6657-6707 N. Clark, c.1925

Still making my way through some Clark streetscapes.  Back in 2008 and 2009 I put together some information about corner buildings on Clark, between Howard and Devon.  The intent was to compile a booklet of drawings, site plans, and history.  That project never made it to publication, although I posted most of the drawings and maps that came out of it.  So it's satisfying to be able to cannibalize some of the research I did back then.

View looking Southeast

The two story red brick building doesn't have a construction date from the assessor, but based on its ornament I would say c. 1925.  The second floor windows have been changed to sliders, but the first floor retains a large open storefront, in contrast to many in the area which have been infilled or reduced in size.  Currently this is a tattoo parlor.

Site Map

The yellow brick  and stone building was designed by the firm of Loewenberg and Loewenberg, and built at a cost of $75,000 in 1926.  This is a bit grander than most of the mixed-use buildings on Clark, and has a nicely detailed broken pediment entry to the apartments above.  The facade is flanked by slender stone pilasters, and the rounded corner is emphasized with classical ornament. Loewenberg and Loewenburg designed many neighborhood buildings throughout Chicago, including several synagogues and Hebrew theological colleges in North Lawndale.  They also designed the Broadmoor Hotel in Rogers Park, at 1532 W. Howard.  Their successor firm is still active in the area.  This building is currently a liquor store, although when I moved to the neighborhood it was one of the last video arcades.

The red brick building on the opposite corner was designed by Benjamin Leo Steif and constructed in 1922 at a cost of $45,000.  It also keys to the classical style, but its primary ornament is a stone pediment and brick pilasters at the corner. Steif also designed neighborhood buildings throughout Chicago and the suburbs, but his practice shifted towards large apartment buildings.  The digital collection of the Art Institute of Chicago contains a large amount of his firm's work. There's a taqueria in this storefront at the moment.

Northeast and Southeast Corners of Clark and Northshore, 2009

Clark and Estes, northwest corner 1900 and 2008

 

Combined Police Headquarters and Fire Department, c. 1900

In sad recognition of the recent closing of The Washing Well I'm reposting this from December of 2008.

The drawing to the right is adapted from a collection of historic Rogers Park photos published by the Rogers Park/West Ridge Historical Society.  I've done a number of these "then and now" pairings, but this is one of my favorites.

The police and fire station at Clark and Estes also operated as the Rogers Park Town Hall prior to annexation to Chicago in 1893.


The Washing Well Laundromat, 2008



Sheridan and Albion, 1937

OK, here's the last of my images adapted from the IDOT photo archive of Chicago intersections.  This filling station at the Northeast corner of Sheridan and Albion was a particularly solid design, and I'm struck  by how similar it is to modern gas stations.  There are drive-through pumps accessible on either side for motorists who just need a fill-up,  and garage bays for more in-depth servicing.

This is one of those images that benefits from the site plan (courtesy of the Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of 1937).  The sales area and the service bays sort of pinwheel against each other, with the underground gas tanks at the rear.  I imagine the space behind was for storing cars.

If you look in the drawing you can see the outline of the adjacent house to the North, along with two huge billboards angled towards the street.  These were located on the vacant lot between the house and the filling station.  Compared to the 1930s we get off easy when it comes to signage.  Anyone with plot of land could apparently erect an enormous sign if they could find someone willing to pay for it.  Now you can't put up a sign larger than 100 sq.ft. without an order from City Council.  But I'm not a huge fan of billboards, so I'm not complaining.

It makes sense to place filling stations on the corner, where it can have access to two streets.  But why did the station itself have to be located in the center of the lot?  If I could go back in time and make a few suggestions it would be to locate gas stations on the corner of the lot and have the pumps and service areas in the back.  This would be an especially good treatment in dense urban areas, where the service station disrupts the streetscape.  This gas station was on the corner of a residential block and at least tried to retain a little grassy area near the sidewalk. 

So this might be the last gas station for a bit, although I found another good one on Clark and a tiny one on Sheridan.  I'm trying to limit thematic postings to three.  For now.  Until I return to Sheridan Road please enjoy this great pictorial  that makes use of the same IDOT photos I've been admiring.

Clark and Lunt- Bird's Eye View

OK, not a true bird's-eye view, since it combines two paraline drawings. But a good way to add additional months to the project. To be honest, I can't imagine doing this for twenty-five more intersections.

