U. of C. has said for nearly five years it is developing plans for the only empty buildings on campus. [DNAinfo/Sam Cholke]
HYDE PARK — For nearly two years, the University of Chicago has let a complex of historic school buildings on the southeastern edge of campus sit vacant with little in the way of public plans for reusing it.
In 2011, the Hyde Park Day School and Shankman Orthogenic School announced they would build a new facility in Woodlawn. With the schools gone from the university’s campus for nearly two years now, the university has yet to announce any plans for the buildings it leased to the schools for children with learning disabilities for more than a 60 years.
“Plans are still being developed,” Calmetta Coleman, a spokeswoman for the university, said Thursday.
The two schools moved out of their historic buildings in April 2014 and many now seem to have already forgotten what the buildings were used for.
Security guards posted in front of the building had no clue what had last been housed in the buildings.
A Friday visit to the set of four interconnected structures, the oldest dating to 1918, revealed no obvious temporary use made of the buildings by the university.
The buildings appeared empty on the ground floor and did not seem to be used for storage. The gated playground in back held piles of mulch and several trees with burlap around their roots, waiting to be planted.
University administrators have frequently mentioned large plans being developed for south campus, but few details have emerged that include the Orthogenic or Day schools' buildings.
Construction on the colonial-style building was completed in 1919 as the new home of St. Paul’s on the Midway Church. Another building was added later as the Ryder Divinity House.
In 1930, the Shankman Orthogenic School moved its residential therapy program for children with autism to the building.
When the Colburn, Irving Walker addition was completed in 1966, it was filled with relief sculptures by artist Jordi Bonet, which have since been moved to the new building.
It’s unclear whether any future plans for the site would include demolition of all or a portion of the buildings. The oldest of the buildings at 1375 E. 60th St., would require a wait of up to 90 days before demolition under rules by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks.
Jordi Bonet's relief sculptures from the old Orthogenic School building have been moved to the new facility in Woodlawn. [Wikimedia Commons/The.ravenous.llama]
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