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salvage work at 500 north milwaukee moving quickly despite wrecking ball looming on the horizon

urban remains has invested a great of time documenting, researching and salvaging at 500 north milwaukee - the site of approximately eleven distinct buildings constructed primarily during the 19th century. despite each building having its own unique identity in terms of architectural style and former occupancy, the entire block was cobbled together by busting through party and foundation walls to make each and every building accessible from the inside. the exteriors were treated year after year with a fresh coat of monotonous gray paint - uniformly applied in order to provide visual cohesiveness. this quite effectively mask the identity of each building at first glance.

occupying a triangular block at a major intersection just west of downtown chicago, the buildings were largely a neglected space. for several decades, the conglomeration of windowless brick served as storage, housing a supply of utilitarian equipment and gaudy furnishings for local restaurants. the only source of natural light came from few-and-far between, haphazardly installed glass blocks, or areas where the roof had been severely compromised. the primary source of illumination consisted of flickering fluorescent lighting used throughout  every building since the 1940's.

when we returned after a week away from salvaging the interior, the power had been "cut" and nearly all the plaster walls were stripped down to brick, so we had to bring in our own lighting, powered by portable generators, to navigate safely and carefully from one building to the next with piles of rubble strewn about.

the last of the amazingly intact millwork (most of it dates to the 19th century) will be removed by the end of the week. i have stepped away from overseeing that task to thoroughly document both the interior and exterior in order to capture the architectural characteristics that make the extant buildings distinct from one another.

after i've taken all the images, and likely long after the buildings are brought down, i will be able to determine whether one of two possible candidates was built prior to the great chicago fire. in addition to extensive photodocumentaton, i've been extracting crucial building materials that will assist in dating the structures. thus far, i've collected at least a hundred fragments or pieces, in the form of square nails, furring strips, lath and plaster, studs and joists, along with brick from the facades and limestone from the foundations.

original nashua cast and iron iron window sash pulley with knotted rope and ten pound "pig iron" sash weigh (salvaged from bldg. 4 - see gallery).

painted three-part white pine molding profile cross-section held together with diminutive square nails (salvaged frm bldg. 4 - see gallery). multi-part moldings are often found in salvaged chicago homes built between the late 1850's through the late 1870's.

 

the gallery below represents six distinct buildings (or rather their facades) facing milwaukee avenue. i skipped over the newer garages that likely replaced the wood-framed structures that one stood there. as one will quickly surmise, the facades have been heavily altered, uniformly painted gray and obscured by scaffolding erected in advance of demolition.

 



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