Department of Planning and Development city of chicago
October 19,2018
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 West Side YMCA/YWCA Complex be designated as a Chicago Landmark, 1513-1539 W. Monroe and 101-109 S. Ashland
Dear Clerk Valencia:
We are filing with your office for introduction at the October 31, 2018, City Council meeting as a transmittal to the Mayor and City Council of Chicago the recommendation of the Commission on Chicago Landmarks that the West Side YMCA/YWCA Complex be designated as a Chicago Landmark.
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. Sincerely,
Eleanor Esser Gorski, AIA Bureau Chief
Bureau of Planning, Historic Preservation, and Sustainability Department of Planning and Development
ends.
cc: Alderman Jason C. Ervin, 28th Ward (via email without enclosure)
121 NORTH LASALLE STREET, ROOM 1000, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60602
ORDINANCE
c2 ~1
West Side YMCA/YWCA Complex Zj- F:
1513-1539 W. Monroe and 101-109 S. Ashland r;
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 Landmark^ -S^ (the "Commission") has determined that the West Side YMCA/YWCA Complex (the "BuiidingJ, ^ located at 1513-1539 W. Monroe and 101-109 S. Ashland, Chicago, Illinois, legally describeoin Exhibit A attached hereto and incorporated herein, satisfies three (3) criteria for landmark designation as set forth in Section 2-120-620 (1), (4) and (5) of the Municipal Code; and
WHEREAS, the West Side YMCA/YWCA complex exemplifies the importance of the Young Men's Christian Association and the Young Women's Christian Association to the social and cultural history of the City of Chicago; and
WHEREAS, the complex served as a regional headquarters for the Chicago YMCA and an important center for social, educational, and recreational activities in the Near West Side neighborhood for nearly seventy years; and
WHEREAS, during the first half of the 20th century, the YMCA and YWCA developed a comprehensive roster of programs and services at its West Side complex that helped young men and women, many of whom were recent immigrants, to assimilate, learn English, find jobs, and maintain a moral compass while living in the city; and
WHEREAS, with dormitories for men and women, the West Side YMCA/YWCA also offered clean and safe lodging for hundreds of young people. During World War I and World War II, the complex was also an importance center of services and activity for soldiers and returning veterans; and
WHEREAS, the West Side YMCA/YWCA complex is a handsome and intact grouping of buildings that reflect the enduring influence of Classical precedents on institutional architecture in Chicago and throughout the United States; and
WHEREAS, the three YMCA buildings on Monroe Street are fine institutional examples of the Classical Revival style, which was popularized through the "White City" design of the 1893 Columbian Exposition and the resulting City Beautiful movement; and
WHEREAS, the YWCA Buildings on Ashland Avenue are excellent institutional examples of the Georgian Revival style, a Classically-inspired architectural style that grew out of a renewed interest in the colonial period in America at the end of the 19th century; and
WHEREAS, the central building in the West Side YMCA/YWCA complex was designed by the architecture firm of Perkins, Chatten, & Hammond, a noted and prolific Chicago firm that produced many significant designs between 1927 and 1933, including the Northwest Tower (1929) in Wicker Park and the Jones Armory (1931) in Washington Park; and
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WHEREAS, Perkins, Chatten & Hammond also designed several other important YMCA buildings in Chicago, most notably the Victor Lawson YMCA Building (1931); and
WHEREAS, Dwight Heald Perkins was a significant architect in the context of Chicago architecture. As Architect for the Chicago Board of Education, Perkins designed more than 40 school buildings and additions to existing building, many of which are innovative in overall design and spatial planning; and
WHEREAS, as a private architect, Perkins designed many significant buildings in Chicago and elsewhere, including the South Pond Refectory (1908, now Cafe Brauer) and the Lincoln Park Lion House (1912), both Chicago Landmarks; and
WHEREAS, Perkins is significant in Chicago planning history as a strong advocate for Chicago parks and playgrounds and for the creation of the Forest Preserves of Cook County District; and
WHEREAS, the YMCA dormitories at 1513-1515 W. Monroe St. and the YMCA building at 5121-1529 W. Monroe St. were designed by Chicago architect Robert C. Berlin. Berlin designed numerous YWCA buildings in Chicago, including the Wabash Avenue YMCA (1911-1913, listed as a significant structure in the Black Metropolis-Bronzeville Chicago Landmark District) and the YMCA Hotel (1916, listed on the National Register of Historic Places). As lead architect of the firm Berlin, Swern & Randall, Berlin also designed the Harriet Hammond McCormick YWCA Building (1928), and the South Chicago YMCA (1926); and
WHEREAS, the YWCA building at 105-109 S. Ashland Ave. (1931) was designed by Chicago architect Robert DeGolyer. De Golyer was one of Chicago's most notable architects of luxury high-rise apartment buildings in the 1920s; with partner Walter T. Stockton, he designed 1120 N. Lake Shore Dr. (1925), 1320 N. State St. (1926) and the Ambassador East Hotel (1927). De Golyer also designed the Powhatan Apartments with Charles L. Morgan in 1927, and was lead architect in the design of the Lathrop Homes (1938, listed on the National Register of Historic Places); and
WHEREAS, consistent with Section 2-120-630 of the Municipal Code, the Building has 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,
WHEREAS, on September 6, 2018, the Commission adopted a resolution recommending to the City Council of the City of Chicago (the "City Council") that the Building 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 Building is hereby designated a Chicago Landmark in accordance with Section 2-120-700 of the Municipal Code.
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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:
All exterior elevations, including rooflines, of the Building that are visible from the public rights-of-way.
The single-story brick addition that extends from the south elevation of 1531-39 W. Monroe Street was constructed between 1963 and 1970 to house handball courts and is considered a non-historic addition. The metal-clad pedestrian bridge that extends from the southwest corner of 1531-39 W. Monroe Street to the southeast corner of 105-109 South Ashland Avenue (constructed c. 1955) is also considered a non-historic addition. These additions may be removed from the original structure, or more significant alterations could be proposed, subject to the review of the Commission. The foregoing is not intended to limit the Commission's discretion to approve other changes.
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.
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EXHIBIT A
Building Address
1513-1539 W. Monroe and 101-109 S. Ashland
Permanent Index Numbers
17-17-106-001-0000 17-17-106-002-0000 17-17-106-017-0000 17-17-106-018-0000
Legal Description
THE NORTH 43 FEET OF LOT 15 IN PLAT OF SURVEY'S SUBDIVISION, A RESUBDIVISION OF LAFLIN AND WALKER'S SUBDIVISION OF BLOCK 8 IN CANAL TRUSTEE'S SUBDIVISION OF THE WEST Vi AND THE WEST V2 OF THE NORTHEAST % SECTION 17 TOWNSHIP 39 NORTH, RANGE 14 EAST OF THE THIRD PRINCIPAL MERIDIAN, IN COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
THE SOUTH 46 FEET OF THE NORTH 89 FEET OF LOT 15 IN LAFLIN AND WALKER'S SUBDIVISION OF BLOCK 8 IN CANAL TRUSTEE'S SUBDIVISION OF THE WEST V2 AND THE WEST V2 OF THE NORTHEAST % OF SECTION 17 TOWNSHIP 39 NORTH, RANGE 14 EAST OF THE THIRD PRINCIPCAL MERIDIAN, IN COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
LOTS 1 THROUGH 5 IN THE SUBDIVISION OF LOTS 11 THROUGH 14 IN LAFLIN AND WALKER'S SUBDIVISION OF BLOCK 8 IN CANAL TRUSTEE'S SUBDIVISION OF THE WEST Vi AND THE WEST V2 OF THE NORTHEAST lA SECTION 17 TOWNSHIP 39 NORTH, RANGE 14 EAST OF THE THIRD PRINCIPAL MERIDIAN, IN COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
LOTS 6 THROUGH 10 IN LAFLIN AND WALKER'S SUBDIVISION OF BLOCK 8 IN CANAL TRUSTEE'S SUBDIVISION OF THE WEST AND OF THE WEST V2 OF THE NORTHEAST Va OF SECTION 17 TOWNSHIP 39 NORTH, RANGE 14 EAST OF THE THIRD PRINCIPAL MERIDIAN, IN COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
CITY OF CHICAGO COMMISSION ON CHICAGO LANDMARKS
September 6, 2018
RECOMMENDATION TO THE CITY COUNCIL OF CHICAGO THAT CHICAGO LANDMARK DESIGNATION BE ADOPTED FOR
WEST SIDE YMCA/YWCA COMPLEX 1513-1539 W. Monroe and 101-109 S. Ashland
Docket No. 2018-06
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 West Side YMCA/YWCA Complex (the "Building") 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 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.
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.
I. BACKGROUND
The formal landmark designation process for the Building began on June 7, 2018, 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 three (3) of the seven (7) criteria for designation, as well as the integrity criterion, identified in the Chicago Landmarks Ordinance (Municipal Code, Section 2-120-580 et seq.). As part of the Preliminary Recommendation, the Commission preliminarily identified the "significant historical and architectural features" of the Building as:
• All exterior elevations, including rooflines, of the buildings that are visible from the public rights-of-way.
• The single-story brick addition that extends from the south elevation of 1531-39 W. Monroe Street was constructed between 1963 and 1970 to house handball courts and is considered a non-historic addition. The metal-clad pedestrian bridge that extends from the southwest corner of 1531 -39 W. Monroe Street to the southeast corner of 105-109 South Ashland Avenue (constructed c. 1955) is also considered a non-historic addition. These additions may be removed from the original structure, or more significant alterations could be proposed, subject to the review of the Commission. The foregoing is not intended to limit the Commission's discretion to approve other changes.
