Former Nick's Uptown Building Designated As Chicago Landmark

Some very good news about the building at 4015-4017 North Sheridan! Just 13 months after a tipster told Uptown Update that Nick's Uptown would be closing its doors and that Thorek Hospital had bought the much-loved building, the City Council voted yesterday to help preserve it.  Thank you to Ald. Cappleman for his support of designating the building as a Chicago Landmark.

Here's the press release from the City:

"A uniquely designed Uptown commercial building and a surviving example of the Near South Side’s “Furniture Row” were approved today as official Chicago Landmarks by City Council.

• Cairo Supper Club Building, 4015-17 N. Sheridan Road.  The Cairo Supper Club Building was designed by noted Chicago architect Paul Gerhardt Sr. in the rare Egyptian Revival architectural style. Completed in 1920, the one-story commercial structure is clad with multi-colored terra cotta ornamented with a variety of ancient Egyptian motifs, including lotus-decorated columns and a concave “cavetto” cornice.
  
  The building’s first use was as an automobile showroom in the 1920s before becoming the popular Cairo Supper Club and hosting a variety of entertainment acts. The designation applies to all building elevations, including rooflines, with provisions to accommodate a potential redevelopment project that will preserve the front 20 feet of the structure.
  
  Both properties were recommended for Landmark designation by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks this summer."

1929 Hupmobile sedan
photo used courtesy of Lars-Göran Lindgren Sweden
Photo by Lars-Göran Lindgren Sweden

Here's an article from Architecture Chicago Plus that has a good history of the building, back to the days when Hupmobiles were sold out of its showroom.