long-forgotten 19th century bjorgvin singing society hall exposed during its demolition

when my salvage team arrived at the church building located at 1639 n. artesian avenue late last week, i wasn't expecting to salvage much of anything. based on preliminary research there wasn't much to expect, with the interior having been altered time and again. aside from a few limestone ornamental blocks adorning the facade, i wasn't terribly excited to spend time picking the building apart before the wrecker's arrival later in the day.

as mentioned the interior had been ravaged from several remuddlings, however, we did manage to secure several rows of "theater" style seating with birch wood fold-up seats and contoured backrests. the seat ends were comprised of cast iron and retained the original black enameled finish. in addition, we removed three ornamental stamped steel ventilation grilles that were mounted against the unusual barrel vault ceiling as well as an early 20th century butcher block table, discovered in the basement. so not all was lost insofar as salvaging goes.

during my time there, i noticed several interior and exterior building elements that pre-dated what i thought was a 1910-1920 church building. the most obvious indication that the structure was older than originally suspected was the interlocking beadboard ceiling concealed under white ceiling tiles. before being tiled over, the tongue and groove strips of wood were painted a dull green, but after further analysis i teased out the original faux wood grain finish applied at the time the building was likely built.

in the basement i ran across heavily notched sill plates (i.e., pine wood beams) which again clearly indicated the building was much older than the existing facade suggested. in fact, various building materials from the rear addition suggested that changes had been made around 1913, when the building became a mission (no timbers were used to support the rear addition).

several additional pieces of the puzzle generated enough momentum for me to stick around and engage in exploratory surgery in and around the structure. without missing a beat, i found a way to gain access to the loft space or attic high above, where i could thoroughly examine the wood rafters or structural beams and/or truss configuration supporting the vaulted ceiling and heavily pitched roof.

a moment after turning on my head lamp i was completely taken aback by the largely intact clapboard facade resting approximately 3 feet behind the brick facade, right in front of my face. the weathered polychromatic paint finish with allover crazing (likely untouched since the early 20th century) was rich and vibrant. the clapboard facade had not seen the light of day since the brick wall was added, likely at the time that the building became the humboldt park mission .

judging by the elaborate multi-part molding, paneled fascia, old growth wide plank sheathing, and square head spikes pounded into rough-sawn studs, i realized that the masonry "shell" was built to radically transform the old outdated clapboard building into a more "modern" place of worship. research on the origins of concealed building is still in its infancy, but it appears that it was built for the bjorgvin singing society, which likely explains the curved barrel vaulted ceiling. after trying to control the sheer excitement of stepping into a very spacious time capsule, i needed time to digest this remarkable find, and to head back to the shop to pour over the images, in preparation for a blog post.

after the salvage phase -- long after everything was removed, and while digesting the new discovery -- i knew i had to return the following day when the building was set to be demolished. this, despite the fact that from a business standpoint, it was time to move on. the excitement about unlocking the mysteries of this building was simply unstoppable. it seemed imperative to document what exactly was hiding underneath all these modifications, and to possibly tease out clues as to what purpose the original structure served.

to be continued...

in the meantime (research is being done when time permits), i extracted several building material samples, including, but not limited to, sheathing, studs, top and bottom cords, sash weights, square nails or "spikes," and so on during the demolition. i've cleaned some of the components and shot them in the studio. this way, i can add them to the "deconstructing chicago" database or archive, which is rapidly growing in size. the number of square and early wire nails (spanning from 1845-1900) removed from various residential and commercial demolitions alone has easily surpassed the three hundred documented mark.