Also, as part of the Preliminary Recommendation, the Commission adopted a Designation Report, dated June 7,2018, incorporated herein and attached hereto as Exhibit A (the "Designation Report").
At its regular meeting of July 12th, 2018, the Commission received a report incorporated herein and attached hereto as Exhibit B (the "Department of Planning and Development Report") from David L. Reifman, Commissioner of the Department of Planning and Development, stating that the proposed landmark designation of the Building supports the City's overall planning goals and is consistent with the City's governing policies and plans.
In a letter dated July 30, 2018, the Commission officially requested the consent to the proposed landmark designation from the owner, Monroe 1515 LLC, of the Building. On August 20, 2018, the Commission received a consent form, dated August 20, 2018, and signed by Mark Heffron, Managing Partner of Monroe 1515 LLC, the owner of the Building, consenting to the proposed landmark designation of the Building.
H. 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 of the information on the proposed landmark designation of the Building; and
WHEREAS, the West Side YMCA/YWCA complex exemplifies the importance of the Young Men's Christian Association and the Young Women's Christian Association to the social and cultural history of the City of Chicago; and
WHEREAS,"the complex served as a regional headquarters for the Chicago YMCA and an important center for social, educational, and recreational activities in the Near West Side neighborhood for nearly seventy years; and
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WHEREAS, during the first half of the 20th century, the YMCA and YWCA developed a comprehensive roster of programs and services at its West Side complex that helped young men and women, many of whom were recent immigrants, to assimilate, learn English, find jobs, and maintain a moral compass while living in the city; and
WHEREAS, with dormitories for men and women, the West Side YMCA/YWCA also offered clean and safe lodging for hundreds of young people. During World War I and World War II, the complex was also an importance center of services and activity for soldiers and returning veterans; and
WHEREAS, the West Side YMCA/YWCA complex is a handsome and intact grouping of buildings that reflect the enduring influence of Classical precedents on institutional architecture in Chicago and throughout the United States; and
WHEREAS, the three YMCA buildings on Monroe Street are fine institutional examples of the Classical Revival style, which was popularized through the "White City" design of the 1893 Columbian Exposition and the resulting City Beautiful movement; and
WHEREAS, the YWCA Buildings on Ashland Avenue are excellent institutional examples of the Georgian Revival style, a Classically-inspired architectural style that grew out of a renewed interest in the colonial period in America at the end of the 19th century; and
WHEREAS, the central building in the West Side YMCA/YWCA complex was designed by the architecture firm of Perkins, Chatten, & Hammond, a noted and prolific Chicago firm that produced many significant designs between 1927 and 1933, including the Northwest Tower (1929) in Wicker Park and the Jones Armory (1931) in Washington Park; and
WHEREAS, Perkins, Chatten & Hammond also designed several other important YMCA buildings in Chicago, most notably the Victor Lawson YMCA Building (1931); and
WHEREAS, Dwight Heald Perkins was a significant architect in the context of Chicago architecture. As Architect for the Chicago Board of Education, Perkins designed more than 40 school buildings and additions to existing building, many of which are innovative in overall design and spatial planning; and
WHEREAS, as a private architect, Perkins designed many significant buildings in Chicago and elsewhere, including the South Pond Refectory (1908, now Cafe Brauer) and the Lincoln Park Lion House (1912), both Chicago Landmarks; and
WHEREAS, Perkins is significant in Chicago planning history as a strong advocate for Chicago parks and playgrounds and for the creation of the Forest Preserves of Cook County District; and
WHEREAS, the YMCA dormitories at 1513-1515 W. Monroe St. and the YMCA building at 5121-1529 W. Monroe St. were designed by Chicago architect Robert C. Berlin.
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Berlin designed numerous YWCA buildings in Chicago, including the Wabash Avenue YMCA (1911-1913, listed as a significant structure in the Black Metropolis-Bronzeville Chicago Landmark District) and the YMCA Hotel (1916, listed on the National Register of Historic Places). As lead architect of the firm Berlin, Swern & Randall, Berlin also designed the Harriet Hammond McCormick YWCA Building (1928), and the South Chicago YMCA (1926); and
WHEREAS, the YWCA building at 105-109 S. Ashland Ave. (1931) was designed by Chicago architect Robert DeGolyer. De Golyer was one of Chicago's most notable architects of luxury high-rise apartment buildings in the 1920s; with partner Walter T. Stockton, he designed 1120 N. Lake Shore Dr. (1925), 1320 N. State St. (1926) and the Ambassador East Hotel (1927). De Golyer also designed the Powhatan Apartments with Charles L. Morgan in 1927, and was lead architect in the design of the Lathrop Homes (1938, listed on the National Register of Historic Places); and
WHEREAS, the Building meets three (3) criteria for landmark designation set forth in Section 2-120-620 (1), (4), and (5) of the Municipal Code; and
WHEREAS, consistent with Section 2-120-630 of the Municipal Code, the Building has 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:
Adopts the recitals, findings and statements of fact set forth in the preamble and Sections I and II hereof as the findings of the Commission; and
Adopts the Designation Report, as revised, and dated this 6th day of September 2018; and
Finds, based on the Designation Report and the entire record before the Commission, that the Building meets the three (3) criteria for landmark designation set forth in Section 2-120-620 (1), (4) and (5) of the Municipal Code; and
Finds that the Building satisfies the "integrity" requirement set forth in Section 2-120-630 of the Municipal Code; and
Finds that the significant hi storical and architectural features of the Building are identified as follows:
All exterior elevations, including rooflines, of the buildings that are visible from the public rights-of-way.
The single-story brick addition that extends from the south elevation of 1531-39 W. Monroe Street was constructed between 1963 and 1970 to house handball
|1010|courts and is considered a non-historic addition. The metal-clad pedestrian bridge that extends from the southwest corner of 1531 -39 W. Monroe Street to the southeast corner of 105-109 South Ashland Avenue (constructed c. 1955) is also considered a non-historic addition. These additions may be removed from the original structure, or more significant alterations could be proposed, subject to the review of the Commission. The foregoing is not intended to limit the Commission's discretion to approve other changes.
6. Recommends the designation of the Building a Chicago Landmark.
Rafael M. Leon, Chairman Commission on Chicago Landmarks
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EXHIBIT A
Preliminary Summary of Information
Submitted to the Commission on Chicago Landmarks June 7, 2018
West Side YMCA/YWCA Complex
1513-1539 W. Monroe St. and 101-109 S. Ashland Ave.
CITY OF CHICAGO Rahm Emanuel, Mayor.
Department of Planning and Development David Reifman, Commissioner
EXHIBIT A
Contents
Map of Site|910|The History of the YMCA and YWCA in Chicago|910|YMCA|910|YWCA 11
West Side YMCA/YWCA Complex Construction 12
West Side YMCA/YWCA Building Catalog 20
Classical Revival and Georgian Revival Styles 25
Architects of the Complex 26
Chicago's Near West Side Neighborhood 29
Criteria for Designation 30
Significant Historical and Architectural Features 32
Selected Bibliography 33
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EXHIBIT A
West Side YMCA/YWCA Complex
1513-1539 W. Monroe St. and 101-109 S. Ashland Ave. Built: 1907-1931
Architects: Robert C. Berlin (1513-1529 W. Monroe) Perkins, Chatten & Hammond (1531-1539 W. Monroe)
Shattuck & Hussey (101-103 S. Ashland) Robert DeGolyer (105-109 S. Ashland)
The West Side YMCA/YWCA complex is a handsome and intact grouping of Classical Revival and Georgian Revival buildings that together exemplifies the growth and development of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) and Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) on the West Side of Chicago during the early decades of the twentieth century. The complex served as a regional headquarters for the Chicago YMCA and an important center for social, educational, and recreational activities in the Near West Side neighborhood for nearly seventy years.
During the first half of the twentieth century, the YMCA and YWCA developed a comprehensive roster of programs and services at its West Side complex that helped young men and women, many of whom were recent immigrants, to assimilate, learn English, find jobs, and maintain a moral compass while living in the city. With dormitories for men and women, the West Side YMCA/YWCA also offered clean and safe lodging for hundreds of young people. During World War I and World War II, the complex was also an importance center of services and activity for soldiers and returning veterans.
Architecturally, the buildings in the West Side YMCA/YWCA complex reflects a range of classical influences^ with each building designed with slightly different but compatible ornament and detailing. The YMCA/YWCA organizations took seriously their responsibility to build facilities that were not only functional but also visually pleasing and an asset to their neighborhoods. The various architects that designed the different phases of the West Side YMCA/YWCA complex were all well respected Chicago firms that designed YMCA and YWCA buildings in Chicago and throughout the country.
