The Commission on Chicago Landmarks, acting on a recommendation from city planning officials, Thursday denied a property owner’s request to demolish a two-story building that represents history and tragedy in the historic Motor Row District.
The structure at 2347 S. Michigan Ave. dates from 1910 and was originally a Fiat showroom. City officials said it’s an important contributor to a district where manufacturers showed off their models in the early days of the automobile. But more Chicagoans today know that the building once housed the E2 nightclub, where 21 people in 2003 died in a stampede.
That particular event had no bearing on the landmarks panel’s preliminary decision, which starts a process that includes consulting with property owner Randy Shifrin. If there’s no agreement, the matter would get a public hearing before a final order from the commission.
Reached by the Sun-Times, Shifrin reacted angrily to the decision and said he wasn’t aware of the landmarks commission meeting. He said the city is blocking his plans for affordable senior housing that would incorporate a long overdue memorial for the E2 victims.
“We are trying to help poor people. The people have been lied to and promised a memorial for years,” he said. Shifrin said his plans for a 21-story building on the site would “do something good for the living.”
Commission members, however, agreed unanimously that the two-story building, with a street frontage of plate glass windows from its showroom days, is important to Motor Row. The district runs from 14th Street to 24th Street and mostly along Michigan.
City officials said the building was designed by the notable firm Holabird & Roche. Its decorated façade of brick and terra cotta is intact and mostly in good repair, they said.
Shifrin said that in May he received a letter from the city’s Buildings Department citing code violations and giving him permission to tear down the structure.
A Buildings Department official told the commission the letter was poorly worded and did not authorize demolition.
Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd) supports saving the building, one of her aides told the commission.
Shifrin said while he owns the building, he’s formed an investment group for the housing development.
He said his managing partner in the venture is Howard Brookins Jr., his attorney. Brookins, who could not be reached for comment, is a former 21st Ward alderperson. Shifrin was CEO of the long-defunct Chernin’s shoe store on Roosevelt Road.
The deaths at the E2 nightclub occurred when a guard used pepper spray to break up a fight, causing a crush of people trying to escape down a stairwell leading to a narrow doorway. At the time, a façade covered the second-floor windows.
In other decisions, the commission:
• Approved a $125,000 Adopt-a-Landmark grant to support the $11.5 million renovation of the former Wilson Theater at 1050 W. Wilson Ave. It is to be the new home of the Double Door music venue.
• Gave a preliminary landmark recommendation for a two-story building at 2449 N. Lincoln Ave., home of the Wax Trax! record store from 1978 to 1993. The building retains original features from the 1880s, while the store gave rise to a record label that popularized punk rock, new wave and other genres.
