imminent demolition for the harry hale waterman-designed figural terra cotta "eagles building"

another historic structure is threatened with impending demolition at the corner of broadway and sheridan, an iconic art deco building with white molded cement eagles protruding from the cornice and lending the building its colloquial namesake, the "eagles building." the early 20th century harry hale waterman-designed structure, also known as the issaac g. ettelson building, currently houses a starbucks and another retail chain store, though it was built in 1911-1912 to house a bank and subsequently a woolworth department store. the stylized corner building's 18 x 13 repeating eagle figures complement the cream-colored 2-story facade, which is undoubtedly worthy of preservation or adaptive reuse.

as with many demolitions of this kind, it has been a long time coming. two years ago preservation chicago highlighted it in the organization's newsletter as a building under threat. it described the structure at 3845-3835 n. broadway as an orange-rated building which a developer had purchased expressly for redevelopment and possible demolition, even as an alderman in lakeview was pushing for its preservation. proposed plans thereafter were for a mixed-use development built atop the historic structure, which would leave the major features of the underlying building intact.

now, in summer of 2016, the building is among the ill-fated on the demolition delay hold list, the description simply "a 2-story masonry commercial building to be wrecked and removed."

most recent images courtesy of : chicago.designslinger

further reading: http://chicagodesignslinger.blogspot.com/2015/02/isaac-g.html