Stretching over two city blocks, the West Side YMCA/YWCA complex forms a cohesive complex that reflects not only the YMCA's growth but also the growth of the Near West Side community.|1010|
The West Side YMCA/YWCA complex is a handsome grouping of five brick and limestone buildings designed by several noted Chicago architects and constructed in phases between 1907 and 1931. The complex is located at the southwest corner of West Monroe Street and South Ashland Avenue in the Near West Side neighborhood. It served as a regional headquarters for the Chicago YMCA for nearly seventy years, (photo from MacRostie Historic Advisors, 2015)
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EXHIBIT A
History of the YMCA and YWCA in Chicago
YMCA
The YMCA movement started in England in 1844 and soon spread to North America, as the mid-nineteenth century saw a wave of religious revivalism and political reform sweep the United States. As a part of this broad religious and social pattern, local Young Men's Christian Associations (YMCAs) began springing up in rapid succession, beginning in Boston in 1851. With a large percentage of America's urban population comprised of young men, these local associations were formed around the country largely in response to urban vice and morally dangerous conditions to which they were being exposed. So popular was this concept and so great the need in American cities for such organizations that by 1854 forty-nine local associations had been formed nationally. The association offered full memberships with voting privileges only to men who were members of an evangelical church, although all men of "good moral character" could be elected associate members. Early work, of the associations included attending the sick and aiding young men in finding both jobs and respectable, clean boarding places. ,
Chicago's first YMCA was organized in 1853, but failed because of the cholera epidemic of the following year. In 1858, a group of Chicago business leaders and philanthropists, concerned about the welfare of many young men who were new to urban life, met to organize the YMCA of Chicago. Their initial aim was to "stimulate vital piety among young men resident in, or visiting this city or vicinity." The association, having gained both members and favorable publicity during its first year, soon decided to expand its programs and goals. By 1860, the YMCA of Chicago was one of 205 associations nationally, with 25,000 members nationwide.
While originally formed as an interdenominational protestant evangelical group devoted to the spiritual and social needs of young white-color workers, the YMCA soon departed from that mission and took on more general work including distribution of relief to the poor. During the Civil War, the YMCA of Chicago conducted religious services and relief work at camps and hospitals, and began programs to aid the "worthy poor." Prominent Chicago businessmen such as John V. Farwell, Benjamin F. Jacobs, Edwin S. Wells, and Henry Weld Fuller were major contributors and served as presidents of the association in the 1860s. Cyrus Hall McCormick, Jr. provided large amounts of financial support in the form of gifts and loans. Chicago's first YMCA building, Farwell Hall, was constructed in 1867 and then rebuilt twice, in 1869 and 1874, after being destroyed by tire. At the time of its initial construction, it was considered the only YMCA building in the world fully equipped with dormitory and gymnasium. Although evangelization was a continuing emphasis following the construction of Farwell Hall, YMCA programs at this time also included music, literature, sports and general educational activities. In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the organization continued to grow in size and scope, and it became an embodiment of the ideals of the time, particularly the belief that virtuous character and hard work would achieve material success.
In 1888, a group of Chicago's respected leading family members and philanthropists, including the McCormicks, Fields, and Armours, called on Loring Wilbur Messer from Boston to become the General Secretary of Chicago's YMCA. Throughout his thirty-five-year tenure, Messer was committed to expanding the organization and constructing new buildings. Messer exerted a profound influence on the association, which was reflected in the development of the West Side YMCA. Messer's most significant constitutional innovation was the application of what later became known as the "metropolitan plan" to Chicago. This plan permitted the association to establish, maintain, and provide general oversight to departments throughout the city while|1010|
EXHIBIT A
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Chicago's YMCA was organized in 1858 by a group of Chicago business leaders and philanthropists, including John V. Farwell, Benjamin F. Jabobs, and Cyrus Hall McCormick, Jr. In 1893, construction began on the 13-story Central YMCA Building at 19 South LaSalle Street designed by the prestigious architecture firm Jenney & Mundie (top left, post card from -architecture-jyoti.blogspot.com/2010/03/wabash-avenue-ymca.html ). By 1908, the Chicago YMCA operated twenty facilities of various types throughout the city. In 1908, the organization mounted a successful million-dollar fundraising campaign to celebrate its 50th anniversary, including a lavish banquet at the Congress Hotel (bottom, from pan.6a24852/) that would fund construction of several additional buildings, including the Wabash Avenue YMCA (1911-1913, designated Chicago Landmark, top left, photo from architecture-jyoti.blogspot.com/2010/03/wabash-avenue-ymca.html ) and the 1912 expansion of the West Side YMCA.
EXHIBIT A
allowing them considerable scope for self-management. A year after the West Side YMCA was established in 1899 the YMCA began to expand, opening departments and branches to serve the needs of varying types of young men throughout the city. By 1900 the Chicago YMCA had grown to approximately 6,500 members enrolled in five general departments, along with several railroad branches and student associations. The West Side YMCA was one of the five branches. Another thing Messer did was to revise the constitution to include a more specific statement of the Y's primary purpose regarding its program of physical, social, educational and religious activity, which allowed the departments to enlarge their programs in these areas.
In 1893, construction began on a new 13-story "Central" YMCA on LaSalle Street, designed by the architecture firm of Jenney & Mundie, which included a bowling alley, swimming pool and gymnasium. By 1908, Chicago had twenty facilities of various types located throughout the city. When the Chicago YMCA celebrated its 50'" anniversary that year and mounted a successful million-dollar fundraising campaign, it was reputed to be the foremost YMCA in the world in value of its properties and extent of its outreach. This was mainly due to the extraordinary commitment and generosity of Chicagoans to the cause.
The fundraising campaign helped to finance several new YMCA facilities during the 1910s and early 1920s, as well as significant expansions of many existing locations, including the construction of the large 1912 expansion of the West Side YMCA. Important extant examples include the Wabash Avenue YMCA at 3763 South Wabash (completed 1911-1913, part of the Black Metropolis-Bronzeville Chicago Landmark District), which was initiated and financed in part by Julius Rosenwald to serve the African American community in Bronzeville, and the YMCA Hotel at 820 South Wabash Street (completed 1916), the first YMCA facility in the nation designed to offer permanent lodging for residents. Both buildings were designed by Robert C. Berlin, who also designed the 1912 expansion of the West Side YMCA.
YMCA dormitories were open only to YMCA members for long-term lodging. By the 1910s, as the flow of immigrants to Chicago increased, the West Side YMCA began to offer English and citizenship classes for immigrants. The social centers were considered to be an environment that was religious, wholesome and elevating to the nearly 2,000 men and boys who enlisted in the night and day schools conducted in the buildings of the association. Among those served through these classes in Chicago were: "business men, those in technical and industrial occupations, young men preparing for entrance in particular vocations, those making up academic requirements for college or professional educations, those who want to augment their lower education, foreigners seeking a working knowledge of English, and those wanting intellectual culture and growth."
Another expansion program in the 1920s was largely successful in putting fully-equipped buildings with residences, gymnasiums and educational facilities in nearly every major city neighborhood. Extant examples of this campaign include the South Chicago Department YMCA Building at 91st Street and Houston (1926), the Sears, Roebuck & Company YMCA at 3210 Arthington Street (1912), and the Lincoln-Belmont YMCA at 3333 N. Marshfield Avenue (1928). The need for the YMCA's facilities was abundantly clear at this time, as it was a period of enormous growth in Chicago as thousands of men arrived yearly seeking economic opportunity. Arriving from rural areas and small towns, they were deemed easy prey to the corruptions of the large city.
Although the Chicago YMCA did not escape the effects of the Great Depression of the 1930s, it survived these hard times remarkably well, in part by establishing partnerships with other social
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YMCA facilities were designed to be warm and welcoming with a variety of services and amenities to permanent and transient members, (top left, Chicago Tribune cartoon,1908, reprinted in Manhood Factories, p. 41, Figure 2) During the 1910s and 1920s, dozens of new YMCA buildings were constructed in neighborhoods across the city, including the YMCA Hotel (top right and center, from the Cliff Smith YMCA Postcard Collection, Digital Commonwealth Massachusetts Collection), completed in 1916; the Sears, Roebuck YMCA in North Lawndale (bottom left, from the Cliff Smith YMCA Postcard Collection), c. 1925; and the South Chicago YMCA Building at 91st Street and Houston Avenue (bottom right, from the Cliff Smith YMCA Postcard Collection), completed in 1926.
|10 10|EXHIBIT A
In 1931, the Chicago YMCA completed construction on the Victor Lawson YMCA Building (left, photo from www.digitalcommonwealth.org/ searchcommonwealth:6w928751 h and top, from Cliff Smith YMCA Postcard Collection), a new 24-story Art Deco skyscraper that would serve as the main headquarters for the organization through most of the twentieth century.
The YWCA in Chicago was formed in early 1876 by a group of women reformers, and served young women barred from participating in YMCA activities and utilizing YMCA facilities. By the 1920s, four YWCA residences had been established in Chicago, the most prominent of which was the Harriet Hammond McCormick YWCA at 1001 N. Dearborn Street (demolished, right, postcard from
www.cardcow.com/165554/
mccormick-y-w-residence-1001-
dearborn-sNchicago-illinois).
10
EXHIBIT A
service agencies. The YMCA residences suffered a considerable loss of income, often resulting in drastic salary cuts for staff. However, depreciation reserves, which had been established for buildings constructed through endowment funds, enabled the YMCA to maintain its buildings and to sustain most of its programs. In 1934, the Chicago YMCA greatly strengthened its financial base by joining the Community Fund. A deficit of over $300,000 in 1932 was converted to a surplus of over $6,000 by the close of 1934.
