BLDG51. News and Events |

30 Oct joseph Bbagnuolo’s mid-century modern santa maria addolorata catholic church reduced to rubble

Posted at 17:39h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages, Uncategorized by Eric

Going, going… Demolition photographs of Santa Maria Addolorata Catholic Church at 528/598 N. Ada Street and 1315 W. Ohio Street in Chicago’s Noble Square/East Village neighborhood. Completed in 1960 and designed by noted midcentury architect Joseph Bagnuolo, the church was celebrated as a masterpiece of modern religious...

21 Oct noted midcentury architect joseph bagnuolo’s santa maria addolorata catholic church undergoing demolition

Posted at 15:19h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages, Uncategorized by Eric

recent demolition images of santa maria addolorata catholic church, located at 528/598 n. ada street and 1315 w. ohio street in chicago's noble square/east village neighborhood. completed in 1960 by noted midcentury architect joseph bagnuolo, the church was acclaimed as a masterpiece of modern religious design....

09 Oct a distinctive perspective: an unedited, behind-the-scenes look at the transformation of adler and sullivan’s s. a. maxwell, the jeweler’s building (1881), into a boutique hotel.

Posted at 17:47h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages, Uncategorized by Eric

the following unedited images were taken between 2019 and 2022. i spent thousands of hours supporting the general contractor and owner with preservation guidance, research, and artifacts removed during 1950s renovations, helping ensure they were recreated and returned to the building when the project was...

08 Oct bld. 51 museum archive acquires red slip terra cotta ornament salvaged from william alfred freret’s demolished la crosse, wisc. federal building (1889)

Posted at 16:53h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages, Uncategorized by Eric

the historic federal building and post office in la crosse, wisconsin, was designed by supervising architect of the treasury william alfred freret in the richardsonian romanesque architectural style. year built: construction on the grand brick and terra cotta structure began around 1889. demolition: the building was...

23 Sep demolition well underway on west warren blvd. on chicago’s west side

Posted at 16:39h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages, Uncategorized by Eric

iphone photos taken early monday evening of a two-story, 19th-century romanesque style residence of pressed red brick and bedford limestone at 2915 west warren blvd., chicago, il. images courtesy of eric john nordstrom, the bld. 51 archive, and google maps. all rights reserved. 2026. ...

04 Sep gloom and doom: “Big Jim” O’Leary’s palatial 1901 brown Port Wing sandstone mansion on Garfield Boulevard is headed to demolition court

Posted at 21:20h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages, Uncategorized by Eric

“big jim” o’leary’s 1901 house, built by zachary taylor, is in big trouble as its case moves through chicago’s demolition court, as dennis rodkin of crain’s has reported earlier this week. https://www.chicagobusiness.com/real-estate/residential/ccb-oleary-garfield20260831 the house now sits wide open, inviting squatters and scrappers to strip it before it...

11 Aug dedicated preservationists are working urgently to save barry byrne’s jackson storage warehouse in la grange

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

UPDATE AS OF 8-8-2026: george kingsley and barry byrne’s historically important jackson storage warehouse building in la grange has been emptied, and scaffolding erected in preparation for demolition. handed a death sentence last night (1-12-2026). exterior photographic survey, taken in january and august 2026, documents george kingsley’s four-story...

14 Jul revisiting the distinctive buena vista stone façade of stephen v. shipman’s post-fire charles c. p. holden building

Posted at 02:39h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages, Uncategorized by Eric

the charles c. p. holden building (historically known as the holden block) is a rare, surviving italianate-stylecommercial loft building built in 1872. located at 1027-1029 w. madison street in chicago's west loop / near west side, it was constructed immediately after the great chicago fire...

23 Jun a look back at eric j. nordstrom’s meticulous 2007–2014 documentation of lawndale theater’s major equipment company backstage “pilot” board and its components

Posted at 16:09h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages, Uncategorized by Eric

photographs of the major equipment company backstage pilot board at lawndale theater (1931), shortly before and during the building’s demolition in 2014. 2007: 2014: designed by architect william p. whitney, the lawndale theater stood at 4015 west roosevelt road on chicago’s west side. the pilot board produced interior effects...

17 Jun ruination on rice street: 19th century residential building located at 2037 west rice street undergoing demolition

Posted at 14:21h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages, Uncategorized by Eric

exterior photos taken last evening documenting the demolition of a late-19th-century residence located at 2037 west rice street, chicago, illinois. photographic images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bld. 51 archive. all rights reserved. 2026. ...

