall vertical emphasis, pointed arch doors and windows, combined with a variety of other architectural elements such as buttresses, towers, stained glass windows, and ornamental tracery. All of these features can be seen in the design of The Church of the Advent.
Architect Elmer C. Jensen
Elmer C. Jensen was bom in Chicago on March 18, 1870, to Danish immigrants, John and Sabine (Petersen) Jensen. Upon his arrival in Chicago in 1863, the elder Jensen started his career as a construction worker and shortly after the Chicago Fire, he founded a successful contracting company, which he owned and operated for more than forty years. The Jensens originally settled in suburban Maplewood, northwest of Chicago, and later in Irving Park.
Even as a child, Jensen knew he wanted to become an architect, motivated by seeing his father at work and his friendship with a neighbor, William Jones, who worked in the office of William LeBaron Jenney (1832-1907). Jones taught Jensen architectural drafting in his house at night. When position for an errand boy opened in the office, Jensen was hired. He joined Jenney's office at the same time that the Home Life Insurance Building, the first "skyscraper" was being constructed. Jensen's job was to carry the blueprints from Jenney's office to the construction site. He went on to study architectural drawing in night school at the Art Institute of Chicago and while still a teenager, he became a junior draftsman in the office.
Jenney, Mundie, and Jensen
When Jenney added William Bryce Mundie (1863-1939) as his partner in 1891, the firm was renamed Jenney and Mundie. Under the partners' direction, Jensen aided in the designs for the Leiter II Building (1891, extant, 403 S. State Street, designated Chicago Landmark); Ludington Building (1891, extant, 1104. S. Wabash Avenue, designated Chicago Landmark); Manhattan Building (1891, extant, 431 S. Dearborn Street, designated Chicago Landmark); the New York Life Building (1894, 1898, extant, 37-43 S. LaSalle Street, designated Chicago Landmark); and the National Life Building (1902, extant) among others.
In 1905 when Jenney retired and Jensen was promoted to partner, the firm's name changed to Jenney, Mundie,
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MR. ELMER JENSEN Member of the first Confirmation Closs Architect of the Chapel and Church The Bronze Plaque placed on the porch of the Church to his honor bears these words of tribute:
A.
"His vision together with his loyal and faithful service to this parish from its beginning were effective instruments in rearing this church, to the Glory of God."
The Church of the Advent's The Advent newsletter, often praised their great architect, Elmer C. Jensen, for his contributions to the church, such as this article in 1927 that includes the text for a bronze plaque installed on the building as a tribute to Jensen. (Photo from The Advent newsletter from the Elmer C. Jensen Collection, Ryerson and Burnham Libraries, The Art Institute of Chicago.)
Holy Family Church was one of Chicago's early Gothic Revival Churches, completed in 1860. (Photo from The Historic American Buildings Survey.)
Jensen and the Building Committee likely toured this church, The Episcopal Church ofthe Atonement, at 5749 N. Kenmore Avenue, in the Edgewater Neighborhood. Jensen' original plan for the Church of the Advent had the central entry pavilion located beneath the sanctuary's stained glass windows. The Church ofthe Atonement was designed by Henry Ives Cobb in 1889, with an addition to the church and a parish house completed in 1919 by architect J.E.O. Pridmore. (Photo Credit: theevengelicalcatholicchurch.com )
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c.
Jensen, known as the "Dean of Chicago Architects," had a prolific career in the field.
Jensen started his career as an errand boy in the office of William LeBaron Jenney in 1885. The date of this photo is unknown, though it is likely 1885-1890. (Photo from the Elmer C. Jensen Collection, Ryerson and Burnham Libraries, The Art Institute of Chicago.)
Mundie and Jensens' design for the Union League Club Building was also completed in 1926. (Photo from the Elmer C. Jensen Collection, Ryerson and Burnham Libraries, The Art Institute of Chicago.)
Jensen was a draftsman in Jenney and Mundie's firm at the time the Manhattan Building, 431 S. Dearborn St., was constructed in 1895. (Photo from the Historic American Buildings Survey Collection, Library of Congress, 1964.)