So we spent a long weekend in North Carolina about 3 weeks ago. Angela was invited to teach an improv workshop, and Felix and I tagged along. It was like getting an amazing spring preview. We spent alot of time with our friends Dan and Lee, and explored the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill area, which is beautiful. Dan and Angela used to perform together, and it was his theater that had extended the offer for a workshop. Apparently it was a big hit.

I'm amazed at how quickly Felix adapts on these trips. After the first day he said, "I like our new car." We tried to explain that it was a rental. Once we returned to Chicago he kept asking if we were going back to the hotel. As long as we're all together he's home.

Clark and Greenleaf- A&T Grill Signage

OK, still putting together some color graphics for signage on Clark. For anyone who's interested, here's the most recent process:

-Develop outline from reference photograph. In this case I made two versions, one which eliminates the background elements to focus just on the sign.
-Scan both versions to print out at slightly larger size. Decide to use the more cluttered version.

-Develop grey marker tone study.
-Develop color drawing with Prismacolor markers.
-Scan into 300 dpi tiff. Adjust edges. Add graduated background tone.
-Print scan. Create highlights and details with Prismacolor pencils.
-Rescan. Adjust colors. Create reduced size version for blog.

Not sure it was worth the effort, but I want to give a copy to the owners of the A&T Grill. It might make them hesitate if they're considering removing the sign. It's already missing quite a bit of neon.

Clark and Lunt- Currency Exchange

OK, another second tier financial service on Clark. We actually get our city stickers here. Also one of the few corners in Rogers Park where prostitutes are regularly arrested.

Clark and Schreiber, northwest corner

Do you remember the "literals" craze in the 1980s? Bags labeled "Brown Bag" and mugs labeled "Mug"? Did you know they did the same thing with buildings? The Rogers Park police station is living proof. In huge lowercase letters it reads, "police" on the wall nearest Clark. As if that could make up for the aggressively unattractive design. Maybe worse of all, it creates a huge windswept plaza along the most auto-dominated stretch of Clark. Optimistically there's a single bench. And what kind of trees were chosen for the plaza? Locust trees, whose most admirable quality is resistance to pollution.

Clark and Farwell, northeast corner

The Rogers Park Library is one of the few new buildings in the neighborhood that I really admire. Designed by Antunovich and Associates, it was built in 1999 and is aging comfortably. This is apparently the new model for Chicago libraries, and similar versions can be found in Bucktown and Edgebrook. Thankfully they stopped building those awful blue cinder block libraries. If you're in the neighborhood go up to the second floor and admire the hanging sculpture. Public buildings of this quality make me glad to live in Chicago.

Clark and Pratt, southwest corner

So McDonald's has started to replace their old 1980s mansard-style outlets with something a little more sensitive to the street Sure, they'll still surrounded by parking lots and driveways, but they're faced with brick, they're typically built with one wall right on the street, they have decent storefronts, and the interiors are better designed and more comfortable. Say what you will about McDonald's, but I'm impressed that they periodically reinvent themselves.

We took Felix to the Museum of Science and Industry on Saturday. If we hadn't felt a crazy need to see everything we would have just stared at the amazing model train exhibit for hours. They basically created the Loop, complete with working CTA trains. Wow.

On Sunday we took Felix to get his hair cut. At the end of the haircut the woman said, "Oops, I nicked his ear. Free haircut." Sure enough, there was a tiny cut on the top of his ear which Felix barely noticed. We were left conferring on what to do. Should we just leave? Should we give a tip anyway, since we already saved $20? Should you tip someone who just cut you son's ear? We grabbed a lollipop and shuffled out awkwardly.

Clark and Lunt, northeast corner- 1890s through 2008

Our corner is on the far right. At this point (1890s) it was a post office.

Who doesn't love an old timey bus? Here's the first Philip's Bank. c. 1915?

Here's the upgrade of Philip's Bank in the 1920s.

And here's the triumphant replacement. I believe it was built in 1997, two years after I moved to Chicago.

Clark and Devon, northeast corner- 1910 and 2009

Apartments and Retail, c.1910

Devon-Clark Hardware, 2009

I'm fairly certain that this demolished apartment building explains the strangely shaped parking lot west of Devon-Clark Hardware. Still trying to figure out the map chronology, which is somewhat vague for this area.

