It Begins
Yesterday I found out that the Jacob Riis Elementary School on Chicago’s near west side was in the early stages of demolition. Seeing yet another grand Chicago building get torn down for no apparent reason finally motivated me to start this…whatever. Thing. Blog.
Jacob Riis Elementary was built and 1915 and served the residents of West Taylor Street until it closed in 2001. Since then, Riis was left abandoned in the middle of a muddy field while the surrounding neighborhood became more upscale and three story townhomes sprouted up in the empty lots where housing projects once stood. Even in it’s dilapidated state Riis was an impressive presence, with it’s large arched windows and blocky, monumental appearance. I always thought Riis would stand forever, like a fortress of some sort. Now it’s being torn down to be replaced by a park.
From The Voice: The Quarterly Journal of Preservation Chicago issue 3, Spring-Summer 2007: “…This newly created park is to be built on the site of the soon-to-be demolished Jacob Riis School, which was on Preservation Chicago’s 7 Most Endangered List of 2006. Even so, we can still celebrate a win…” The “win” is that the animal sculptures that used to occupy the Jane Addams/ABLA homes courtyard will be restored and moved to the new park.
Not to nit-pick, but Jacob Riis School was on Preservation Chicago’s 7 Most Endangered List of 2005, not 2006 as the article stated. More importantly, I don’t see how a preservation group can call the demolition of Riis a “win”. Saving courtyard sculptures is nice, but I have a hard time calling that preservation. To me, that’s more like calling the salvage of ornament scraps from a building demolition a “preservation plan”. But that happens all the time, doesn’t it?