BLDG51. News and Events |

05 Nov civil war-era circular pine wood privy vault unearthed from backyard of a chicago cottage

Posted at 17:15h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

once again i took the time to carefully extract, thoroughly clean, and reassemble the floor boards of an 1860's-era chicago cottage privy vault. the sanitary pit was covered over long ago, as indoor plumbing was becoming more readily available during the late 19th century. the house's...

18 Oct this week: 25% off any and all fireplace mantels, gas inserts, and summer covers

Posted at 19:44h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Sales and Promotions by Eric

below, are just a few examples of hundreds of fireplace mantels, coal baskets, gas inserts, and summer covers available for sale through the end of this week. any and all category items have been discounted. click here to be redirected to the sale category. ...

18 Oct latest inventory includes gothic style church lighting, early chicago terra cotta, and various medical/industrial furniture

Posted at 02:50h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Sales and Promotions, Salvages 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...

14 Oct unusually large “pocket” of packed late 19th century rubbish discovered on the near north side

Posted at 21:26h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

i was called to examine a desolate triangular-shaped parcel of land being excavated on the near north side shortly after i completed documenting the soon-to-be demolished art deco style 1930's ornamental limestone facade concealing "buddy's parking garage" on clark street (images highlighting the exterior decorative elements will be...

08 Oct bottles and building parts from chicago’s past pulled from excavations across the city

Posted at 21:04h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

the following compilation of images were taken from various chicago excavations - both commercial and residential over the past few weeks. the wide range of objects or artifacts recovered (and in many cases documented in the studio) include 19th century wood "pilings" once supporting a...

05 Oct recent acquisitions include vintage medical furniture, stained glass, millwork, unearthed bottles, gauges, terra cotta

Posted at 04:18h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Sales and Promotions, Salvages by Eric

29 Sep a closer look at the “old ivory” glazed terra cotta reproduced for the iconic chicago theater

Posted at 17:58h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

a theater-related acquisition this week joins the bldg. 51 collection, as a rare remnant of restoration efforts that took place at the iconic chicago theater over twenty years ago. the highly ornate floral terra cotta fragments were fabricated by boston valley, the decorative cream-colored terra...

23 Sep the facade of st. john’s church (1910) obliterated in a matter of hours

Posted at 17:59h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

an alarming number of chicago churches constructed in the 19th and early 20th century have been taken down this year. st. john's (1910) on moffatt street is the latest casualty. when i arrived on its last day, it was already a pile of ruin with the exception...

22 Sep back-to-back destruction of two exceptionally intact victorian-era chicago houses

Posted at 21:18h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

two 19th century houses were handed the death sentence earlier this week. the late 1890' two-flat with rusticated stone arches on george street (see below) has already been pulled apart and trucked off. the second house (1880-1884), replete with pressed ornamental brick, rusticated stone, and exceptional...

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

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...