While the Great Depression had placed a strain on YMCA resources, new branches continued to be established. In 1931, the organization completed the Lawson YMCA (listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017) at 30 West Chicago Avenue, an impressive 24-story Art Deco high-rise designed by Perkins, Chatten & Hammond and funded through a bequest from prominent civic leader and former Chicago Daily New publisher Victor F. Lawson. The building would serve as the main headquarters for the Chicago YMCA for most of the twentieth century. Membership gradually became less exclusive; in 1931 the requirement for affiliation with an evangelical church was dropped, and after World War II, a policy was enacted to encourage YMCA members of all faiths to practice the customs of their own religion. At the same time, the organization was renamed the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago.
YWCA
Like the YMCA, the Young Women's Christian Association had its roots in England, with the founding of a women's Prayer Union in 1855. The organization found a receptive audience in the United States; early iterations of the YWCA were organized in New York City and Boston in the late 1850s. The New York City group, which began in 1858 as the Union Prayer Circle and was later reorganized as the Young Ladies' Christian Association, set as its mission to "Labor for the temporal, moral, and religious welfare of young women who are dependent on their own exertions for support." The Boston group, which was the first in the country to organize under the name "Young Women's Christian Association," provided housing for young women and sought to shield them from "the evils of the city."
Through the 1860s and early 1870s, YWCAs proliferated throughout the Northeast and Midwest; by 1875, organizations had been established in 28 industrial centers in the US, 18 of which provided boarding facilities. The growing number of YWCAs in the United States in the late 19n century was in part a reaction to women's marginalization within the YMCA. Under an early amendment to the YMCA constitution, women had been allowed to participate in the YMCA activities as auxiliary members. However, by 1888, under the leadership of Loring Messer, the YMCA revised its mission to focus solely on "the improvement of the spiritual, mental, social, and physical condition of young men," and specifically barred women from membership.
In 1876, a group of women reformers established the Young Women's Christian Association of Chicago to promote the "religious, moral and intellectual welfare of young self-supporting women." Their concerns were safe housing and moral guardianship for young women. The association served both permanent and transient boarders, and attempted to create a homelike setting in which young women could engage in edifying recreation including literary societies, lecture series, Bible study, glee clubs and classes. Through the first decades of the 20th century, the organization expanded its offerings to members, evolving from providing only housing and moral instruction to providing vocational training, assistance in finding jobs through employment bureaus, health education, and a myriad of recreational and social activities. The organization also provided activities for young girls in Chicago, several camps for local high school girls were also offered through the local YWCA, including Camp Sagawau, which
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opened in Lemont in 1936.
Like the YMCA, the YWCA took a particular interest in immigrant communities, which accounted for a large proportion of America's female workforce in the early 20th century. Beginning in 1910, the YWCA focused on establishing centers, called International Institutes, in immigrant neighborhoods, which provided employment services, housing, and English classes. By the 1920s, over 50 International Institutes operated in cities throughout the US.
Beginning in the 1930s, women were once more encouraged to participate in YMCA programs. The National Council of the YMCA in 1933 decided to let local associations determine their own membership policies. While some Chicago YMCA departments had already established young women's programs by this time, the Board of Managers decided officially to admit women to membership in 1933. Even with this inclusion to the YMCA, the YWCA continued to operate in Chicago, although by the 1940s its focus on expansion had shifted to suburban communities, a trend that continued in the years following World War II.
West Side YMCA/YWCA Complex Construction
The West Side YMCA was founded in 1889, the same year as Hull House, and in the midst of a heavy wave of young male immigrants to the surrounding West Side neighborhood. It was also a year after Messer's organization of the YMCA into departments that were allowed considerable management freedom. The West Side department soon outgrew its first quarters on west Madison Street near California Avenue. Following an 1893 canvas for funds, the Holden residence on Monroe Street east of Ashland was purchased, which provided permanent rooms for twelve men. In keeping with the push for expanded programs at the time, an 1897 Chicago Daily Tribune article announced a course of studies, lectures, and entertainments in "the big, homelike building on Monroe Street," which was called the West Side YMCA Hall. The courses included school subjects and courses on business, money, and culture. A new dormitory building at 1513-1515 W. Monroe Street adjoining the Holden residence was built in 1907.
In celebration of the 50'" anniversary of the Chicago YMCA in 1908, an Anniversary Fund drive was initiated to raise one million dollars. As part of the campaign, it was announced that funds would be provided to replace the old Holden residence with a new building, which would accommodate more dormitory rooms and include "a gymnasium, a library, a swimming pool, and billiard rooms." The announcement went on to say that "The dormitory is the first step in the great plan which the association cherishes of putting up model lodging houses in Chicago on the order of the Mills hotel in New York." At this time, there were 8,180 total YMCA members in Chicago.
In April, 1910, the final amounts in the million-dollar campaign were finally reached via a strong twelve-day push that involved many volunteers and over 5,000 contributors. The final appropriations from the campaign stipulated, among other dormitory expansions, "$125,000 will be appropriated to the West Side department for the erection of a new building." These were years of rapid expansion for the YMCA, with Chicago membership increasing by 31 % in 1912. It was also a time of generous contributions, and the building at 1521-1529 West Monroe was finally completed that year at a total cost of $300,000, more than twice the original appropriation. Three years later, the 1907 dormitory building on Monroe was also expanded with a large rear addition.
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This 1950 Sanborn Fire Insurance Company Map shows the evolution of the complex, beginning with the dormitory (in purple) completed in 1907; the YMCA building (in red) built in 1912; the YMCA dormitory addition (in green) built in 1915; the YWCA building at the southeast corner of Ashland and Monroe (in orange), built in 1916; Duncan Hall (in blue), completed in 1928; and ending with the second YWCA building (in orange) just south of the 1916 building, completed in 1931.
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Left:
The West Side YMCA was founded in 1889 and initially housed in a converted residence. The first purpose-built facility on the site, a dormitory, was completed in 1907 (1513-1515 W. Monroe, left side of photo) and a larger multi-purpose building was built (1521 -1529 W. Monroe, right side of photo) in 1912. Both were designed by architect Robert C. Berlin.
(photo from Fifty-Five Years;'The Young Men's Christian Association of Chicago, 1858-1913. Chicago Board of Managers, 1913, p. 97)
Right:
A YWCA facility was first added to the West Side YMCA complex in 1916 at the corner of South Ashland Street and West Monroe Street, designed by Chicago architect Robert DeGolyer (left side of photo). In just one winter month, the West Side YWCA reportedly hosted activities for over 2,000 girls and young women.
The YWCA was expanded in 1931 with a large addition to the south, designed by architects Shattuck and Hussey (right side of photo).
(photo from Photographic Images of Chicago, University of Illinois at Chicago Library, Special Collections Department. Ashland Ave., Folder 8, Sheet 2; CPC_01_A_0008_022, Chicago)
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The YWCA, which was only loosely affiliated with the YMCA at this time since women could not be members, was also growing quickly. Young women were moving into the West Side as well, and were taking jobs outside the home. In 1916, the building at 101-103 South Ashland was constructed to house the West Side YWCA. It was located just to the west of the YMCA, facing Ashland at the southeast corner of Monroe and Ashland.
At this time, the West Side YWCA hosted activities for 2,050 girls during one winter month. It was reported that "Monday and Thursday are health nights at the West Side branch, 101 South Ashland Boulevard, where the girls will stage special exhibitions of dancing and swimming." By 1922, however, a budget campaign had failed and led to serious, though temporary financial problems for the YWCA. "On account of the budget cut, the West Side branch, 101 South Ashland Boulevard, has had to abandon its departments of general education, religious education and business and industrial girls clubs, and will be maintained only as a health and girl reserve center, with classes in gymnasium and swimming, and club work among younger girls." As the 1920s progressed, the financial problems were overcome and the educational programs were reinstituted.
In 1927 there was a gain of more than 6,000 members in the Chicago YMCA, which brought the total to nearly 63,000. In January of 1928, "A gift of $250,000 from Mr. and Mrs. J.S. Duncan to be used as a memorial to their mothers in the erection of a building for boys in connection with the West Side YMCA, 1515 Monroe Street, was announced last night at the annual meeting of the Chicago YMCA." This building, which became known as Duncan Hall, was constructed at 1531-37 West Monroe, to the west of the 1912 building and the rear of the 1916 YWCA building that faces Ashland. Of interest is that this was the site of the home of William Pinkerton, head of the Pinkerton Detective Agency, which was torn down to make way for the new building. Duncan Hall was dedicated in February 1929.
Duncan Hall was dedicated to philanthropist Joseph Duncan (1858-1950) who made his fortune by inventing an addressing machine in 1893. To market the device, he formed the Addressograph company which became the largest manufacturer of this technology in the world. Duncan and his wife Adelaide contributed large sums to the YMCA and Chicago Boys Clubs. Duncan's philanthropy for West Side boys had begun when he located his office and - plant in the neighborhood, and noticed that the children had only streets and alley for playgrounds. By 1932, the Duncans had given more than $500,000 to the West Side YMCA, and henceforth it was known as the Duncan YMCA.
The Duncans' first investment for the welfare of West Side boys had been Camp Duncan, a YMCA camp near Round Lake, Illinois. The Duncan camp was the first permanent campsite of the Chicago area YMCA, and many residents of the West Side YMCA went there during the summers. It was founded in 1919 by Mr. and Mrs. Duncan when they bought thirty acres of land for the camp, which eventually grew to 380 acres and is still in use by the Chicago YMCA.
During the Great Depression, the West Side YMCA/YWCA Complex only gained in importance, as they offered badly needed services to unemployed young people. By 1930, it had dormitories supplying 524 beds, making it one of the largest in the country. An anonymous gift of $150,000 in January of 1931 allowed for the construction of a new residence building addition for the YWCA to be constructed at 105-107 South Ashland, on the lot just to the south of the existing building. The lot, worth $60,000, was donated by the Wieboldt Foundation.
