BLDG51. News and Events |

21 Sep dated cornerstone time capsule with contents successfully extracted shortly before st. john’s church razed

Posted at 01:32h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

as the facade of st. john's church came crumbling down (a terrible loss for chicago's preservation movement) several pieces of limestone ornament, the dated cornerstone, and the copper time capsule found within it, were carefully removed. they are currently being documented in my studio, where...

19 Sep historically important interior goldblatt’s building staircase ornament added to bldg. 51 museum

Posted at 19:01h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

several original single-sided documented brushed and refurbished cast iron staircase panels recently entered the bldg. 51 collection: the exquisite cast iron ornament exhibit symmetrical and restrained floral motif inside overlapping geometric shapes that once adorned the stairs of a historic uptown building whose alteration is intertwined with...

14 Sep decorators supply company’s richly designed ornament has greatly enhanced chicago’s architecture

Posted at 22:25h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

the decorators'' supply company traces its history back to 1883 when the original founders, simon strahn and richard c. foster, established a partnership to manufacture "artistic decorative accessories." an old lease document dated april 13, 1890 describes the company as a carving and guilders business. by...

12 Sep bldg. 51 museum adds historically important figural ornament from non-extant chicago federal building

Posted at 04:11h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

the bldg. 51 museum has secured several historically important chicago building artifacts over the past month that are just now being carefully documented and photographed for exhibition in the ever-growing collection. earlier this week it began with an all original heavily ornamented figural cast iron...

11 Sep fulton street cold storage building, marble mantels, unearthed bottles, and industrial artifacts

Posted at 03:52h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

the following photo gallery offers a glimpse of the most recent artifacts salvaged and/or acquired and posted in the urban remains massive website catalog (15 new items are added daily in their respective categories). this year marks the ten year anniversary of urban remains, and from day one, one...

10 Sep exceptional c. 1880’s transom art glass windows discovered during demolition of former organ factory

Posted at 19:16h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

there's good reason why i cannot leave a wrecking site until everything has been trucked off, including the earth excavated for laying the foundation of the structure replacing the one reduced to rubble. every now and then, while a building is being blasted by the excavator's bucket, something...

07 Sep demolition on a group of neighboring 19th century houses on evergreen street has finally begun

Posted at 05:06h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

i never made it to work on friday. instead, i drove over to evergreen street after seeing demolition permits reissued, and hearing from an associate that the bright yellow wrecking machine is parked in front of the four endangered structures there. catching wind of this...

06 Sep exceptional museum-quality speckled glaze figural terra cotta rondel from st. boniface school

Posted at 02:46h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

a little over a month ago urban remains covered the initial stages of the death sentence handed to noble square’s early 20th century historically important st. boniface church. as wrecking begins on the dilapidated structure, despite community protest to adaptively reuse the building, urban remains...

29 Aug st. john’s 1910 bronze bell is removed from steeple as church undergoes its continued deconstruction

Posted at 15:38h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

since 1910, st. john's oversized cast bronze church bell was used to call the congregation to service, announce weddings, and of course, toll at funerals. late last week that oversized bell, fabricated by the henery stuckstede foundry, st. louis, mo., was carefully extracted from the exposed...

27 Aug historically important chicago street and park light fixtures latest additions to the bldg. 51 museum

Posted at 14:48h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

recently acquired for the bldg. 51 collection/museum are a pair of remarkable 1920's exterior light fixtures, discovered in a remodeled stairway leading down to lower wacker west of michigan avenue. the exterior sconces were originally installed at the lincoln park zoo. though the large globes are...

24 Aug fisher theater building theater seat end echoes a most unusual design treatment used in the fisher theater

Posted at 02:46h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Sales and Promotions by Eric

among the non-chicago based artifacts in the bldg. 51 museum collection is a highly unusual depression-era theater seat end, included in the catalog for its reflection of exotic movie palace architecture in the mid-west, and as an object designed for chicago architects anker graven and...

22 Aug old downtown chicago street sign sheds light on the corner of michigan ave and van buren street during the early 20th century

Posted at 15:35h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

outside of architectural ornament, signage is an important element of the built landscape for its ability to retrace a specific area's changing landscape. as a salvaged object, it is always implicated in whatever historical narrative might arise. this is embodied in a very rare original...

17 Aug large array of recently salvaged chicago artifacts available on our newly launched website

Posted at 13:41h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

17 Aug early 20th century gothic style copper ornament salvaged from st. john’s church was executed by friedley-voshart company

Posted at 05:14h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

during this week’s demolition at 2442 w. moffat street, as st. john’s church was painstakingly deconstructed before my eyes, i decided to move forward and secure two matching sets of original c. 1910 gothic style pressed and folded antique copper finials, along with the topmost oversized finial...

12 Aug deconstruction of st. johns church is well underway – bell and tower to come down next week

Posted at 15:50h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, Salvages by Eric

in the coming weeks, i will be thoroughly documenting the salvage of a 106 year old church in logan square, whose structure is slowly being dismantled. the life of the building is to live on in scattered fragments and in the bricks which will purportedly...

30 Jul a seemingly mundane key fob tied to a richly historic demolished chicago hotel

Posted at 16:35h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions by Eric

fifty years ago a sunset pink structure with towering stepped profile crumbled to the ground beside lake michigan. under pressure of bankruptcy and the promise of new development, the edgewater beach hotel abruptly closed its doors in the far northern neighborhood of chicago, only to...

28 Jul additional artifacts from vincent formusa’s “time capsule” found within his shop on grand avenue documented

Posted at 04:03h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

as covered in a prior post, last week brought about the salvage of a century-old three-flat commercial masonry structure located near grand and halsted, set to be demolished in the near future. the facade belies somewhat its historic character as residence and production space of the...

20 Jul demolition of late 19th century building once housing chicago’s oldest italian food importer weeks away

Posted at 23:40h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, Salvages by Eric

near the intersection of grand and halsted, demolition was recently handed to a 19th century building which, until relatively recently, housed chicago’s oldest italian food importer -- a family business that operated from 710 w. grand for over a century. in documenting and salvaging the...

19 Jul discovery of downtown chicago dump provides insight into the lives of mid-19th century chicagoans

Posted at 15:52h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

a recent dig site has proven to be a fruitful source for 19th century bottles and artifacts. the site, along the north branch of the chicago river, is unassuming, sitting in a dead space between a glass and steel skyscraper and an industrial warehouse undergoing extensive...

17 Jul victorian-era “schmidt” cottage and former organ workshop on evergreen street slated for demolition

Posted at 15:30h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, Salvages by Eric

though it isn't the first time they've been threatened with demolition, two late 19th century buildings within chicago's downtown area, at 317 and 321 evergreen street, received a death sentence this month. before they are reduced to rubble, however, i was able to document the exterior...