CITY HALL — The former home of the Cairo Supper Club, better known until its closing a year ago as Nick's Uptown, gained approval for landmark status Tuesday before a City Council committee.
The Zoning Committee voted without opposition to forward the plan, previously approved by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks.
The building's decorated terra cotta facade reflects the Egyptian Revival movement, "a rare style in Chicago architecture," according to Matt Crawford, a city planner for the Department of Planning and Development.
That also distinguished it from the other work of architect Paul Gerhardt Sr., a Cook County and Chicago Public Schools designer also credited with the original Cook County Hospital and Lane Tech High School.
The 1920 building's current owner, Thorek Hospital, 850 W. Irving Park Road, had originally resisted the landmark status, which can limit renovations, but agreed to a plan protecting the facade but not the rest of the building. That point was not debated by the Zoning Committee.
The committee also backed landmark status for the Wholesale Furniture Exposition Building, 1323 S. Michigan Ave., which Crawford said was a fine example of the Chicago School of architecture and one of the few remaining structures that once made up "furniture row" along Michigan.
"We've tried for years to make this landmarked," said Ald. Bob Fioretti (2nd).
The building is being converted into condominiums in a $6 million project that will clean up and restore the original facade.
Both proposals go before the full City Council for final approval next week.
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