senseless mutilation of michael reese hospital's cornerstone represented by single fragment

having recently unearthed a time capsule from the cornerstone of the holy bethel church at adams and damen, my attention wandered to other cornerstones in the bldg. 51 collection, and in particular, the fragment of the cornerstone pictured on the cover of the building 51 catalog (published just last year). this fragment, on the face of the first bldg. 51 press publication, wasn't the site of a time capsule, but rather an artifact that encapsulates the incredibly complicated and terribly stressful experience of a seemingly endless salvage, a scant keepsake from the 1.6 million square feet of michael reese hospital, demolished over six years ago.

as pictured, the solid limestone has legible engraving that reveals the name of the building's primary architect (partner hugh garden handled the design elements). the hefty section of stone was procured after the entire cornerstone was unceremoniously removed, badly damaged, and left for dead by brandenburg wrecking, even after the city had requested that the stone be carefully removed (guided by my suggestions). the special attention paid the piece was to determine if a capsule (mentioned in a periodical covering the cornerstone ceremony) was planted behind the stone. before its removal, the cornerstone contained the date of construction on a plaque facing west and the names of architect and others facing south. the stone itself - originally holding the lightly incised list of names of those on the building committee, and date or erection of the building - was highly informative, and thus, would have made a valuable intact piece for the chicago history museum or even the jewish federation, who had the bronze statue of michael reese removed shortly before demolition ensued.

the heavily damaged state of the single fragment i pulled from the site is a tragic consequence of agreements with the city and wrecking company, which greatly limited my ability to further explore and/or rescue the cornerstone, bronze date plaque, and the marble plaque gracing the lobby's interior. of over 24 buildings in the complex, the main hospital building -- from which this cornerstone was salvaged -- is acknowledged as the gem of the michael reese hospital campus, a chicago school building designed by the notable prairie school firm of schmidt, garden and martin, whose work included several industrial, commercial and institutional buildings in and around chicago. the firm was behind the largest chicago prairie style complex, constructed for the bunte candy factory (salvaged by urban remains during its unfortunate demolition in 2009).

the demolition of "main reese," long after nearly every other building had been brought down a year or so prior, was a bittersweet experience for me. i'm very pleased that someone of importance in the city's administration arranged for me to access the demolition site, as brandenburg wrecking does not otherwise work with salvagers under any circumstance, even with those who possess safety training and insurance policies. my access was granted in order to salvage as much ornament as i could from the rubble (after hours) with the hopes that i could find intact window sill lionheads to donate to st. ignatius' remarkable architectural artifact collection.

furthermore, they listened to my input, when i suggested there was a strong likelihood a time capsule would be resting deep within the cornerstone. i was very displeased to arrive on the site and see a half-assed attempt at "exploratory surgery" in which brandenburg basically chipped away at the stone itself (!), effectively destroying the cornerstone, and denying me access to looking for the cavity that likely held the capsule. to this day, i'm completely convinced there was a time capsule and that it was simply ripped apart with the rest of the building during the last days of the demolition.

what a loss. in addition, all the photos i had taken of the demolition -- hundreds of images of the rubble, exposed structural elements, terra cotta fragments from the facade frieze splattered everywhere, the cornerstone and subsequent damage done to it, and powerful images of the fragmented cornerstone laying on the ground-- were all lost when my laptop was stolen from my store. to this day, that really haunts and hurts me, since no one else had on-site access with a camera to thoroughly document the structure's death.

on the other hand, considering the michael reese salvage was mostly chaotic and sometimes even catastrophic, i guess the loss of the images was a fitting end after leaving with that stone. i have not returned to the site since. the one piece of information memorialized in the stone fragment was the name of the architect. richard schmidt was a near contemporary of frank lloyd wright and louis sullivan, and their influences abound in his work. a german immigrant raised from a young age in america, schmidt enrolled in architecture school in the early years of the 1880's, and settled in chicago in 1887. eight years later he asked hugh mackie gordon garden to join him as chief of design. garden had moved to chicago around the same time, apprenticing with several architectural firms before becoming a freelance renderer, in fact working for sullivan and wright, among others. garden's ornament was distinctive enough to merit the descriptor "gardenesque" among collectors.

michael reese hospital was founded in 1881 by the united hebrew relief association as a healthcare facility specifically serving immigrants, but open to everyone, regardless of nationality or race. at the construction of the first hospital building (at the corner of 29th and groveland avenue) in november 1880, the cornerstone was laid with the hospital's opening on october 23, 1881. the original michael reese building was demolished in 1905 and replaced in 1907 by a larger building on the same site known as "old main", designed by schmidt, garden & martin. it was a significant early hospital, combining modern design concepts with rich architectural details.

the ornamental ironwork for reese hospital was fabricated by chicago-based heath-johnson company.

first posted on 3-3-2016, updated on 5-5-2016.