Mundie and Jensen were responsible for a number of buildings in the Motor Row Landmark District, including this one, the Locomobile Showroom (1909) at 2000 S. Michigan Ave. (Photo Credit: Department of Planning and Development, 2000). 17
and Jensen. When Jenney died two years later, the firm's name changed once again to Mundie & Jensen, which endured for the next three decades (1907-1936). When Mundie and Jensen added two partners in 1936, the firm's name changed to Mundie, Jensen, Bourke & Havens (1942-1944). The Mundie and Jensen partnership lasted until Mundie's death in 1939, though the name of the firm carried on until 1946, as Jensen reverted back to it after partners Rourke and Havens left the firm in 1944.
Mundie and Jensen's work included the designs for several showrooms along Chicago's Motor Row (a designated Chicago Landmark District), including the Pierce Arrow Automobile Co. Showroom (1909, extant, 2420 S. Michigan Avenue); the Schillo Motor Sales Co. Showroom (1917, extant, 2317 S. Michigan Avenue); the Packard Motor Co. Warehouse Building (1915, demolished, 2338-42 S. Michigan Avenue); the Locomobile Motor Co. Showroom (No.l) (1909, extant, 2000 S. Michigan Avenue); Detroit Electric Automobile Co. Showroom (1909, 2416 S. Michigan Avenue); and other commissions across the city including Consumer's Building (1913, extant, 220 S. State Street); LeMoyne Building (1915, extant, 180 N. Wabash Street); the floating foundation for the Fair Store (1892-97, with Jenney, and structural remodel 1923-4, demolished, 126-44 S. State Street); Singer Building (1925-6, extant, 120 S. State Street); Union League Club, of which both men were long-time members (1928, extant, replaced Jenney's original building, 65 W. Jackson Street); and the West Town State Bank (1930, extant, 2400 W. Madison Street, designated Chicago Landmark).
With decades of experiences together, aside from being successful business partners, Jensen and Mundie were great friends. After Mundie's death, Jensen assumed the role of acquiring and archiving Mundie's papers and drawings, a process he also undertook with Jenney's archives. In 1939, when the Home Life Insurance Building was being demolished, Jensen provided plentiful first-hand accounts of the building's innovative construction, and wrote sections of the report that was produced to document the building's demolition. That report was also used to record and recognize Jenney's achievements and it authenticated the Home Life Insurance Building as the first skyscraper.
Jensen's admiration and indebted gratitude to Jenney was evident throughout his life and he was the self-appointed keeper of Jenney's legacy. Jensen acquired many of Jensen's drawings and penned many essays, articles, and speeches on Jenney and the steel skeleton frame. Jensen felt a great responsibility to the legacy of his mentors and former partners, and in his work and contributions to the architecture profession overall. Jensen is also believed to have launched the Architects Microfilm Project at the Burnham Library at the Art Institute of Chicago, which still houses valuable and irreplaceable drawings and records from Chicago firms.
Even during his life, Jensen was known as the "Dean of Chicago Architects" an appropriate title given that upon his death in 1955, he had spent nearly seventy years in the field. A 1952 biographical profile in the Tribune notes that he was "given about every honor [that] members of his profession in Chicago have been able to bestow [upon him]." His list of membership organizations and positions held is lengthy, including: multiple-time Chair ofthe Illinois Society of Architects; Chair of the Chicago Housing Congress; member of the Chicago Plan Commission and the Chicago Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, where he was elevated to Fellow (FAIA) in 1913, and served as national Director and Second Vice President; President of the Chicago Chapter of the AIA, and founding member and first President of the Chicago Building Congress.
In addition to his professional achievement, Jensen was equally devoted to the Episcopal Church of the Advent. He was widely admired by the congregation, who often complimented Jensen noting his "praiseworthy ambition, and his great capacity for hard work. He belongs to a very limited class of people who can do things." Jensen's life was interwoven with the church's history - a fact recognized by the church at the dedication of the new church in 1927, when the congregation installed a bronze plaque dedicated to their great architect, Jensen.
In his personal life, Jensen married Mary Nagle (1872-1961) in 1900, who he had met at church while visiting
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Buffalo, New York, and together they had one son, John C. Jensen. Jensen died in South Haven, Michigan in 1955 and was buried at Graceland Cemetery in Chicago.