Clark and Touhy, northeast corner

7201 N. Clark
Built: 1955 (this is probably a rebuild)

This gas station was out of business when I started this project. But here it is, triumphant in its reopening.

The past few weeks we've lived through some of the coldest Chicago weather I've ever experienced. We're all getting over various stages of colds, but otherwise fine. Last weekend we went to Winterfest at Warren Park, where Felix bounced on an inflatable trampoline for an hour, had a spider painted on his hand, and took home a tiger balloon animal. We attended the grand opening of a new firehouse on Clark (Mayor Daley gave a speech, but at least there were donuts). And we've pioneered the sport of toddler sledding as a practical form of neighborhood transport.

Columbia and Clark, northwest corner

6733-37 N. Clark
Built: 1927
Architect: C.B. Kohn
Contractor: H.C. Wolf & Son
Cost: $17,000


This is a nice little liquor store that won some sort of award for its new storefront and awning. Maybe it participated in the facade rebate program before it ran out of money...

Anyway, its cold out. Not yet Chicago cold, but darn cold. As usual, when it gets cold we head out to the Botanic Gardens for some reason. We ran around the gardens and walked through numerous greenhouses. Not bad for a Sunday.

Clark and Arthur, northwest corner

6501 N. Clark
Built: 1925
Architect: Standard Oil
Contractor: Wm. Socom Bldg Co.
Cost: $2,500

If this isn't the same building it's at least constructed on the same footprint as the original gas station.

I keep finding myself more interested in the exposed side of the apartment building next to this auto repair business. But I have to give it credit for nearly landscaping itself out of existence.

Felix's birthday party went really well, and the auditorium room at Indian Boundary Park was great. We played Pin the Tail on the Monster (monster poster courtesy of Angela) and everyone ate cupcakes and drank cider. Best of all the weather held, and afterwards everyone went outside to the playground. My parents were in town, which was a nice bonus.

Felix went trick-or-treating last week as the cutest little red devil you could imagine. It'll be my new profile photo, if I ever get around to it.

Clark and Lunt, northwest corner

7000-16 N. Clark
Built: c.1900
 
It's been a while since I've posted. What's happened lately?

-I went to the Traditional Building Conference over at Navy Pier last month.
-My old high school friend was in town briefly and came up to Rogers Park to visit.
-My great aunt Marion had her 90th birthday party.
-Chicago is laying off employees right and left.

Last weekend we drove to the Indiana Dunes where we saw the modern homes relocated there (via lake barge) after the 1933 World's Fair. We also visited a historic homestead and farm within the Dunes State Park. We stayed overnight at a very nice hotel, and went apple picking Monday morning. Felix enjoyed it, and we ended up with 10 lbs of apples and plenty of mosquito bites. Not a bad Columbus Day. I suppose now it's okay if it becomes rainy and cold.

The biggest news is that today is Felix's third birthday. Angela made a special snack for his class, and we're going to have a small party next weekend. Hard to believe it's been 3 years since he came to complicate and enrich our lives. Some of the time I feel like we invented him entirely, and he only exists as a part of ourselves. Other times I feel like he's the most unique and unpredictable being on the planet. Sometimes when I'm away from him I feel this strange ache, and I suddenly know why parents fill their offices with photographs and keepsakes. I suppose everyone has to invent parenthood for themselves, even if it seems trite and sentimental. It's okay to be trite and sentimental now and again, right?

Clark and Touhy, southwest corner

7136 N. Clark
Built:1928

This building is in the process of converting from a used car lot to a fast food chicken restaurant. It's only natural. Originally this was a Standard Oil gas and service station. To the left is the old section, made out of common brick and clay tile. 

On Saturday we drove out to Marseilles, Illinois (Mar-sales, in the midwest lingo) to visit a farm. Once a week we pick up a box of vegetables and split it with our friends Carrie and Euan. Much of it comes from this farm, and everyone who subscribes was invited to come out for a tour/festival. We figured this was a good excuse to get out of Chicago for a couple days and show Felix his first farm. He seemed to like it. He kept waving a stick and yelling, "Go 'way, chickens!" We picked raspberries and saw some amazingly huge yellow and black spiders. Orb spiders, apparently. We even met up with Angela's friend, who moved to Marseilles with her family last year.

After a night at a hotel in Ottawa with an awesome (overheated) pool we went hiking at Starved Rock Park Sunday morning and were back in Chicago by 12:30. Not a bad weekend.

