Monday, February 10, 2014

Demolition Permit Issued for 1896 Victorian House.
Updated 3x: Demolition Completed


It appears that the efforts to save the 1896 home at 4642 Magnolia have failed, as Everyblock reports that a demolition permit for the house and garage was issued last week.  We feel it's a pity to lose a piece of Sheridan Park history, but the house's advocates made every effort to save it. Because the city's landmarking division declined to protect the house, and apparently no offer to buy it was accepted, it's the owners' prerogative to wreck it.

Under current zoning, the owners have the option of leaving the current home standing; selling it; demolishing it and building another single family home; or demolishing it and leaving an empty lot.  It looks as if they've decided to demolish it, unless the permit is simply a way to keep their options open.

Update:  As of this morning, demolition is underway.  You had a good run, house, existing for parts of three centuries.  Farewell.



Update:  And there goes the house.



Update:  All that's left as of noon:  rubble.


21 comments:

  1. Since the Finan's massacred the lot and removed all the stained glass windows a few weeks ago, leaving it open to the elements, this is hardly a surprise. From what they have told a few neighbors, they are leaving it an empty lot. Makes a ton of sense.... ugh.

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  2. In a city where the mayor can destroy a federal airfield in the middle of the night with little or no repercussions, a house like this never stood a chance.

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    1. John didn't you work for that Mayor as one of his flippant mouthpieces?

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  3. ...And, this is how and why a City can lose a lot of history quickly.

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  4. Why arent there more pictures of it here when it was standing?
    Demo Pictures are cool and all but I'd rather see it in its glory.

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  5. Picky, picky! Click the link. It's the words in blue.

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  6. From one picture - if you look really closely - it appears the beautiful staircase banister that went up 3 floors wasn't even saved. I walked by tonight and the front door was laying out in the snow with its window busted. The house is gone but there was plenty to salvage out of it besides the stained glass windows. Even the decorative wrought iron window covers laying in the rubble. Horribly wasteful.

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  7. Nice love it when a plan comes together.

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  8. All of us in Sheridan Park need to work together to make sure something like this doesn't happen again. If we are a historical district, we cannot allow 120 year old structures to be knocked down at the whims of insatiable developers. We cannot have developers playing mind games with the community to manipulate a result, "teach us a lesson," etc. I'm not just talking about the risible eyesore on Magnolia create by our very own neighbors. I'm also referring to the the lots on Malden and Beacon. All of them are owned by individuals who have been thumbing their noses at the community, outsmarting the local authorities and creating filthy, dangerous eyesores. No, the answer is not to allow the developers to do whatever the hell they want because "anything is better than an empty lot." Our block clubs' leadership needs to organize, meet with the local authorities, and create regulations and/or laws which will prevent property owners from allowing a property to lay fallow like the Finans have publicly declared they intended to do. Otherwise, the rest of us will be at the whims of certain property owners attempting to eke out as much pecuniary gain as possible at the expense of the community like we witnessed with the Phillips house fiasco. Which single family home in Uptown is next? The Buddhists' homes on Magnolia? The Victorians on the 4700 block of N. Malden? The Victorian on the 4600 block of N. Magnolia? I'm sure the developers would love to see our streets lined with faceless McCondos. Would you?

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  9. UR, I'm glad you mention the Buddist houses on Magnolia. They are in horrible shape and I'd love to see them take better care of their property (although I believe 4642 was far more significant of a structure). I've spoken to the Dept of Buildings and the Alderman's office - neither of which have been very effective in the matter. I guess they don't have to care for their property since they are a religious organization and are exempt from property taxes. Maybe I should see if my condo association will be ok if I throw a cross on the front of our building so we can be exempted from paying taxes and we can let our building go to hell?

    In any case, I'd love to see the block clubs organize better to save these structures, however it seems that the landmarks commission was absolutely no help in saving this house. If 4642 didn't get landmarked, I fear there are few other homes in Sheridan Park that would. In the end, the Finan's had the right to tear the house down (which was unfortunate), but you are correct, the landbanking has got to stop.

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  10. Greed. Waste. Gluttony. Revenge. Intolerance. Spite.

    Just a few of the words that this whole saga brings to mind.

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  11. It's not acceptable that this kind of demolition is allowed in a city as enlightened as Chicago, especially when there are so many deconstruction options like The ReUse People (http://www.deconstructionchicago.com/about). Deconstruction is important work and it pays dividends in many ways—future-oriented skilled jobs, conservation of irreplaceable materials, tax benefits for owner-donors, and reduction of environmental contamination risk.

    I hope someone at least removed and properly disposed of the the pipes in the basement that in earlier photos appeared to be wrapped with asbestos.

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  12. Very good point Tekst, but my guess is that the developers whose m.o. is to demolish 120 year buildings that are architecturally unique in order to replace them with McCondos aren't particularly interested in preserving irreplaceable things. If that were the case, this whole humiliating episode for the community and the developers would have been handled very differently when the first notices were sent out and the not-so-public notice was displayed for no one to read, and the former owner publicly announced in a public zoning meeting that the price for a buyer interested in tearing the house down would be $525k while the price for a buyer interested in restoring it would be $1.2 million. . . How do people get away with this stuff in 21st century Chicago before the very eyes of local officials?

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  13. Who ever started boycott Facebook page this is your doing

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  14. Why would a boycott hurt the Finans? They're rolling in money. They bought a house and made an empty lot. They pissed off the people who will vote to up-zone it. Must be nice to be that rich!!!\ Boycott away, they obviously have money to burn.

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  15. People shouldn't complain in public meetings about the difficulty in refinancing their home when they can easily drop 525K all just to sit on an empty lot.

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  16. My favorite comments are those which blame the demolition of that poor house on everyone but the individuals who financed and deployed the bulldozers, and the City of Chicago functionaries who ignored the establishment of the Sheridan Park Historic District way back in 1985!

    I love this line from Wikipedia about Uptown's Sheridan Park:

    "In 1985, the Sheridan Park Historic District (a National Landmark District) was established to protect the unique single family and smaller multi-family architecture of the area."

    Google Sheridan Park Historic District and you'll find many articles describing the beauty and uniqueness of the architecture of our single family homes.

    It has become clear to us all that such a designation protects the community's interest about as much as an illegible "Public Notice."

    Each consumer may make his own decision about O'Shaughnessy's (or any of the business ventures in which its barkeeps are involved), but their comments and behavior during those meetings spoke volumes. Only sparing that poor house from the wrecking ball would have changed my mind.



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  17. I'd like to hear from Cappleman's office how we preserve a historic district (Sheridan Park). Clearly the designation doesn't carry weight. I see this as an election issue.

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