Later History of the Congregation
As far back as the 1920s, after World War I, the demographics of Logan Square started shifting away from the once-dominant Norwegian, Danish, and German presence giving way to new Polish and Russian Jewish populations as the first settlers moved father into the suburbs. The neighborhood's population started to decline in the 1930s and in the 1950s, though this was reversed in the mid-1970s when Latino populations, largely from Mexico and Cuba, moved into Logan Square. During this time, the congregation at the Episcopal Church of the Advent began to share the church building with the Diocese's oldest Latino congregation, Nuestra Senora de las Americas. The dwindling congregation at the Episcopal Church ofthe Advent held its final service in 2016.
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Criteria for Designation
According to the Municipal Code of Chicago (Section 2-120-690) the Commission on Chicago Landmarks has the authority to make a final recommendation of landmark designation 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 possess sufficient historic design integrity to convey its significance. The following should be considered by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks in determining whether to recommend that the Episcopal Church of the Advent and Parish House 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.
The Episcopal Church of the Advent (1927) and Parish House (1906) share a common development history and architectural character with the Logan Square neighborhood and the Logan Square Boulevards Landmark District.
The Episcopal Church of the Advent and Parish House's congregation had a long history at 2900 W. Logan Boulevard. From its founding in 1901 by a small group of parishioners - including architect Elmer C. Jensen, to its growth and construction efforts in 1906'and again in 1927, to the changing demographics, whereby from the 1970s onward, the building was shared by the Iglesia Episcopal Nuestra Senora de las Americas until 2016.
Criterion 4: Exemplary Architecture
Its exemplification of an architectural type or style distinguished by innovation, rarity, unique-ness, or overall quality of design, detail, materials, or craftsmanship. >
The Episcopal Church of the Advent and Parish House together possess an overall high quality of architectural design that forms a visually-cohesive building executed in both the Tudor Revival and Gothic Revival styles, complemented by similar materials, details, and scale.
The Episcopal Church of the Advent is an excellent example of neighborhood-scaled ecclesiastical architecture executed in the Gothic Revival style. The Indiana limestone-clad building displays the characteristic features of the style, including the pointed-arch windows, buttresses, pointed arched archivolt and doorway, and stone tracery-framed stained glass windows.
The House is an excellent example of neighborhood-based ecclesiastical architecture executed in the Tudor Revival style. Attached to the church building, the parish house displays the characteristic features of the style, including ashlar Indiana limestone cladding, battered walls, and half-timbering within the front-facing gables.
Both the Episcopal Church of the Advent and the Parish House demonstrate a high degree of craftsmanship in traditional masonry construction.
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Criterion 5: Work of Significant Architect or Designer
Its identification as the work of an architect, designer, engineer, or builder whose individual work is significant in the history or development ofthe City of Chicago, the State of Illinois, or the United States.
Elmer C. Jensen, the architect of the Church of the Advent and Parish House, is a significant architect in the history of Chicago: known for his work under William LeBaron Jenney; as a partner in Jenney, Mundie, and Jensen; and for his longstanding partnership with William Bryce Mundie as part of Mundie and Jensen.
The firms of Jenney and Mundie; Jenney, Mundie, and Jensen; and Mundie and Jensen; were responsible for changing the skyline of Chicago, creating almost 30 skyscrapers between 1885 and 1939, succeeding Jenney's development of the nation's first skyscraper, the Home Life Insurance Building, in 1885.
Over his long career, Jensen became known as the "Dean of Chicago Architects," for his contributions to the advancement of the field through a variety of professional organizations, his architectural abilities, his collection of archival materials and given that at the time of his death in 1955, he had spent seventy-years in the field.
Jensen was a founding member of the Episcopal Church of the Advent, where he served in many capacities including choirmaster, organist, vestryman, Chair of the Fundraising and Building Committees, and two-time church architect over the course of his almost fifty-year membership.
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 Logan Square Boulevards Landmark,District was designated in 2004, in order to recognize the unique character and cohesiveness of the buildings lining Logan Boulevard.
The Logan Square Boulevards Landmark District is one of Chicago's most intact historic residential neighborhoods composed of masonry two- and three-flat buildings and high-style, single-family residences. Like many ethnic Chicago neighborhoods, houses of worship are interspersed around the district, and the Episcopal Church of the Advent and Parish House are in keeping with the historical development and an appropriate extension to the Logan Square Boulevards Landmark District.
Integrity Criterion
The integrity of the proposed landmark must be preserved in light of its location, design, setting, materials, workmanship and ability to express its historic community, architecture or aesthetic value.