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Comfortable Rooms—Physical and Social Recreation
Above: The West Side YMCA building in 1915 included modern dormitory rooms, a gymnasium, swimming pool, dining room, and billiard rooms. Residents paid a small weekly rent.
(from Cliff Smith YMCA Postcard Collection)
SWIMMING POOL. T.W.C.A., ASHLAND AVE. AND MONROE ST CHICAGO. iimii
Above: The West Side YWCA facility also included a dormitory, swimming pool, and other specialized spaces, (from Cliff Smith YMCA Postcard Collection)
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The Tribune reported that accommodations would be provided for 120 girls, and work would begin on April 1, 1931. The building would be a "six story edifice of red brick in the Georgian style, to be topped with a roof garden and recreation ground." It also "will have a dining room with a capacity of 160, which means outsiders will be accommodated. In addition, it will have several rooms for small meetings and luncheons... The English basement will have French windows, opening into an Italian court at the back, this cosmopolitan arrangement being designed as a summer time lounging and lunching center." While there is little of this that remains, the building provided wonderful amenities in the neighborhood for single young women and their guests, especially in the midst of the Depression.
The contract for construction of the building was finally awarded (interestingly) to R.C. Wieboldt Company in August, with a projected completion and dedication date of May 1, 1932. At that time, it was projected that the cost would be $270,000 for building and furnishings. In 1933, young women were admitted as members of the YMCA, and the two organizations merged to form the YMCA/YWCA. Throughout the years, they worked together to continue to provide many activities for the immigrants and youth of the community. An announcement of an open house and annual spring exhibition in 1936 reported there would be displays of gymnastics, tumbling, boxing, handicrafts, photography, and other activities.
In 1941, more than 500 young men called Duncan YMCA their "home in Chicago." But just as the YMCA had offered special services to soldiers in the Civil War and World War I, the West Side YMCA/YWCA provided for the needs of soldiers and their families during World War II. YMCA facilities were open to men in uniform for free or at reduced rates. The Girls' Service Organization planned special recreational activities, and developed a program to aid American prisoners of war and their next of kin. After the war ended, information and counseling bureaus and grants of three months' free memberships were offered to help veterans make the transition back to civilian life.
By the end of the war, programs changed in response to changes in the ethnic and racial-composition of the city's population. In 1945, the Chicago YMCA's Board of Managers approved an anti-discrimination policy in membership, restaurant patronage, residential accommodations, and participation in athletics. YMCA privileges were to be open to all races and religions without restriction. This was particularly important to the West Side YMCA with its increasing population of African Americans due to the "Great Migration." That same year, when the Chicago YMCA had 84,000 members, the organization finally amended the by-laws to admit women as full voting members of the association.
As it broadened its scope after the war, in the 1950s the YMCA continued to make efforts to draw in people of different ethnic groups. In 1953, the West Side YMCA played permanent host every Saturday evening to the Indian Service League, which had been founded in Chicago two years earlier as a result of the increase of Native Americans who were living in the city. In the late 1950s, the West Side YMCA had a membership of 1,200 boys, and urban renewal and public housing were changing the neighborhood. By 1959, the department was seeking additional parking in the area, in part due to the "wide public use of the Duncan cafeteria, one of the few restaurants in the neighborhood."
By June 1961, there were big changes at the West Side YMCA/YWCA buildings. The Tribune announced, "Dedication ceremonies of the newly remodeled Duncan-Ashland YMCA, 101 S. Ashland Ave., were held recently, at which all facilities were turned over for use by boys." The West Side chairperson said the building would serve more than 2,000 youths. The remodeling
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JOSEPH S. DUNCAN Y. M. C. A. — 1S15 WEST MONHOE ST. — MY HOME D» CHICAGO
Above: The West Side YMCA/YWCA was renamed the Joseph S. Duncan YMCA in 1932, in recognition of the financial support of the Duncan family. By the early 1940s, more than 500 young men called this YMCA home, (from Lake County Discovery Museum, Illinois Digital Archives)
Above: 1940s postcard showing the Duncan YMCA lobby, (from chuckmanchica-gonostalgia.wordpress.com )
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included alterations and upgrading of the swimming pool and gymnasium, in addition to eleven club rooms, craft shops, kitchen and staff office. It was noted at that time that the adjoining south building at 105 - 09 S. Ashland, containing 117 dormitory rooms, was occupied by nurses of Presbyterian-St. Luke's hospital.
In the 1960s the Metropolitan YMCA of Chicago continued to offer its traditional programs of recreational and educational activities, serving 165,000 members through 38 departments and operating 12 summer camps by 1963. Additionally, the YMCA became involved in a variety of programs, largely federally funded, to provide basic education and vocational training for disadvantaged inner city youth. From-1960 to 1965, as part of the Chicago Area Project the West Side YMCA provided "detached workers" to counsel those teenagers who were more likely to frequent the streets than the YMCA facilities. Another federally funded program, J.O.B.S. (Job Opportunities through Better Skills) which began in January 1964, brought the YMCA together with the Chicago Boys Clubs and Chicago Youth Centers in cooperative efforts to offer 46-week training courses for high school dropouts.
In early 1968 a portion of the complex, leased from the West Side YMCA, became the Duncan Way Community Center, a halfway house that was the first in Illinois to be state-operated and financed. It offered employment and psychiatric counseling, as well as room and board in thirty-eight rooms. The men were automatically received as members of the YMCA and eligible to participate in all activities.
In April, 1976, the West Side YMCA closed and the complex became the Salvation Army's Harbor Light Center, a facility that offered aid to addicts and socially marginalized men It remained in that capacity until October, 2015, when the Salvation Army moved out and the property was purchased for development as residential apartments.
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West Side YMCA/YWCA Building Catalog
The West Side YMCA/YWCA Complex is located at the southeast corner of West Monroe Street and South Ashland Avenue in Chicago's Near West Side neighborhood. The three-building YMCA portion of the complex (1513-1515, 1521 -1529, and 1531 -1539 West Monroe Street) contained dormitories, club and meeting rooms, kitchen and dining rooms, laundry, swimming pool, handball courts, and gymnasium, in addition to administrative offices. The two-building YWCA portion of the complex (101-109 South Ashland) also included dormitory living accommodations, social and athletic facilities. The buildings, which range in height from three and a half to six stories, are all faced with red brick and have limestone and/or terra cotta trim, offering a fairly uniform appearance from the street. All of the buildings featured "fireproof construction" of concrete floor plates and terra cotta tile and/or brick partition walls.
[Note: all photographs in building catalogue from MacRostie Historic Advisors, 2015.]
1. YMCA—1513-15 W. Monroe Architect: Robert C. Berlin,
Date: 1907 (rear addition 1915)
North Elevation East Elevation
The earliest building in the complex, this YMCA dormitory structure may have originally adjoined the Holden Residence next door, which was owned by the YMCA and later demolished. The building's front facade extends approximately 45' along W. Monroe Street, and extends south approximately 190' to the alley. The four-story Classical Revival-style building features a red brick front facade facing south on W. Monroe St. It is four bays across, with regularly-spaced individual double-hung windows. The facade is trimmed with brick quoins at the corners, and has a limestone belt course that divides the raised basement from the first floor, another at the lintel level of the fourth-floor windows, and a simple, wide cornice at the roofline. The window sills are all stone, with plain brick lintels at floors one through three. The west elevation faces a courtyard and is also faced with red brick with punched window openings.
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The secondary east elevation is common brick with arched window openings. Also secondary, north elevations, as well as the 1915 rear addition, are faced with common brick and feature double-hung windows.
2. YMCA—1521 - 1529 W. Monroe Architect: Robert C. Berlin Date: 1912
North Elevation
The YMCA building at 1521-1529 W. Monroe combines Classical Revival features with stone detailing characteristic of the Prairie Style. The front, northern block extends 110' along W. Monroe St. and 50' deep, with four stories on a raised basement.
The symmetrical north facade has three bays on either side of the central bay with its grand entry. The non-original entrance doors are within a limestone surround of smooth pilasters that extend above the first story, terminating with carved geometric designs. The window openings of the three-part transom are filled with glass block, and the transom is surmounted by a curved stone feature with a carved medallion. Windows on the front facade are largely paired, with single windows marking the bays flanking the center entrance. The windows, all double-hung, have stepped-back stone lintels with Prairie-style keystones on the first story. The second-story windows, arranged in pairs, are recessed within brick arches. At the third story, the paired windows have stone lintels with keystones. The east elevation of the northern block of the building continues the cornice, detailing and fenestration pattern of the front (north) facade. The south end of the east elevation, which is part of a rear '"el" that extends south to the alley, The east and west elevations of the four-story rear ell are clad in red brick and regularly fenestrated with 1/1 double-hung windows set in segmental arch openings.
