On Friday, September 1, 2000, a crew hired by the University of Illinois at Chicago installed a chain link fence...

...around most of the block that comprises the north side of Maxwell Street between Halsted and Union.

The fence begins at 716 West Maxwell, the block's last remaining building on the north side of the street. An opening was left, apparently for a gate, so there is still access to the lot. The fence contractors were careful not to move, remove or damage any of the property on the lot, cutting holes in the fence where necessary to get around it. However, the Juketown Community Bandstand at the corner of Maxwell and Halsted, that has hosted so many great blues performances over the last two years, is now behind a six-foot high fence.

The University did not warn anyone that the fence was coming, hasn't explained why it thought the fence was necessary, and hasn't told anyone--either at the Maxwell Street Historic Preservation Coalition or on the street--what it plans to do next. Other University-owned lots in the neighborhood are fenced and have been for years. However, the newly-created empty lots (created by recent building demolition) on Maxwell and Halsted have not been fenced.

Late last week, we checked with the City and no new demolition permits had been issued. As for facade removal, the Intergovernmental Agreement between UIC and the City of Chicago requires UIC to submit a detailed plan for dismantling the facades, prepared by an architect or structural engineer "experienced in facade restoration and familiar with the structural integrity and systems of the buildings in question." The plan must be submitted 60 days before the first facade dismantlement is scheduled to begin, so the Department of Planning and Development can review and approve it. No such plan has been submitted yet.

In 1998, one of the "mysterious" fires that have plagued Maxwell Street in recent years damaged the two buildings on Halsted just north of Maxwell on the east side of the street. Although the buildings were only damaged by the fire, not destroyed, crews immediately began to demolish them. The corner building was completely destroyed but protests by the Coalition managed to save the front of the building at 1311-1313 South Halsted, a beautiful Henry Newhouse design built in 1913. That facade is supposed to remain where it is and be restored, and a new building constructed behind it, according the the Intergovernmental Agreement. On the lot where the Bandstand is now, the Agreement calls for construction of a "masonry retail building designed in accordance with the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Guide to Infill Development," that will have "storefronts facing Halsted and Maxwell Streets."

The fate of the Juketown Community Bandstand is less certain. At the time of the fire, the property was still in private hands. It was subsequently acquired by UIC. The Bandstand, MAX sign (made of railroad ties), the Maxwell Street "Wall of Fame," and other tributes to the spirit of Maxwell Street appeared spontaneously in the weeks and months that followed the fire. The "Wall of Fame" contains the names of many of the notable people, especially blues musicians, associated with Maxwell Street.

After the stage was built, live music returned to Maxwell Street on most weekends, especially during the warm months. On the weekend of August 26-27, a continuous 48-hour blues vigil was held and some great music was heard. We have long known that every one of these magical moments could be the last, but nobody knew the fence was coming.

The pictures on this page were all taken on September 2, 2000, the day after the fence was installed. This is being written on Labor Day, Monday, September 4. The fence was installed by private contractors who took pains not to disrupt anything. (Note the leg of the "X" from the MAX sign, symbolically breaking through the fence.) What the University crews will do this week remains to be seen.

The Intergovernmental Agreement calls for the construction of a park, called "Gateway Plaza," at the southwest corner of Halsted and Roosevelt, where the Adam Joseph clothing store and other historic buildings stand now. The Agreement calls for the park to include "a three-dimensional structure, such as a band shell or fountain with seating." It also declares that "Gateway Plaza shall be open for use by the general public twenty four (24) hours per day." There are, of course, already plenty of empty lots in the neighborhood where a park could be built, it isn't necessary to demolish more historic buildings to do it, but those two provisions of the plan are attractive. Naturally, we will lobby for the construction of a band shell and look forward to the day when live blues will once again be heard in the Maxwell Street neighborhood.

This is a view of Halsted Street, looking northwest. The Juketown Community Bandstand (and the fence) is just outside the picture on the right. All of the buildings you can see on the west side of the street are scheduled for demolition. Several have been demolished in recent weeks.

Most of the buildings in this group were built in the 1870s and 1880s. The sturdy masonry construction does not come down easily. The bricks are being salvaged and bundled, to be sold as antique bricks. It is incredible that antique bricks are worth more than intact antique buildings to UIC.

Most of the businesses along the west side of Halsted are still operating and especially on a Saturday, there are still a lot of shoppers and it feels like the old neighborhood, but some of the stores are now shuttered and some are clearing out their inventory. Only a handful of the properties are still in private hands, as a few brave holdouts resist UIC to the end. There are still guys walking up and down the street selling gold chains, cologne, hair trimmers and socks. It is still a friendly place.

Jim's Original Hot Dog Stand is still there, on the northwest corner of Maxwell and Halsted. (That's the facade of 1311-1313 South Halsted across the street in the background.) It is still open 24 hours a day and is always busy. Specialties are the polish sausage sandwich and the bone-in pork chop sandwich.

Jim's wants to stay in the neighborhood (and UIC students are certainly among their customers) but UIC says no. The building has been sold and the business is scheduled to close some time in October. Jim's anchors a connected group of wood frame buildings that run from the corner almost to Newberry Street. The corner building that houses Jim's was originally a frame structure with rear frame barn, constructed in about 1870, a year before the Great Chicago Fire. It has had several alterations, including a 1926 one story brick addition. The building became a Jewish delicatessen, Leavitt's Restaurant, in the 1920s. In the 1960s it became Jim's. The Stefanovich family, which owns Jim's, started with a hot dog stand on the street in front of this building in 1939.