The Church of the Advent and Parish House has retained its original location, along Logan Boulevard, from the time the church purchased the land in 1905 and moved onto the site in 1906, until it closed its doors in 2016.The immediate setting of the church has remained the same since 1927, when the new church opened at the comer of Logan Boulevard and Francisco Avenue, with no major changes to the exterior since that time.
Overall the buildings display a high level of integrity, with the design intent clearly evident in the Church and Parish House, as both continue to express their historic associations and character-defining architectural features. The most significant alterations occurred at the Parish House, where a portion of the building was demolished to make way for the 1927 church. The windows and doors of the Parish House have also been replaced. There
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appear to be no major exterior changes to the 1927 church, aside from the addition of non-historic security acrylic glazing over the basement-level windows.
Significant Historic and Architectural Features
Whenever a building, structure, object, or district 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 upon its evaluation of the Episcopal Church of the Advent and Parish House, Commission staff recommends that the significant features be identified as follows:
All exterior elevations, including rooflines, of the buildings visible from the public rights-of-way.
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Appendix A: Firm Name Changes
1868-69: Loring and Jenney (Sanford E. Loring and William LeBaron Jenney) 1870: William LeBaron Jenney
1871: Jenney, Schermerhorn, & Bogart (with C.E. Schermerhorn and (unknown) Bogart) 1872-87: William LeBaron Jenney
88: Jenney & Otis (with William Augustis Otis)
91: William LeBaron Jenney
1891-1905: Jenney and Mundie (with William Bryce Mundie)
1905-07: Jenney, Mundie, and Jensen (Jenney promotes Jensen to partner and retires)
1907-1936: Mundie and Jensen (Name changed when Jenney died.)
1936-1944: Mundie, Jensen, Bourke & Havens (with Robert E Rourke and George Havens)
1944-1946: Mundie & Jensen (Mundie is deceased, but Jensen reverts to this name)
1946-52: Mundie, Jensen & McClurg (Jensen with Verne O. McClurg)
1952: Jensen, McClurg, & Halstead
1953-present: Jensen & Halstead
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Selected Bibliography
Chicago Tribune, various dates.
Chicago Historic Resources Survey, 1983-1995.
City of Chicago. Historic Building Permit Records.
Commission on Chicago Landmarks. Logan Square Boulevards District Landmark Designation Report. Chicago: City of Chicago, 2004.
Commission on Chicago Landmarks. Ukranian Village District Extension III Landmark Designation Report. Chicago: City of Chicago, 2014.
Elmer C. Jensen Papers, various, Ryerson and Burnham Library, The Art Institute of Chicago.
Harris, Cyril M. American Architecture An Illustrated Encyclopedia. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1998.
Lane, George A., Chicago Churches and Synagogues: An Architectural Pilgrimage. Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1981.
"Logan Square." Encyclopedia of Chicago.
Rifkind, Carole. A Field Guide to American Architecture. New York: New American Library, 1980.
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Acknowledgements
City of Chicago
Rahm Emanuel, Mayor
Department of Planning and Development
David Reifman, Commissioner
Patricia A. Scudiero, Managing Deputy Commissioner, Bureau of Zoning and Land Use Eleanor Esser Gorski, Deputy Commissioner; Planning, Design & Historic Preservation Division
Project Staff
Susan Parks, research, writing, photography, editing, layout Matt Crawford, editing
Special thanks to Logan Square Preservation, Andrew Schneider, President and Elizabeth Blasius, Board of Directors for their research assistance.
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COMMISSION ON CHICAGO LANDMARKS
Rafael M. Leon, Chairman
James M. Houlihan, Vice-President
David L. Reifman, Secretary
Gabriel Ignacio Dziekiewicz
Juan Gabriel Moreno
Carmen Rossi
Mary Ann Smith
Richard Tolliver
Ernest C. Wong
The Commission is staffed by the:
¦ _T1 .¦CHICAGO DEPARTMENT .OF-
M _M ¦ . JP PLANNING.* O'EyELbPMErJ.f-'
Department of Planning and Development
Bureau of Zoning and Land Use
Planning, Design and Historic Preservation Division
City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle St., Room 1000
Chicago, Illinois 60602
312.744.3200 (TEL)
Printed November 2017.
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