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3. Duncan Hall (YMCA) 1531 -1539 W. Monroe Architect: Perkins, Chatten & Hammond Date: 1928
North Elevation
Located at the corner of Monroe Street and the alley on the west, this Georgian Revival-style building at the westernmost end of the of the YMCA complex is a simple rectangle in plan, about 100' along Monroe Street and 50' deep. It connects to the front block of the 1912 building on its east side, with various points of access between the buildings on several floors of the interior. The front part of the building is four stories in height on a raised basement, while the rear section is just one floor. The red brick facade is outlined in limestone by the facing on the raised basement, the quoined corners and the Classical cornice. It is nine bays wide, with a central entrance from the street level. The two-story tall imposing Georgian entry surround is limestone, composed of flanking pilasters to the full height, supporting a frieze surmounted by a projecting cornice that supports two limestone urns on bases. Between the urns, which rest at the second floor level, is a single window with an arched stone surround with volutes and a keystone. The words "Duncan Hall" are centered in the frieze above the entry door, and are flanked by two YMCA logos above the fluted pilasters on either side of the entry.
The YMCA logo, which was adopted by the organization in 1896, consists of an equilateral triangle standing for "body, mind, and spirit," superimposed onto the badge of the World Alliance of YMCAs, set within two concentric circles. The World Alliance emblem, which includes the Greek letters Chi and Rho (XP) which symbolize Christ and a bible open to John 17:21, was created during the Eighth Conference of the World Alliance of YMCAs in 1878.
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The 1896 logo remains the official emblem for the YMCA. The entrance itself is within an inner stone surround, topped with an oversized broken pediment that rises above the sill of its tall transom. The other windows on the facade, all with flat heads, are regularly spaced and have limestone sills. The first floor windows also have stone lintels and keystones. A limestone slab in the facing of the raised basement at the west corner of the facade features reads "YMCA" with a symbol and the date "1928." The west elevation of the building faces an alley. It is also faced in red brick, and has regularly spaced double-hung windows. The rear of the building, facing the south alley and parking lot to the southwest, features the original one-story rear bay that housed handball courts, as well as a single-story addition that was built sometime after 1950.
YWCA
101—103 S. Ashland Ave. Architect: Shattuck & Hussey Date: 1916
West Elevation
Facing Ashland at the southeast corner of Monroe and Ashland, this former YWCA building stretches 45' along S. Ashland Ave. and then extends approximately 145" along W. Monroe St It is three-and-a-half stories tall, with a cross-gabled roof with dormers. The facade is Classical Revival/ Georgian clad in red brick with limestone trim. The building rests on a raised basement faced with limestone. The facade is symmetrical, three bays across, with a differing fenestration pattern at each floor. The entrance, within a limestone surround, is in the center of the first floor, reached by a few
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steps up from the street. It is set within engaged piers. The replacement doors are topped with an original, graceful fanlight. Segmental-arch window openings on each side of the portal have brick trim and keystones. A belt course above the first floor continues around the north, Monroe Street facade of the building. At the second floor level, the Ashland facade features a large arched window with a stone tympanum. There is a set of double-hung windows on either side, with brick voussoirs and keystones. The upper floor has three sets of double-hung windows. Above that is a terra cotta cornice with dentils, and brick quoins at the corners of the building.
Except for the cornice, there is a similar, symmetrical arrangement to the westernmost bays of the north facade. This three-story section has regularly-spaced window openings with flat-arch brick lintels and stone sills. The arched windows of the top floor are quite large. Three bays toward the east end of the building on the top floors (upper level of the gymnasium) have decorative brickwork in the spandrels and around the arched window openings with fan light transoms. There is a dentiled cornice at the top of this wing. The building originally contained a swimming pool in the basement, which has since been removed or covered, with locker rooms on the first floor and a large gymnasium on the second and top floors, all of which remain.
5. YWCA
105 - 109 S. Ashland Avenue Architect: Robert DeGolyer Date: 1931
The final building in.the complex, is
the former YWCA building just to the
south of and adjoining 101 S. Ashland
Ave., with connections on each floor at
the stairwells. It is approximately 46'
fronting Ashland Ave. and over 100'
deep toward the east. The front block
is four-and-a-half stories tall, with a
facade designed in a modified
Georgian Revival style with the
traditional materials of red brick with
limestone trim. The building rests on a
raised basement clad in ashlar
limestone, and the mansard roof with
copper dormers contains the top half-
story. The building's facade is
symmetrical, with five bays of
regularly spaced window openings
ornamented with limestone sills,
voussoirs, and belt courses. The
central three bays, with quoined
corners, project slightly and are
surmounted by a limestone cornice.
West Elevation The English- basement entrance is in
the lower level of northernmost bay. It has a restrained classical surround of limestone. The central section of the first floor is treated like a piano nobile, with elongated window openings equipped with French doors, metal grillwork and limestone surrounds with oversized keystones.
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Classical Revival and Georgian Revival Styles
The West Side YMCA/YWCA Complex is a handsome collection of buildings that reflect the influence of historic revival styles based on Classical precedents that were popular in Chicago in the early 20th century. The YMCA building at 1513-1515 W. Monroe St. is a relatively academic example of the Classical Revival style, while the building 1521-1529 W. Monroe incorporates Prairie-style stone ornamentation into its design. The YWCA buildings along Ashland Avenue and Duncan Hall are representative examples of the related Georgian Revival style.
The Classical tradition in architecture and design is one of the oldest and most significant in Western civilization, influential from its origins in 6th Century, BC, Greece, through the present day. The architecture of ancient Greek temples and sacred buildings was widely admired by other Mediterranean cultures, including ancient Rome which incorporated Greek Classical architectural forms and details in its buildings throughout its empire, encompassing regions as far flung as England, North Africa, Spain, and Persia.
The Italian Renaissance sought to revive Classicism through a melding of the traditional Roman Classical forms with contemporary building types, a trend that continued through the 17th and 18th centuries and into the Classical Revival periods of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Classical design was seen as a significant aspect of Western civilization, and buildings intended to house important cultural, economic, or social institutions, whether public or private, often utilized Classical forms and ornament as part of their designs. By the early 1900s, the Classical style was increasingly adapted to commercial, public, and institutional buildings.
Classical Revival: YMCA Buildings
Among the most popular of these styles based on the Classical tradition in America was the Classical Revival or Neo-Classical style, which was popularized through the "White City" design of the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago and the resulting City Beautiful Movement. In Chicago, the Classical Revival style was adapted to a wide range of building types, and ranged from elaborately ornamented, temple-style government and bank buildings to more modest brick commercial and institutional structures. The West Side YMCA buildings on Monroe Street illustrate the application of the style for institutional use.
The building at 1521-1529 W. Monroe, built in 1912, presents an interesting combination of the Classical Revival form with Prairie style detailing. The red-brick facade is symmetrical, with the center entry flanked by three bays. The limestone entry surround, as well as the stone lintels x above the first-story window openings, feature Prairie-style detailing, and the segmental-arch lintels above the second-story windows are also characteristic of the Prairie style. Classical flat-arch stone lintels mark the third story of the facade, and a substantial Classical cornice sits just below the brick parapet wall.
Although the principal facade of the dormitory building at 1513-15 W. Monroe (1907) does not feature a centered Classical entry the red brick facade with its decorative corner quoins, banded articulation, and stone detailing provides a continuation of the Classical street wall presented by 1521-1529 W. Monroe.
Georgian Revival: Duncan Hall & YWCA Buildings
Duncan Hall (1928) and the YWCA Buildings on Ashland Avenue (1916 and 1931) are all
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institutional examples of the Georgian Revival style, a Classically-inspired architectural style that grew out of a renewed interest in the colonial period in American at the end of the 19th century. Although generally associated with residential construction, the Georgian Revival style was also used less frequently in commercial and institutional construction in the early 20th century.
Duncan Hall, built in 1928 at 1531-1539 W. Monroe St., is a straightforward example of Georgian Revival institutional architecture. The building exhibits a restrained use of stone decorative elements at the facade, with the notable exception of its oversized and elaborately ornamented entry surround. The surround encompasses the lower two stories of the facade and features an outer surround with fluted pilasters and a dentil cornice topped with two urns. The second-story window above the outer entry surround is encased with a heavy stone segmental-arch surround. Within the outer entry surround is a smaller stone surround that frames the entry doors, and features slender pilasters, a festooned frieze, and broken pediment.
The YWCA building at 101-103 S. Ashland Avenue features the parapeted side-gable roofline and front dormers that are characteristic of urban examples the style at its west end. The stone entry surround, symmetrical front and north facades, Classical cornice, and decorative brick corner quoins are typical of both the Georgian and Classical Revival styles. The window openings feature a variety of decorative elements, including segmental arch stone surrounds with oversized center keystones, flat and segmental brick arches with center keystones, and flat stone arches. Round-arch third-story window openings mark the center of the north facade, reflecting the influence of the Italian Renaissance on Georgian design.
The YWCA building at 105-109 S. Ashland, which was the last structure completed in the complex, was designed to complement the earlier building to the north, and exhibits many of the same design elements on its front facade. The faux-gable roofline at the top of the facade features a row of flat dormers, and a simple stone cornice below. The center three-story bay at the facade exhibits brick corner quoins and a stone cornice that mimics the terra cotta cornice at 101-103 S. Ashland. The placement front entry, which is located below grade at the north end of the front facade, is the only major element of the building that deviates from usual tenets of the style, although it does feature a Classical stone surround.
Architects of the West Side YMCA/YWCA Complex
The YMCA took seriously its responsibility to construct buildings that were not only functional, but that contributed architecturally to their surrounding neighborhoods. This was in part inspired by the City Beautiful Movement that influenced business and organizations to construct buildings that would have a favorable visual impact. The YMCA chose highly respected architects, who designed sturdy structures in the then current styles of the late nineteenth and early twentieth-century. The West Side YMCA/YWCA complex features buildings designed by several well-known Chicago architects, described below.
