The Chicago Preservation Society has revealed its 2013 crop of "The Chicago 7," its annual listing of buildings at high risk for demolition.
"We try to narrow down the list to what we feel is under immediate threat," Jonathan Fine, executive director of Preservation Chicago told Gapers Block. "There has to be some immediacy."
The society writes, "The purpose of the Chicago 7 is to raise public awareness about the threats facing some of Chicago's most at-risk architectural treasures, whether they are a single building, an entire neighborhood, or a thematic category of buildings."
(See photos of Chicago's most endangered buildings below and a map of this year's "Chicago 7.")
The buildings are a mix of residential structures like the Chicago Housing Authority's Near Northwest Side public housing project, the Julia C. Lathrop Homes, government buildings and churches, like the St. James Catholic Church in Bronzeville.
While the list gives the buildings — many of which are badly neglected — new attention, the efforts don't always end happily for preservationists, such as the case with the former Prentice Women's Hospital.
In 2011, Bertrand Goldberg's clover-shaped structure made the society's list. However, by February, a protracted battle to save the architectural treasure had failed and the building's owner, Northwestern University, chose to continue with plans for its demolition.
Here's hoping 2013's assembly fares better than Prentice.
