EDGEWATER — Once an auto show room, Edgewater's former Broadway Bank building is getting a new use this weekend — a greenhouse.
The Chicago landmark is opening from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, allowing people to enter the sun-filled building at 5948-60 N. Broadway for the Peterson Garden Project's annual edible plant sale.
Except for the occasional special event, the ornate historic building is rarely open to the public.
But this weekend the bank building will be transformed into a place where urban gardeners can get the full range of supplies they need to grow fresh and flavorful food at home — seeds, soil, plants, books, tools, compost, fertilizer and more will be sold.
Cool weather crops for sale will include plants that can handle Chicago's famous fickle Spring weather like cauliflower and broccoli, salad greens, Brussels sprouts, edible flowers and herbs.
The sale will be back at the same location May 5-7 as well (along with a bake sale) that will highlight more warm weather plants, such as tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and more.
Proceeds from the sale go back to the garden project, which offers a number of free cooking and food-based programs for the community.
Organizers ask shoppers to bring their own bags or boxes to transport plants home.
The Gothic Venetian-style building, designed by Chicago architect Richard Bernard Kurzon, was originally constructed as an upscale Chrysler showroom to be part of North Broadway’s “Auto Row” in 1925-26.
Through the 1940s and 1950s, the building was the M.P. Masser Furniture Store, according to city documents. Through the 1960s and into the 1970s the building housed the Chicago Art Galleries, an antique store and decorative-arts auction house. The auction house closed in 1976, replaced in 1978 by Broadway Bank.
For more than three decades, until 2010, the building was the home of Broadway Bank, which was owned by former state treasurer Alexis Giannoulis and his family before it failed.
Designated as a historic landmark by the City Council’s Commission on Chicago Landmarks in 2012, the structure houses seemingly endless hallways and rooms that make the property both a dream storefront and challenge to rent out.
Among the features: an expansive 20-foot coffered gold-leaf ceiling, lead glass arched windows and antique metal chandeliers.
