An uncomfortable renovation of a bank. I wonder if any of the previous facade is hiding behind that thing. It's odd that the unattractive octagonal windows survived. The rest of the buildings don't appear to have changed very much.
In the historic photo you can just glimpse of the bank at the NE corner of Lunt and Clark. This was demolished in the 1990s and is now a strip center.
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| The 1958 photo is from UIC's Images of Change collection. |
In the historic photo you can just glimpse of the bank at the NE corner of Lunt and Clark. This was demolished in the 1990s and is now a strip center.
Actually, that 1958 photo is after 1st Commercial remodeled two or three individual buildings into one bank building.
ReplyDeleteI was only 8 at that time, but I remember it.
You should search for even older photos of that corner & you'll see the differences.
My great-grandparents John and Gertrude Pape had his dry goods store in one of the three buildings Clark St. refers to (at 6949). There is a photo of this site, not quite at the same angle (it shows both sides of Clark Street), taken about 1915. You can see the "Dry Goods" sign for my great-grandparents' store in the photo. Chicago History Museum and the Rogers Park / West Ridge Historical Society both have copies of it. It's also on the bottom of page 56 of the Arcadia Press Images of America book about Rogers Park.
ReplyDeleteIn the 1915 photo, the upper part of the building facing Clark looks much the same as it did in 1958. It appears to have been one single building, at least looking at the top. It's the bottom part that was drastically changed - looks like what was three separate storefront addresses (probably 6945, 6947, and 6949) were combined together to make the bank on the lower half. Larry, can you access any Sanborn maps of this block from about 1915?
ReplyDeleteYes, I have the 1914 and 1951 Sanborn Maps of that corner. It looks like those buildings were all constructed together and later combined as the needs of the bank grew. This probably explains the goofy configuration of the first floor.
ReplyDeleteActually, 1st Commercial started at the former Philips Trust Bank Building at Lunt & Clark. Then it bought the three buildings one block south at Morse & remodeled them into the 1958 photo you posted.
DeleteThe Philips building then became Rogers Park S&L, which was bought by Citicorp & was finally torn down for the little strip mall with the bizarre parking lot that's now there.
Hoping to make it to Chicago in May (my son just started a job there last month) and I plan to visit this bank!
ReplyDeleteI hope it's not a disappointment...
ReplyDelete