08 Jun the bld. 51 museum’s “unearthing chicago” project is expected to become an authoritative book in early 2027

Posted at 18:12h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Press, Sales and Promotions, Salvages, Uncategorized by Eric

recent artifacts dug from a multitude of privy vaults located on the near west side of chicago. the earliest discarded remnants from long-forgotten lives, include, but not limited to, civil war-era john a. lomax cobalt blue glass soda glass bottles. a small selection of clear...

08 Mar remarkable discovery: remnants from adler and sullivan’s 1889 walker house found along lake michigan

Posted at 16:40h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages, Uncategorized by Eric

after adler and sullivan’s walker warehouse (1889) was demolished in 1953, its stone slabs of all shapes and sizes were dumped along the shoreline of lake michigan and remained undisturbed for over seven decades. in the summer of 2025, eric j. nordstrom thoroughly documented and...

07 Mar ten years later: revisiting discovery subsequent documentation of vincenzo formusa, chicago’s oldest italian food importer at 710 west grand ave

Posted at 16:45h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages, Uncategorized by Eric

Part one: the destruction of a building occurs within a finite, and surprisingly quick time frame, but rarely is salvage such a tidy experience. each demolition spills into life outside the hours of actual wrecking, at first in the form of research to be done (and...

06 Mar 9 long years documenting the slow death of herman v. von holst’s 1924 southside chicago comed power station

Posted at 18:45h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages, Uncategorized by Eric

latest images of the dying southside chicago comed station (1924), located at located at 6141 s. prairie avenue. the building’s architect, herman v. von holst, was perhaps best known for taking on the responsibility of heading up frank lloyd wright’s architectural practice when wright went to...

22 Feb a visual narrative of washington porter ii’s 1930s unusual “kiosk sphinx” from beginning to end and remnant rediscovery in 2007

Posted at 18:55h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages, Uncategorized by Eric

photographic images of washingtion porter's beloved kiosk sphinx (louis i. simon, architect), located at 4043 lake park avenue, chicago, il. designed in egyptian revivalstyle to showcase porter's antique collection, it featured a 15-story observation tower visible from lake shore drive, intended to be topped with a...

10 Feb northwestern terra cotta “stock pattern” and custom-designed french art deco style polychromatic terra cotta survey

Posted at 18:05h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages, Travel, Uncategorized by Eric

the following images and information - a work in progress - shed light on the northwestern terra cotta company's richly colored and visually striking french art deco style "stock pattern" terra cotta ornament. early 1980s image of the art deco style chicago bee building (1929), located...

03 Feb imporant architectural artifacts from lucius g. fisher’s neo-gothic fisher building chicago skyscraper added to bld. 51 museum’s ever expanding collection in january, 2026

Posted at 15:54h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages, Uncategorized by Eric

several architectural elements from d.h. burnham and company's fisher building (1896) and addition (1907) were recently purchased for the bld. 51 museum collection and archive. highlights include, but not limited to, a cast iron winslow brothers lobby level elevator floor indicator panel with opposed figural...

02 Feb exceedingly rare remnants from 1893 columbian exposition pabst pavilion gold-plated model brewery centerpiece found by anonymous collector

Posted at 18:55h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages, Travel, Uncategorized by Eric

the 1893 pabst pavilion, designed by otto strack for chicago’s world's columbian exposition, was a terra-cotta structure with a green copper dome and glass corners showcasing beer products. its highlight was a 13-square-foot 24 karat gold-plated cast bronze and white metal pabst brewery model executed...

28 Jan frozen in time: eric j. nordstrom’s photographic documenation of midwest cities as they appeared in the 1990s and early 2000s

Posted at 17:07h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages, Travel, Uncategorized by Eric

after reviewing these early images - taken during the early days of my photographic career - i've realized that while my creative vision remains similar, my technical skills, mastery of equipment and lighting, post-processing abilities, and instinctive and intellectual comprehension of my subjects have improved...

22 Jan red slip-glazed terra cotta from charles sumner frost’s chicago and northwestern lake front depot joins bld. 51 museum collection

Posted at 16:46h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages, Travel, Uncategorized by Eric

the bldg. 51 museum collection recently acquired additional historically important redl slip terra cotta ornament from milwaukee’s former main passenger rail station, the chicago & north western lake front depot. designed by charles sumner frost in a romanesque style, the brick and terra cotta-clad depot...