Robert C. Berlin
Architect Robert C. Berlin (1851 - 1937) designed two buildings within the complex—the YMCA dormitories at 1513-1515 W. Monroe St. and the YMCA at 1521-1529 W. Monroe St. Born in Granville, Illinois, Berlin studied in Germany as a young man under the prominent architect Gottfried Semper, and later attended the Polytechnic Institute in Zurich, Switzerland.
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,Upon his return to Chicago, he began his career in the office of Egan & Hill, and left after a few
years later to join Louis Schaub in a partnership. When that partnership dissolved, he worked
as sole proprietor during the time he designed the West Side YMCA buildings, though Percy
Swern (1887 - 1946) worked with his firm from about 1915. Berlin is noted for having
designed numerous YMCA buildings in Chicago, including the Wabash Avenue YMCA (1911-
13) which is a significant structure in the Black Metropolis -Bronzeville Chicago Landmark
District, and the YMCA Hotel (820 - 828 S. Wabash, 1916, listed on the National Register of
Historic Places). His other significant early works include the St. Stanislaus Church (c. 1905),
and the Crown Theatre (1908). He was active in civic work and served on the Chicago Plan
Commission. From 1919 he was lead architect of the firm known as Berlin, Swern & Randall,
which went on to design many YMCA and YWCA buildings, including the Harriet Hammond
McCormick YWCA Building (NE Corner of Dearborn & Oak. 1928); the South Chicago
YMCA (3039 E. 9L' Street, 1926); and the YMCA at the NW corner of Congress & Wood
streets (1926).
»
Perkins, Chatten & Hammond
The Chicago firm Perkins, Chatten & Hammond designed one building within the complex—Duncan Hall, located at 1531-1539 W. Monroe Street. During their years together, from 1927 - 1933, the firm designed two YMCA buildings in addition to Duncan Hall —the Victor F. Lawson YMCA House (1930-1934, 30 W. Chicago Ave., listed on the National Register of Historic Places) and the vast Lake View YMCA (1928, 3333 N. Marshfield Ave.)
Dwight H. Perkins (1867 - 1941) is arguably the most significant architect within the firm. Born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1867, Perkins moved with his family to Chicago at age twelve. Perkins enrolled in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's architecture program. Afterward he remained in Boston as a university instructor and as an assistant in office of Henry Hobson Richardson.
Duncan Hall was designed by noted Chicago architect Dwight Heald Perkins (right, c. 1935) with the architecture firm of Perkins, Chatten & Hammond and completed in 1928. The building features Classical Revival detailing including an elaborate main entrance surround with fluted pilasters and decorative urns, (photograph by Helen Balfour Morrison, Morrison Shearer Foundation, Northbrook)
Perkins returned to Chicago in 1888 and worked briefly with Wheelock & Clay before joining Burnham & Root. Following Root's death in 1891, and while Daniel Burnham was involved in organizing and designing the fair grounds for the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, Perkins became the manager of the firm's tremendous project schedule. Before leaving the firm, Perkins completed several of Root's last commissions, and some of Chicago's most recognized Chicago School style buildings including the Monadnock Block (a designated Chicago landmark).
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Perkins started his own firm in early 1894 where he focused on the civic and social responsibilities of architecture to the city. The need for new supportive centers for poorer immigrant and working-class communities led Perkins to collaborate with and design settlement houses for both the University of Chicago and Northwestern University; only the University of Chicago settlement house was completed (demolished).
Perkins joined with architect John Leonard Hamilton in 1905, leading the design of many of the firm's works between 1905 and 1910, while also serving as official architect to the Chicago Board of Education. In that capacity he designed more than 40 school buildings and additions to existing buildings, including Carl Schurz High School (a designated Chicago Landmark). Perkins & Hamilton designed the South Pond Refectory, now known as Cafe Brauer, in 1908 (a designated Chicago landmark). Perkins & Hamilton, and after 1911 as Perkins, Fellows, and Hamilton with the addition of William Kinnie Fellows, the firm designed the boat house (1908), the American Institute of Architects gold-medal winning Lion House in Lincoln Park Zoo (1912), a designated Chicago landmark), the Fresh Air Sanitarium (1913, now the Theater on the Lake), North Pond Refectory (1913, occupied by North Pond Cafe).
In 1927, Dwight Perkins joined with Melvin C. Chatten and C. Herrick Hammond of the firm Chatten & Hammond (1907 - 1927) to form Perkins, Chatten & Hammond. In 1935, Perkins withdrew from practice, but he remained active in civic affairs, having served on the Chicago Plan Commission and Municipal Art Commission, among others.
Charles Herrick Hammond (1882-1969) was born in New York, and graduated in 1904 from the Armour Institute of Technology in Chicago and then attended the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in France. Establishing himself in practice in Chicago in 1907, he was a member of the firms Chatten & Hammond (1907-1927), Perkins, Chatten & Hammond (1927-1933), and Burnham & Hammond (1933-1951). Concurrently he was Supervising Architect for the State of Illinois from 1929 to 1952. Together with Burnham, he designed the Belgian, Dutch, and Mexican villages for the 1933 Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago. . In 1939, Hammond designed the Illinois Buildings at the Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco and the New York World's Fair.
Melville Clarke Chatten (1873 - 1957) was from Quincy, Illinois. He graduated in architecture from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, and continued his studies in Paris in 1905 -06. In Chicago in 1907, he partnered with Hammond in the firm of Chatten & Hammond until 1927, then as Perkins, Chatten and Hammond until 1933.
Shattuck and Hussey
Shattuck and Hussey designed one of the two YWCA buildings in the complex, at 101-103 S. Ashland Ave Walter F. Shattuck (b. 1871) was born in Champaign, Illinois, where he graduated in architecture from the University of Illinois in 1891 and went on to earn a PhD from the Armour Institute of Technology in Chicago. He was head Professor of Architecture at the Chicago School of Architecture at the Art Institute of Chicago, from 1903 - 1915. In 1911, he took on a student, William Henry (Harry) Hussey from Ontario, as partner in the firm of Shattuck & Hussey. From this point, they specialized in designing YMCA and YWCA buildings in the United States, Canada and Asia. In 1911, they designed the YWCA building in Nashville, Tennessee, (listed on the National Register of Historic Places) in a Georgian Revival style, very similar in size and appearance to the West Side YWCA building. They notably worked in China, where they designed the Peking Union Medical College for the Rockefeller
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Foundation (1916-1918) and the Chinese YMCA of Hong Kong (1918). These projects were overseen by Hussey, who left the firm in 1919 but remained in China into the 1950s. Shattuck, who was undoubtedly the designer of the West Side YWCA, continued to design YMCA buildings in the United States until the end of his career in about 1933. Other YMCA buildings include the Central YMCA building in Minneapolis, MN (1918), YMCAs in Concord, NH, Springfield, MA and Appleton ,WI, all by 1919, and Columbus, OH (1924) as Shattuck & Layer.
Robert DeGolyer
Robert DeGolyer designed the second YWCA building constructed in the complex, located at 105-109 S. Ashland Avenue. DeGolyer (1876 - 1952) was one of Chicago's most notable architects of luxury high-rise apartment buildings in the 1920s, specializing in revival styles. DeGolyer was bom in Evanston, earned his degree from M.I.T, and then returned to Chicago where he worked for the firm of Marshall & Fox from 1905-1915. He started his own firm in 1915, and designed noted apartment buildings and hotels such as 200 East Pearson Apartments in 1916. From 1923 - 1943 he was in partnership with Walter Stockton under his own firm name. The practice mainly consisted of residences, apartment buildings and hotels, including the Marlborough Apartments (1923, 2608 North Lakeview). His career extended into the 1950s, leaving a number of well-designed multi-residence buildings, many along Chicago's lakeshore. His other major works include the Powhatan Apartments (with Charles L. Morgan 1927, 4950 S. Chicago Beach Dr., designated Chicago landmark) known for its striking Art Deco rendition of native American ornament; and Lathrop Homes (Clybourn and Diversey, 1938, listed on the National Register of Historic Places); Along with architect Walter T. Stockton, DeGolyer also designed 1120 North Lake Shore Drive (1925); 1320 North State Street (1926) and the Ambassador East (1927).
Chicago's Near West Side Neighborhood
The Near West Side neighborhood is two miles west of Chicago's Loop, beginning on the west bank of the Chicago River. It is bounded on the west by the railroad tracks near Rockwell Street, on the north by the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad tracks and on the south by 16h Street. By 1837, when the city was incorporated, the area contained residential areas divided along ethnic, economic, and racial lines. After 1837, Irish immigrants settled in cottages in the area, and were soon followed by German, Czechs, Bohemians, and French immigrants, many of them laborers from southern Europe. By 1870, a small middle class had gradually replaced the wealthy families around Union Park, which is just two blocks north of the West Side YMCA/ YWCA complex. After the fire of 1871, however, over 200,000 people took refuge on the Near West Side, creating overcrowded conditions. In the northern part of the area, wholesale trade business and manufacturers located along an east-west axis in the 1870s and 80s, providing a dense center of employment opportunity. These commercial areas developed further in the late nineteenth century, especially along Ashland, Halsted and Randolph streets, as being easily accessible from the Lake Street business district.
