Most don't think of industrial or commercial buildings as candidates for historic preservation or landmark status.
But two youthful historians, Jacob Kaplan and Serhil Chrucky, named many such structures in Northwest Indiana and Chicago.
The pair recently appeared before a crowded Hammond Historical Society meeting to present "Forgotten Chicago," a PowerPoint photo display and lecture that also takes a look at the Calumet Region's industrial landscape. Those in attendance were schooled to look for and appreciate even the slightest meaningful architectural details.
Case in point is the easily overlooked, odd 'Y' incorporated in facade designs on many older buildings, bridges, and street lighting fixtures throughout Chicago. It represents the three branches of the Chicago River, considered a vital transport link between Lake Michigan and Illinois waterways leading to the Mississippi River.
Jacob, whose family hails from Whiting - his grandmother Rosemary serves on the Hammond Public Library Board - and Serhil have formed a young quartet to research "Forgotten Chicago." Jacob attends Northeastern Illinois University and Serhil is a University of Illinois-Chicago student, while Corinne Aquino studies at Harold Washington College and Mike Damian is web site developer.
Architect L. Cosby Bernard's stamp is on many grand Calumet Region and south suburban Chicago homes built in the 1930s in his signature English Tudor and Georgian styles, as well as four English cottage branches built for the Hammond library.
So it is remarkable to learn that he followed the Art Moderne style highlighted at the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago as he designed what was a sleek, plain building with curved angles at 5272 Hohman Ave. in Hammond. The building front was covered over in the 1960s with a French mansard roof and rough stone facade.
Also lost from downtown Hammond is the circa 1927 building designed by noted Chicago architect Alfred S. Alschuler. This block-long building with floor to ceiling windows and terra cotta facing was first home to Kaufman and Wolf Department Store, later to become Goldblatt's. It was imploded in 1993 to leave, in Jacob's words, "a gaping hole in the street scape."
Other historically significant local buildings, either torn down, abandoned, or covered over, are the old Inland Steel Maintenance and Equipment building in East Chicago, Lever Brothers' art moderne building topped off with a Rinso soap box, Vogel's Restaurant, the original Albert's Jewelry store in Indiana Harbor, Walgreen's drug store and grill in Hammond and the probably doomed California-style Woodmar Shopping Center sign along Indianapolis Boulevard.
Jacob and Serhil discussed the razing of the sprawling U.S. Steel South Works in neighboring South Chicago. As redevelopment plans have come and gone for the lakefront acreage, the two preservationists hope that the site will include a substantial tribute - more than just a couple of historic markers - to the 20,000 people once employed and the steel produced there for countless Chicago skyscrapers.
The opinions are solely those of the writer. Contact her at janetcopywrite@sbcglobal.net.
