terra cotta from louis lehle-designed brand brewery administration building (1899) generously donated to bldg. 51 museum

shortly before the michael brand brewery complex was slated for demolition, i made my way over there with the hopes of documenting the few buildings left standing. after speaking with, and later earning the trust of the owner (his family's rubber works business had been there for the past several decades, if memory serves me correctly), i was allowed into the industrial complex to photograph both the interior and exterior of the modified administration building and adjacent brew house. the latter was originally equipped with settling tanks and two 100-ton linde refigerating machines with expansion piping installed by the fred w. wolf company (chicago, ills). on my way there i was having fantastical visions of finding old painted or stenciled wood beer bottle crates, "new old stock" bottles and corks, signage, and bottling equipment.

however, i knew how unlikely that would be, given the number of occupants that called the complex home (the brewery ceased to exist in 1935), so i just took advantage of having full access and unlimited time to explore and record the interior spaces. i distinctly recall spending most of time in the administration building, which for the most part, remained largely unaltered since the time it was built (e.g., original wood panel doors, trimwork, partitions, and drop lighting).

like so many other projects residing in a maddening limbo, i have to revisit folders containing hundreds of images taken of the complex. i hope this entry will motivate me to begin editing images for use in a future post or share with historians/researchers.

when heneghan wrecking arrived to destroy what remained of the historically important brewery i was already deeply entrenched in another salvage, so i didn't get a chance to document the brewery's death, nor salvage any of the exterior ornament. i really wanted a piece of terra cotta for the bldg. 51 museum, but by then, every piece was "spoken for," or so i thought.

note: a few years after the brewery's senseless destruction, i meet with pat heneghan to purchase four matching oversized exterior cast iron sconces removed from the wrigley chewing gum factory during its demolition in 2014. while wandering around his architectural "graveyard," i stumbled across a large pile of terra cotta (including the magnificent roofline anthemions) from the brand brewery administration building. i noticed the cast iron columns from sullivan and adler's dexter building (1887) were still there, partially hidden in the overgrown grass as well. when i inquired about the terra cotta he was seemed reluctant to sell, which put a halt on that topic of discussion.

in early 2017, brand brewery found its way into a conversation i was having with andy schneider from logan preservation - we have been working together on various projects since the summer of 2016. as of late, we have been in constant contact over the mega mall demolition located on logan square's old "motor row" strict. during our conversation, where we shared stories of the brewery's demolition, he showed me a building terra cotta panel he salvaged from the administration building. i was taken aback when he so generously donated it to the museum collection, which will be used in an exhibit following the release of the unearthing chicago book launch. like others i engage with, exchanging artifacts to help with their exhibits, collections, projects, etc., happens often, but this was special to me for very personal reasons.

the brand brewery's administration building and adjacent brewhouse were designed by prolific brewery architect louis lehle (the former was completed in 1899). the brewery was organized and chartered in 1876, with michael brand, president, rudolph brand, vice-president, and virgil m. brand, secretary and treasurer. michael brand first began brewing in the spring of 1853 with partner valentine busch. the company was organized in 1864 as the busch & brand brewery where it continued operations until busch’s death in 1872. the fire of 1871 destroyed the business leaving brand to rebuild on a much larger scale, where he purchased several tracts of land on elston near fullerton avenue. in 1876-77 he erected his new brewery, but disaster would strike again in 1885, when a fire left nothing but blackened walls. nearly two months later brand rebuilt and operated under his name until 1915, when it became the united states beverage company. the brewery finally closed its doors in 1955.

image courtesy of the illinois historic preservation agency

image courtesy of the illinois historic preservation agency

the visually striking and unique finished brownish-orange colored terra cotta block was fabricated by the northwestern terra cotta company (chicago, ills). the square-shaped block features a centrally located recessed sunflower, surrounded by egg & dart and leafage border. the beveled edge block was rescued from the brand brewery administration building (1899) during its demolition. the brewery complex was constructed at a cost of 250,000 dollars with a capacity of 200,000 barrels annually. a small assortment of neoclassical style roofline anthemions, additional square-shaped blocks, and the circular-shaped rondels survived demolition.