BLDG51. News and Events |

08 May demolition imminent for historic post-fire 1874 row house faced with “athens marble”

Posted at 04:05h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

this post concerns an entire city block, containing a collection of historically significant post-fire "athens marble" italianate style rowhouses. each has witnessed fires, neglect, utter abandonment, and demolition since the houses were completed in 1874. in these rather depressing "ruins," i could only catch a glimpse...

05 May 19th century building parts and bottles unearthed during excavation near the m. schultz piano factory (1889)

Posted at 18:43h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

an excavation site just west of the m. schultz company piano factory and showroom (erected in 1889) yielded several artifacts spanning several decades. the earliest identifiable object was a small dark amber glass fragment with an embossed letter that once belonged to a quart-sized william...

04 May photographic study of congress theater’s lobby victor pearlman chandeliers

Posted at 04:16h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by Eric

the following photographic images (taken over a course of three months) provide a highly detailed visual record of the two matching fully functional extant interior congress theater lobby cast brass and wrought ornamental chandeliers. remarkably, the gargantuan "electric candle" ceiling fixtures with dual-colored art cathedral glass globes...

01 May pile of 19th century “pictorial” hutchinson bottles discovered behind ace on ashland

Posted at 04:05h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

long after the hodgepodge of 19th and 20th century buildings forming the ace hardware on ashland were demolished last year, excavation work finally began. multiple machines dug deep below grade in preparation for the foundation work of a new development, and just a few days later i...

28 Apr a look back from the beginning of 2017

Posted at 09:19h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by Eric

looking over the work i've managed to post, coupled with a seemingly endless list of unpublished "drafts" for 2017 alone, i'm increasingly convinced i'm a good candidate for karoshi. it looks like a sabbatical is on the horizon...

27 Apr bldg. 51 museum secures historically important c. 1908 henry babson house leaded glass windows

Posted at 04:12h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

a pair of leaded glass windows original to the henry babson house (salvaged before its demolition in 1960) were purchased for the bldg. 51 museum this month. since i only aimed to acquire a single window for the museum, the counterpart made its way to...

26 Apr ten images of chicago through its exterior architectural ornament

Posted at 21:37h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by Eric

until the time comes when i'm slammed documenting the death of buildings, i've thoroughly enjoyed looking at the city's 19th and early 20th century architecture through my camera's zoom lens. i've taken several thousand images that i hope to make into an exhaustive photographic study...

24 Apr uncovering the 1920’s boot of a theater tradesman in the congress theater attic

Posted at 21:38h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by Eric

discovering the remnants of bygone tradesmen in a building seems akin to finding the proverbial “needle in the haystack.” it takes patience and sufficient lighting as much as luck to pinpoint objects left undisturbed for many decades. it is all the more gratifying to uncover...

21 Apr bldg. 51 museum acquires heller house cast plaster capitals executed by richard bock

Posted at 21:44h in Bldg. 51, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

the isidore h. heller house was designed by architect frank lloyd wright and its design is credited as one of the turning points in wright's shift to geometric, prairie school architecture, which is defined by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves,...

21 Apr 1880’s bissel street mansion interior salvage gets underway

Posted at 19:07h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

research continues on a marvelous brick mansion that is in the process of being converted into a pre-school. the structure envelops two city lots, and appears to have been built around 1887. to accommodate the needs of the developers and satisfy building codes, the interior...

20 Apr plethora of architectural and industrial artifacts or objects added to urban remains’ virtual catalog

Posted at 18:54h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

a wide array of american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or objects have been steadily added to the massive urban remains virtual catalog for a few weeks now. with the completion of a gold coast mansion salvage earlier this week, we have been working long...

18 Apr an intimate look at detroit’s lost mayan revival style fisher theater through newly discovered photographs

Posted at 22:24h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by Eric

in a previous blog entry i focused on a highly unusual depression-era mayan revival fisher theater seat end - one of several non-chicago based artifacts housed in the bldg. 51 museum collection catalog. the richly colored all original theater seat end reflects late 1920's exotic movie palace...

17 Apr update: 1870’s post-fire italianate style superior street residence saved in downtown chicago

Posted at 13:34h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by Eric

[caption id="attachment_21122" align="alignleft" width="900"] detail of built-up molding on pine wood exterior door. the entry and any and all images first published on may 26th, 2016.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_29214" align="alignleft" width="450"] 1886 sanborn insurance map with red arrow indicating location of the superior street italianate. note: the...

16 Apr boxes of 19th and early 20th century builders’ hardware rediscovered

Posted at 15:39h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

while looking for a hopkins and dickenson doorknob the other day, i ran across several boxes of "personal collection" 19th century builders' hardware i've had stowed away for years. when i pull the lid from the first container, i immediately recognized doorknobs from the william...

16 Apr original creosoted wood-block chicago city street pavers recently unearthed

Posted at 14:09h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

when companies are contracted by the city to demolish and replace structurally unsound vaulted sidewalks, their saw-cutting methods typically go beyond the curb and well into the street. the work continues with subsequent digging in and around the street, involving the removal of several inches...

12 Apr a closer look at a controversial old town “rotted” post fire 19th century workers cottage

Posted at 20:33h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by Eric

[caption id="attachment_29177" align="alignleft" width="1000"] the studs and sheathing along the north wall are severely compromised and will need to be replaced. with the exception of the facade, the cottage's framing will no doubt be largely replaced, including the interlocking sill plates. additionally, i would be...

10 Apr art moderne house outfitted with depession-era “after sunset” machine age fixtures now available

Posted at 21:36h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

several "after sunset" fixtures were removed from an art modern house undergoing renovations late last week. the american art deco depression era fixtures were designed and fabricated by or for the lightolier corp., jeannette, pennsylvania. the super streamlined machine age electric fixtures are comprised largely of...

09 Apr systematic deconstruction of 850 lakeshore drive athletic club’s grand interior lobby

Posted at 10:10h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by Eric

there really is no beginning or end to the surreal story of my crew and i being paid to completely deconstruct the historically important and visually stunning main lobby of the "850 lsd" or the lakeshore drive athletic club building. we were hired on to extract a collection...

07 Apr photographic study of tradesmen remnants, discovered in and around congress theater’s plaster dome

Posted at 14:55h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

i've spent a great deal of time in the congress theater attic space, a place where time seems to stand still. in the upper canopy of the building i find a rare quiet and peace, and often find myself overwhelmed with a sense of calm...

04 Apr late 19th century privy finds from a chicago workers cottage on cleveland

Posted at 21:41h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, Salvages by Eric

after slowing down some, i find myself deeply immersed again in the "unearthing chicago" project long after i finished cataloging several extensively archived chicago dig sites for the soon-to be-published "unearthing chicago" book (bldg. 51 museum press) due out this year. like any other project i've...