02 Oct slipped through the cracks: another downtown chicago sullivanesque building left for dead is quickly destroyed

slipped through the cracks:

what remained of william j. brinkman’s kuntz-remmler building (1908) located at 424 south wabash avenue, chicago, il., was recently demolished to make way for a spellbinding structure by enc construction and development.

the cream-colored sullivanesque style building (a clumsy knock off of harry bergen wheelock’s western methodist book concern building (1899) located at 57 washington street, chicago, il.) was built in two stages with the first two floors completed in 1902. brinkman later designed a four-story 30 x 150 addition in 1908 at a cost of 50,000.

the sullivanesque style two-part cream-colored glazed spandrel panels (see image) were salvaged from the upper stories when the building was partly demolished in the 1970’s.

the building’s storefront survived demolition with the original first floor ornamental terra cotta cornice with flanking cartouches completely intact.

interestingly, both the matte finish and overall execution of the 1902 ornament were far more superior than the ornament on the addition. sadly, NONE OF THE ORNAMENT was salvaged during demolition in the summer of 2025.

the kuntz-remmler building housed a commercial catering company with a restaurants, lounges, and a barbershop located on the ground floor of the building, which was rebuilt after a fire in july of 1902.

the slip-glazed brick and terra cotta was used to suggest cleanliness and sanitary kitchens.

the building’s ornament was executed by northwestern terra cotta company.

courtesy of bld. 51 archive.