Your Presence Is Requested At The Chicago Landmarks Meeting Thursday

a rendering of the Uptown Theater
in its first year of existence.
click to enlarge

A reminder that there will be a public hearing tomorrow Thursday at City Hall to talk about landmarking the Uptown Square District (the vintage properties in the 4600-4800 blocks of Broadway, including the Uptown Theater; as well as surrounding areas on Racine, Leland, Lawrence, and Wilson).

The Commission on Chicago Landmarks will hear public testimony (limited to three minutes per person tomorrow afternoon). If you can be or will already be in the area of City Hall, your presence and testimony would be appreciated.

Per the Facebook page on the hearing:

"The Uptown Square city landmark district designation process will proceed to this Commission meeting on October 6. At this meeting, the public will have an opportunity to make comments, with each person limited to three minutes.

General comments of public support are helpful to show there are active community members invested in the designation process.

And we may need to counter those owners who oppose this important and necessary designation and tool. This will make financial incentives available to owners who want to do quality projects and participate in the design review process with the Commission staff.

The Commission will then make a final vote on whether to recommend designation of the district to City Council.

Commission on Chicago Landmarks
Thursday, October 6, 2016 - 12:45pm
121 N. LaSalle Street, City Hall Room 201-A"

We asked why property owners in the District might oppose the protections afforded their properties by being in a landmarked district. We were told that they think it may take longer or be more expensive to make changes to their buildings if they are subject to landmark specifications. However, there are numerous tax credits available to make changes to buildings in landmarked districts.

To read more about the proposed landmark district:

• Uptown Square Landmark Designation To Be Considered at October 1st Meeting (2015)
• Landmarked District Proposed For Area Around Broadway, Wilson, Lawrence (includes map and addresses of buildings in designated landmarked area)