The Chicagoist will be launching later but in the meantime please enjoy our archives.

Chicago Motor Club Building Up for Landmark Status

By Chuck Sudo in News on May 5, 2011 1:00PM

2011_5_5_motor_club_building.jpg
The Chicago Motor Club Building's Art Deco staircase, by Forgotten Chicago's Serhii Chrucky on Flickr.

Today's agenda for the city Landmarks Commission includes a preliminary landmark recommendation hearing for the former Chicago Motor Club building that, if granted, could give the building a new lease on life.

City landmarks chief Brian Goeken told the Tribune's Blair Kamin that it's the city's intent to see the building preserved. The 15-story building, designed by Holabird & Root and built in 1928, is a subtle marvel of Art Deco design and an early tribute to Chicago's love affair with the automobile. The Chicago Motor Club moved out of the building decades ago and, more recently, developer Sam Roti had plans to convert it into a boutique hotel, but filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The building is set to be sold at auction June 23.

If the building is given landmark status, it'll be a rare recent victory for architecture preservationists who've had to watch impotent as the city has torn down large portions of the Michael Reese Hospital campus in recent months. Serhii Chrucky of Forgotten Chicago has a nice history of the building and its more notable design features.