Clark and Pratt, northwest corner detail

6800 N. Clark
Car repair

Well, we had a nice holiday weekend, with just a few setbacks.


On Saturday we went to Lunt Avenue beach and splashed around for a while. We made a discovery a few weekends ago- if we take Felix to the beach, let him run around like a crazy toddler for an hour or so, stuff him with snacks and plop him in the stroller he'll usually fall asleep for an hour or two. Then we can go out for a leisurely, adult-style lunch while he dozes peacefully next to the table. So on Saturday we decided to go to Carmen's near Loyola, which has a great lunchtime pizza deal. After 45 minutes our waitress came to our table and said, "Can I get you any dessert, or just the check?" Um....how about our pizza? After an hour she admitted that the order was never put into the kitchen and offers to give us one of our lunches for free. Not enough, bad waitress. Meanwhile, Felix begins to stir. So we left, without our pizza. It wasn't like the place was crowded, either. Carmen's sucks. They still owe me for a piece of cheesecake that I paid for but never arrived in our delivery order.

So later that night Felix develops a fever and we spend Sunday watching cartoon movies and feeling very claustrophobic. In the evening we met our friends at the only taqueria in Rogers Park that has an outdoor patio, La Cazuela, just across the street from the library. Too bad it took us 8 years to find this place.

On Monday we took Felix to a super cool water park near Armitage and Clybourn (Adams Park). Highly recommended. Later that night, the fever returned, so everyone was up at 2 a.m. Just in time for the return of the work week.

But still, not a bad weekend. An inconvenience or two does not equal a trip to the emergency room.

Farwell and Clark, northwest corner detail

6900 N. Clark
Lawyer's offices

Well, we made it back to Ohio for Anthony's wedding a few weeks back. We left Chicago at 8 p.m. and arrived in Lorain at 3 a.m. I only started hallucinating near the end, when I imagined the road being swallowed by a huge tiger in the distance. But the wedding was very well organized, and everything was close to our hotel. We even had some down time on Saturday morning, and made it to the Cleveland Zoo. Felix was on his best behavior, although he did spend most of the reception rolling around on the dance floor in his tiny tuxedo. I don't think anyone minded. And we had a day and a half in Lorain with my parents, which was nice.


We spent the following weekend at Lunt and Foster beaches, swimming and watching the air and water show. Chicago has great beaches, but the water doesn't really warm up until August. This past weekend we all went to the WTTW Fun and Run, where Felix had his picture taken with Cookie Monster. We would have waited for Elmo, but the line was crazy long. We also went to Fred and Sarah's apartment warming, where Felix was licked by a big dog and ate too many grapes. I'll miss the summer when it's gone.

Clark and Morse, southeast corner

1703-07 W. Morse
Built: 2005

Above is a very handsome New Field elementary school, complete with a central court and clock tower.  This angle probably doesn't do it justice.  Previously there was a post office and apartment building here.  East on Morse there were a number of single family homes.  Still, not a bad addition to the neighborhood and desperately needed.

On Saturday I was a guest on a local radio show, "Live from the Heartland," on the Loyola station, WLUW. Normally it's broadcast from the Hearland Cafe, but there were technical difficulties. Three of us piled into a pickup truck and raced down to the Loyola campus, where the show went out from their studio. Goodbye free coffee. Anyway, we talked about Ultra Local Geography, and it was fun, even if very few people were listening. My parents actually listened from Lorain through the online broadcast.  Or so they claimed.

Clark and Howard, east corners

7545 N. Clark

Built: 1928

Architect: J.A. Scanlon

Cost: $350,000

This building is one of the few to survive the Gateway complex constructed to the south and east.  It's a good building, although the renovation could have been better.  Bank on the first floor, and condos above.  If they sell.

Tonight we walked over to Charmers Cafe on Jarvis and Greenview for steamed bagels and Italian sodas. They had a 2 for 1 special on bagel sandwiches, which was awesome. Charmers Bar is gone, but not before giving rise to Charmers Cafe and a bagel shop. Very sensibly, the owner decided to combine the two. Dagel and Beli is somehow related to Bagel and Deli back in Oxford, Ohio where I was an undergraduate. While we were eating in an old circular booth Felix dozed in his stroller. I had the realization that I live in a pretty cool neighborhood. If only that used book store on the opposite corner was still in business...