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demolition of former milwaukee avenue motor sales showroom well underway

a blog entry posted two weeks ago provided extensive documentation pertaining to the careful extraction of the former milwaukee avenue motor sales building's (more commonly known as the "mega mall") roofline ornamental terra cotta urns. beginning last last week, demolition was underway - to my great surprise and disappointment. by the time we arrived on the jobsite, a good portion of the facade containing ornament terra cotta had been pulled down. at that point, and going forward (for the time-being) we are stuck in a search and recover operation, pulling terra cotta ornament from the rubble.

the milwaukee avenue building was constructed between 1921-1922 for harry and fannie lewis and louis lipner, who at the time, had established a substantial automobile business on the northwest side of chicago. the single story automobile showroom, located at 2518-2528 milwaukee avenue, was designed by the architectural firm of loewenberg & loewenberg. completed at a cost of 100,00 dollars, the sales building boasted an exterior ornamental terra cotta facade designed in the french colonial style of architecture.

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the mottled polychromatic terra cotta with a distinctive gray and lavender slip glaze (fabricated by the northwestern terra cotta company) was used extensively above the showroom windows and around the grand arch entrance. the interior originally contained three automobile showrooms with each containing 20-foot ornamental plaster ceilings and circassian walnut balconies in the rear. the brown and white tile floor with a strongly geometric pattern was discovered during demolition. a fragment of the floor was saved for future study.

 

demolition gets underway  

terra cotta ornament recovered from the rubble

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