The building connecting Jim's with 808 West Maxwell Street was likely constructed in 1926, when the addition was made on the corner building. 808 West Maxwell, one of the few structures in the neighborhood with a gable roof, has a stucco facade. Its intact frame facades are clearly underneath the stucco. The frame north facade can be seen from the alley. It is likely there is a historic facade underneath the metal siding on the corner building as well.

Although these are some of the oldest buildings in the neighborhood--some of the oldest in Chicago--there is no plan to save them in any form. They are being demolished to make way for graduate student housing. Perhaps someday a graduate student living in that new dormitory will write a thesis about the mindless destruction of history that took place right under his or her feet.

Across Maxwell Street from the 800-808 buildings is the lot where the twin of that planned graduate student dormitory is now rising. That part of Maxwell Street had its own history. Maxwell Street Radio and Records was once located there, at 831 West Maxwell. Stars like Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters played on the street outside the record store to promote their new releases. The store also had its own record label, Ora-Nelle, which released the first recording made by Little Walter.

Also on this block was Nate's Deli, made famous in the first Blues Brothers movie. This photograph was taken from about where Nate's front door was, looking southeast. After Nate's and the rest of the block was destroyed in 1994, UIC built a parking lot, surrounded by a wrought iron fence and including a small guard house. The parking lot was hardly ever used. A few months ago the parking lot was torn up, the fence and guard house were dismantled, and construction began on this dormitory.

The rest of the land taken over by UIC in 1994 became ball fields, which are supposed to remain. The Intergovernmental Agreement calls for these "student recreation fields" to be open for public use, but it excludes those fields designated at "NCAA athletic fields." An examination of the map supplied with the Agreement shows that the only "recreation fields" not so excluded are the two at the far south end of the complex. The Agreement also states that the University and University-related purposes will have first claim on these two fields, and the University will establish "operational guidelines" for their use. Bottom line, the University is only required to make the fields available for public use two weekday nights per week and one weekend day per month between May 1 and October 31.

On the other side of Halsted Street, south of Maxwell, the University plans to build a parking garage. Just a few months ago, the block seen in this photograph was a solid line of historic buildings. The gaps were created by UIC demolition. All of the buildings shown in this picture are scheduled either for facade dismantlement and demolition or outright demolition.

The redish building in the middle, 729, was built in 1888 as a tenement apartment building. Later the first floor was converted to commercial use. It was a bakery in the 1930s and in the 1940s was Gabel's Department Store. UIC could have saved at least the south side of this block intact, but they said it would mean reducing the size of the parking garage too much.

For many who love Maxwell Street and its heritage, the fact that UIC has been proceeding with this project in slow motion has only added to the torture. The current plan calls for the project to be completely finished by 2004. That is when the historic facades will come out of storage and be mounted on the parking garage.

As you can see from these pictures, there are still a great many good, solid, historic buildings still standing in the area. We count 38. There is still life in the area too, people who live there, work there, or just come there every day to be part of the real Maxwell Street while they still can. Almost every day, visitors come from other parts of Chicago, and from around the world, to see the place where Chicago blues began and so much history took place.

In addition to some of the Halsted street business owners, and a handful of property owners throughout the area, the people at the Maxworks Co-op at 716 West Maxwell have been tenacious in their resistance to UIC. The Maxworks folks are into recycling and reuse, as is the Creative Reuse Warehouse on nearby O'Brien Street. The structure at 716 is another one of the pre-fire buildings in the neighborhood. Its upper story was a pre-fire wood frame cottage. The brick foundation and brick facade were added in 1905. It has a cast iron facade on the first floor.

The graffiti found all over the neighborhood is another example how painful it has been for everyone to watch Maxwell Street die by inches. Much of it takes the form of personal essays, like the one shown here on the side of an old school bus, parked in front of 716 West Maxwell. UIC is seen as the primary villain, but the City of Chicago gets criticized too. In fact, the City's performance has been mixed. On the one hand, the overall deterioration of the neighborhood over many years stemmed from City neglect. Residents and business owners complained about the lack of basic City services. It was clear that the City (and UIC) wanted the neighborhood to be "blighted" to pave the way for a future revitalization. The City also blocked earlier attempts to get historical status for the neighborhood, again presumably because they didn't want to block future redevelopment. It is also clear that the chosen developers (remember, 2/3 of the project is private development) are political favorites close to the current administration. The former alderman who led the fight to close the Maxwell Street Market stands to make millions from sales by his real estate company of new private housing in the area.

On the other hand, UIC originally wanted to destroy every single building in the area and obliterate any sign that the historic Maxwell Street neighborhood ever existed. The only thing they intended to save was the old Maxwell Street Police Station on Maxwell at Morgan. Although saving the police station is great, the irony of Maxwell Street being remembered solely by its police station is stunning. Using its considerable muscle, the City got the current plan that calls for eight buildings to be saved along with 13 facades. That plan also calls for the creation of the public park, public use of the ball fields, and other concessions. The Maxwell Street Historic Preservation Coalition thinks that plan could have been much better, but we recognize that it also could have been much worse. There are still problems. For example, it still isn't clear which eight buildings are going to be saved. The list supplied by UIC officials in July doesn't agree with the Intergovernmental Agreement and some of the addresses given in the Intergovernmental Agreement don't exist. Everyone who loves Maxwell Street will need to watch things closely as they unfold, to make sure UIC keeps its promises, and to make sure the City forces them to.

What is it all about? This last picture tells the story. Chicago is booming with new construction, especially housing, and the Maxwell Street neighborhood is this close to downtown. Of course, we believe a restored historic neighborhood would have been even more attractive, desirable and, ultimately, financially successful.

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Maxwell Street Foundation
P.O. Box 6435
Evanston, IL  60204

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(312) 421-2117

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