Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Theaster Gates Wins Preservation Award from Hyde Park Historical Society

By Sam Cholke | January 27, 2016 2:43pm
 Theaster Gates' Stony Island Arts Bank opens to the art world in September for a dinner for EXPO Chicago and opened to the general public on Oct. 3.
Stony Island Arts Bank
View Full Caption

HYDE PARK — Theaster Gates has won this year’s preservation award from the Hyde Park Historical Society.

Gates will be presented with the Despres Preservation Award on Feb. 27 at the historical society’s annual dinner for his work converting an abandoned bank into an arts center and other projects in South Shore, Washington Park and other South Side neighborhoods.

In an announcement of the winner of the award named for former 5th Ward Alderman Leon Despres, the historical society praised Gates’ extensive reuse of original materials while reviving the 93-year-old bank and his focus on community involvement.

“This broad approach extends the definition of standard preservation projects, embracing what Gates terms ‘ethical re-development,’” said Jack Spicer, chairman of the historical society’s preservation committee.

The Hyde Park Jazz Festival will also be given the Cornell Award, which recognizes groups promoting knowledge and appreciation of history in south lakefront neighborhoods.

John Boyer, dean of the College and a history professor at the University of Chicago, will be awarded the Jean Block Book Award for his new book, “The University of Chicago: A History,” which gives an in-depth history of the university from 1857 to the present.

All three awards will be presented at the Feb. 27 annual dinner of the historical society at the Quadrangle Club, 1155 E. 57th St.

Tickets are $80 and can be reserved on the historical society’s website.

For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here: