Yondorf Hall
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
Images
Taken at 758 W North Ave Chicago, IL 60610
Yondorf Hall in the 1970s, occupied by the wine warehouse Sam's Cut-Rate Liquors (1958 until 1984)
In 1990, the building was restored. "The addition is set back from the street and articulated in a contemporary manner, clearly expressing itself as a non-historic architectural element." (source: Vinci | Hamp)
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
In 1919, the building was bought by the Prudential Savings State Bank, who occupied it for ten years. The Great Depression, World War II, and urban blight took its toll on the building so that by the 1950s the building looked old and worn down. However, by the 1950s, Sam Rosen purchased the building and opened up the large "warehouse of wine" known as Sam's Cut-Rate Liquors, a sign of the changing nature of the neighborhood -- urban blight dominated the area by the 1970s. Plans in the 1980s to resurrect the community included tearing down the historic building. In 1984, though, the hall was nominated to the National Register of Historic Places and subsequently benefited from it when a team chose to renovate it under the National Park Service's renovation tax credit program.
Finally, after passing hands many times, Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater purchased the building in 1998 and used it for various purposes, saving the building through the 2000s. But, in 2018, the Theater company decided to sell it -- seeking nearly $20 million -- rendering its future uncertain.
Sources
Terry Tatum, "Landmark Designation Report: Yondorf Hall." Chicago Department of Planning: Commission on Chicago Landmarks. Accessed August 8, 2018. https://archive.org/stream/CityOfChicagoLandmarkDesignationReports/YondorfBlockAndHall#page/n0
"Yondorf Hall, Chicago, Illinois." Vinci | Hamp Architects. Accessed August 08, 2018. http://www.vinci-hamp.com/projects/yondorf-hall/.
Photo Sources
758 North Ave: By Zol87 from Chicago, IL, USA - Yondorf Block & Hall, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9868821
Yondorf Hall in the 1970s: Chuck Edmonson, from Forgotten Chicago, a Facebook group, and found at http://www.chicagonow.com/look-back-chicago/2015/05/yondorf-hall-from-locality-to-liquor-store-to-la...
"In 1990..": Picture and caption provided by the Vinci | Hamp Architectural Firm, found at http://www.vinci-hamp.com/projects/yondorf-hall/