UPTOWN — The Commission on Chicago Landmarks voted to formally initiate the process that would create the Uptown Square Landmark District Thursday.
At City Hall Thursday, the commission approved a motion which will set forth a typically 9-month to 12-month process that could designate landmark district status to Uptown Square.
During the process, the commission will have review authority over building permit applications for buildings inside the proposed landmark district, according to a letter to residents.
The final district boundary and description would be defined in a Chicago Landmark designation ordinance approved by City Council. But an image of the proposed map is included here.
Matthew Crawford, of the Department of Planning and Development, said the buildings in the district date from 1901-40 and we're created by “a number of significant architects.”
Rapp & Rapp built both the Riviera Theater, 1917, and the Uptown Theater, 1925, which are both in the proposed district, along with the post office on Broadway, which is a Works Progress Administration project from the Depression.
Ward Miller of Preservation Chicago, said the group "fully support[s]" the designation encouraging the commission to expand it to some important interiors, such as splendid lobbies, as well as the Aragon sign and the Green Mill neon sign.
“They should be fully protected," Miller said adding the district is “a remarkable who’s who of architects practicing in the 1920s.”
Ald. James Cappleman (46th) and Commissioner Mary Ann Smith, former alderman of the 48th Ward supported the designation Thursday at City Hall.
Smith highlighted the preservation and development along Bryn Mawr adding Uptown was "blessed" by the lack of development, calling it “really a gift” in that unsightly strip malls hadn’t come in.
But the reviews weren't all positive, Jim Stoller, of the Building Group, said it might put “constraints” on development. Calling the 46th a “flyover ward," Stoller said, “If we want a museum, the city should buy those buildings.”
Otherwise, it should encourage development.
“We need development in the city,” he said. “This will stop development in Uptown.”
RELATED: Five Things to Know About the Landmark Status Process in Uptown
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