In 1889, Jane Addams established Hull House at 800 South Halsted, providing services to poor immigrants. Other institutions were formed by particular ethnic groups in an effort to reconstruct or maintain their European ethnic traditions. Struggles between ethnic groups over urban space led to tensions and an ongoing process of neighborhood succession as older groups were replaced by newcomers. Toward the end of the century, Jews from Russia and Poland, along with Italians, replaced the Irish and Germans, and a Greek settlement developed in the
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eastern part of the neighborhood, focused around Halsted Street. The 1930 census reported that the Near West Side still contained 127 males for every 100 females, and 58.5% of the population was either foreign born or first generation American born.
During the 1930s and 40s, African Americans and Mexicans moved into the area in larger numbers in part due to the "Great Migration" of black southerners. By 1960, there were more than 68,000 African Americans in the area. In the second half of the twentieth century, the Chicago Circle expressway interchange divided the district and cleared out a significant section of Greek Town, and the construction of the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) resulted in demolition of the Italian neighborhood. Urban renewal efforts and the construction of public housing, which continued into the 1960s, did not alleviate encroaching poverty from a declining economic base on the West Side. Expansion of the university at the end of the 20th century, along with construction of the United Center in 1994, coincided with increasing gentrification within the Near West Side and other neighborhoods adjacent to the Loop, which has continued to the present day.
Criteria for Designation
According to the Municipal Code of Chicago (Sections 2-120-620 and -630), the Commission on Chicago Landmarks has the authority to make a preliminary recommendation of landmark designation for an area, district, place, building, structure, work of art or other object with the City of Chicago if the Commission determines it meets two or more of the stated "criteria for designation," as well as possesses a significant degree of historic integrity to convey its significance.
The following should be considered by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks in determining whether to recommend that the West Side YMCA/YWCA complex be designated as a Chicago Landmark.
Criterion 1: 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, the State of Illinois, or the United States.
'• The West Side YMCA/YWCA complex exemplifies the importance of the Young Men's Christian Association and the Young Women's Christian Association to the social and cultural history of the City of Chicago.
The complex served as a regional headquarters for the Chicago YMCA and an important center for social, educational, and recreational activities in the Near West Side neighborhood for nearly seventy years.
During the first half of the twentieth century, the YMCA and YWCA developed a comprehensive roster of programs and services at its West Side complex that helped young men and women, many of whom were recent immigrants, to assimilate, learn English, find jobs, and maintain a moral compass while living in the city.
With dormitories for men and women, the West Side YMCA/YWCA also offered clean and safe lodging for hundreds of young people. During World War I and World War II, the
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Berlin also designed the Harriet Hammond McCormic YWCA Building (NE Corner of Dearborn St. and Oak St., 1928), the South Chicago YMCA (3039 E. 9151 St.
The YWCA building at 105-109 S. Ashland Ave. (1931) was designed by Chicago architect Robert DeGolyer. De Golyer was one of Chicago's most notable architects of luxury high-rise apartment buildings in the 1920s; with partner Walter T. Stockton, he designed 1120 N. Lake Shore Dr. (1925), 1320 N. State St. (1926) and the Ambassador East Hotel (1927). DeGolyer also designed the Powhatan Apartments at 4950 S. Chicago Beach Dr. with Charles L. Morgan in 1927, and was lead architect in the design of the Lathrop Homes (Clybourn and Diversey, 1938, listed on the National Register of Historic Places).
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, architectural, or aesthetic value.
The West Side YMCA/YWCA complex retains its historic integrity in location, site, setting, form and details. Overall, the complex maintains a high degree of architectural integrity on its exterior. The complex retains historic red-brick upper walls and exterior ornamental detailing including limestone facing on the raised basements, belt courses, sills, lintels, entry surrounds and cornices.
Changes to the complex's exterior are limited to replacement of doors and windows, with the exception of the entry surround at 101-103 S. Ashland Avenue, which has been altered. These alterations do not detract from the complex's ability to convey its architectural and historical significance.
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 upon its preliminary evaluation of the West Side YMCA/YWCA complex, the Commission staff recommends that the significant features be identified as:
All exterior elevations, including rooflines, of the buildings that are visible from the public rights of way.
The single-story brick addition that extends from the south elevation of 1531-39 W. Monroe Street was constructed between 1963 and 1970 to house handball courts and is considered a non-historic addition. The metal-clad pedestrian bridge that extends from the southwest corner of 1531-39 W. Monroe Street to the southeast corner of 105-109 South Ashland Avenue (constructed c. 1955) is also considered a non-historic addition. These additions may be removed from the original structure, or more significant alterations could be proposed, subject to the review of the Commission. The foregoing is not intended to limit the Commission's discretion to approve other changes.
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Selected Bd3liography
Brown, I. E. "The Book of YMCA Buildings." Chicago: The Young Men's Era, 1895. Chicago Tribune, various articles, 1908-1976.
Cody, Jeffrey W. Building in China: Henry K. Murphy's "Adaptive Architecture," 1914-1935. Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 2001.
Commission on Chicago Landmarks. Chicago Historic Resources Survey: An Inventory of
Architecturally and Historically Significant Structures. Chicago: The Commission and the Department of Planning and Development, 1996.
Condit, Carl W. Chicago: Building, Planning and Urban Technology, 1910-1929. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1973.
Dedmon, Emmett. Great Enterprises: 100 Years of the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago. New York: Rand McNally, 1957.
Fifty-Five Years: The YMCA of Chicago: 1858 - 1913. Chicago: Published by the Board of Managers, YMCA. 1913.
Grossman, James R., Ann Durkin Keating, and Janice L. Re iff. The Encyclopedia of Chicago. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004.
Hinding, Andrea. "Proud Heritage: A History in Pictures of the YMCA in the United States." New York: Donning Company, January 1, 1988.
Holt, Glen E. and Dominic A. Pacyga. Chicago, A Historical Guide to the Neighborhoods: The Loop and South Side. Chicago: Chicago Historical Society, 1979.
Hopkins, Charles Howard. History of the Y.M.C.A. in North America. New York: Association Press, 1951.
Hussey, Harry. My Pleasures and Palaces: An Informal Memoir of Forty Years in Modern China. New York: Doubleday, 1968.
Levy, Florence Nightingale, ed. American Art Annual, vol. IT. Boston: Noyes, Piatt, & Company, 1899.
Lupkin, Paula. "A Temple of Practical Christianity: Chicago's YMCA Skyscraper." Chicago History, 24 (Fall 1995): 22-41.
—. "YMCA Architecture: Evangelical Equipment for the American City, 1867- 1920." PhD diss., University of Pennsylvania, 1996.
—. Manhood Factories: YMCA Architecture and the Making of Modern Urban Culture. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota Press, 2010.
Mayer, Harold M. and Richard C. Wade. Chicago: Growth of a Metropolis. Chicago:
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University of Chicago Press, 1969.
Mjagkij, Nina and Marget Spratt, Eds. Men and Women Adrift: The YMCA and the YWCA in the City. New York: NY University Press, 1997.
National Register of Historic Places. The YMCA Hotel, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. 1989.
Randall, Frank A. History of the Development of Building Construction in Chicago. (Second edition, revised and enlarged) Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1999.
Withey, Henry, AIA and Elise Rathburn Withey. Biographical Dictionary of American Architects (Deceased). Los Angeles: Hennessey and Ingalls, 1956 (1970 ed.).
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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
MacRostie Historic Advisors (consultant), research, writing, photography, and layout Matt Crawford (project manager), editing
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 that individual building, sites, objects, or entire districts be designated as Chicago Landmarks, which protects them by law. The Commission is staffed by the Chicago Department of Planning and Development, Planning, Design & Historic Preservation Division, City Hall, 121 North LaSalle Street, Room 1101, Chicago, IL 60602; (312-744-3200) phone; (312-744-9140) fax, web site: www.cityofchicago.org/landmarks
This Preliminary Summary of Information is subject to possible revision and amendment during the designation process. Only language contained within the final landmark designation ordinance as approved by City Council should be regarded as final.
EXHIBIT B
Department of Planning and Development city of chicago
July 12,2018 Report to the Commission on Chicago Landmarks on the
West Side YMCA/YWCA Complex 1513-1539 W. Monroe St. and 101-109 S. Ashland Ave.
i
The Department of Planning and Development finds that the proposed designation of the West Side YMCA/YWCA Complex as a Chicago Landmark supports the City's overall planning goals for the Near West Side neighborhood and is consistent with the City's governing policies and plans.
The adaptive reuse of the West Side YMCA/YWCA complex is proposed to include 260 dwelling units, ground-floor commercial space, and nine accessory, vehicular parking spaces.
The West Side YMCA/YWCA Complex is located within the Near West Side neighborhood, just one block north of the Jackson Boulevard landmark district. The subject property is within the expanded downtown zoning district designation, which was approved by City Council in 2016. This area is well served by public transit being close to three CTA lines:, the blue line, the pink line, and the green line. This project reflects the ongoing development trends in the area and is consistent with the West Loop Design Guidelines adopted by Chicago Plan Commission in September 2017 which includes the principal strategy to preserve and rehabilitate buildings that have historic character. The applicant's amendment of Planned Development 773 for this adaptive reuse project was approved by the Chicago Plan Commission at their June 21st meeting.
In conclusion, landmark designation of the West Side YMCA/YWCA Complex supports the City's overall planning and econofhic development goals for Chicago's Near West Side community area and is consistent with the CiW'a/governing policies and plans.
David L. Reifman Commissioner
121. NORTH LASAU.B STREET. ROOM 100(3. CHICAGO. ILLINOIS 00602