Construction is underway at the 1928 two-story firehouse at 5720 N. Ridge in Chicago, called “the most ornate of the grand firehouses” by the Chicago Landmarks Commission. The brick-and-terra-cotta building will soon be reborn as the new home of Chicago Filmmakers . The independent film group plans to show offbeat movies on the main floor where fire trucks were once parked, and hold film-making classes upstairs where firefighters used to sleep. Preservation is the name of the

Some said it couldn’t be done, but…behold! In keeping with its mission of historic preservation, the Historical Society of Oak Park and River Forest [now known as the Oak Park River Forest Museum] is resuscitating the oldest municipal building in Oak Park, Illinois – a firehouse built at the turn of the last century. The firehouse, whose exterior and interior are being rehabbed to closely match their original appearance, operated there from 1898 until 1916. Subsequently, it

Old firehouses in Chicago and surrounding suburbs are doubling as art centers, museums, restaurants, and wedding venues. In Chicago’s Avondale neighborhood, for example, the Puerto Rican Arts Alliance transformed a 1901 fire station, abandoned since 1982, into a community gathering place with a host of green features. During the renovation of the two-story cultural center (completed in 2012), the building was insulated and a highly efficient HVAC system was installed. On th

The colorful history of the 42,700-square-foot building at 1071 W. Division Street in Chicago begins in 1905, when the Horween Leather Company tannery moved in and started making razor strops (sharpeners) out of horse hide. In 1927, the Burhop Paper Compan y took over the building, churning out tons of boxes and paper, and endless rolls of twine. In its heyday, it anchored a bustling complex in the heart of the industrial area known as Goose Island. There Burhop workers wou