Three Chicago area buildings among state's most at-risk historic locations
The former Sears, Roebuck and Co. Administration Building at 3333 W. Arthington St., is one of three Chicago-area buildings added to Landmarks Illinois’ list of structures considered most endangered.
Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times file
Three Chicago area buildings made the 2024 list of most-endangered landmarks released by local nonprofit Landmarks Illinois on Tuesday.
The list highlights 10 culturally and architecturally significant sites across the state that are in need of support.
“Despite their current condition, these places tell important stories from our past — stories that should not be erased due to insufficient investment or general disregard for our collective histories,” Landmarks Illinois CEO Bonnie McDonald said in a news release.
Portage Theater, located in Chicago's Portage Park neighborhood, was one of the sites listed. The theater, completed in 1920, has been closed since 2018 and needs updates and repairs.
“Restoring the historic Portage Theater would be the icing on the cake amid a real estate resurgence at Six Corners,” said Amie Zander, managing director for the Six Corners Association, which is the economic development organization focused on the neighborhood.
The Sears Administration Building, part of Sears, Roebuck and Co.'s former world headquarters complex in the West Side's North Lawndale neighborhood, also made the list.
Completed in 1914, the building is a National Historic Landmark. Though other buildings on the Sears campus, as well as the sunken garden, have been repurposed, the administration building remains unused and has been listed for sale since the spring of 2023.
The former canning and bottling factory, the Libby, McNeill and Libby Building, was also listed as an at-risk landmark.
Built in 1918 in south suburban Blue Island, the factory became a major employer for Libby, McNeill and Libby, which at the time was the second-largest producer of canned goods in the country. The building has been closed since 2018, when it was donated to an affordable recovery housing nonprofit, but it remains vacant while the organization is in litigation with the city over code issues. The building is currently decaying.
“The presence of unique heritage assets, such as the Libby, McNeill and Libby Building, connects communities like Blue Island to their past and presents attractive centers where community and economic development can occur if they’re repurposed for the future,” said Kevin Brown, vice president of the Calumet Heritage Partnership, which aims to preserve cultural heritage in the area.