June 2005

Façade Restoration

North Halsted traffic has witnessed the first visible step in the Center on Halsted construction! The painstaking process of dismantling the 1920s façade from the original building at 3640 N. Halsted has begun by Power© Construction and will last until August. As the tiles are dismantled, they will be catalogued and then stored for future restoration and reapplication onto the new building. The preservation of the façade is part of an agreement made with the City of Chicago and the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency and earns the Center credit in its environmentally sustainable building design.

Demolition

Once Power© has completed the façade’s removal, they will then demolish the existing building. Built as an automobile showroom and dealership in the 1920s, today’s building is a two-story garage used most recently by the city to repair municipal vehicles. When the old building has been removed, it will be much easier to envision just how large the Center will be. Covering the land where the existing building stands AND the empty lot adjacent to the building and Waveland and rising three stories, Center on Halsted will consist of 55,000 square feet not counting Whole Foods, our ground floor retail tenant.

Building Design

Construction will commence once the original building has been demolished and the debris hauled away. Assuming that nothing unusual is found underneath the building (especially toxins), two levels of underground parking will immediately be constructed with the building to follow. Gensler, the Center’s architectural firm, has designed an absolutely beautiful building that includes the Mayor Richard M. Daley Rooftop Garden, the Billie Jean King Recreational Space, the Performing Arts Space, the Cybercenter, expanded Youth Program and Mental Health spaces, administrative spaces for the Center and its tenant organizations, and numerous meeting rooms for the community’s use. Check out the design here.

It’s Good to be Green

One major highlight of the new Center on Halsted is its green design. The benefits to COH for building green include the long term cost-effectiveness, the alignment that an environmentally sustainable design has with the Center’s own mission, and the many benefits staff, clients, program participants and volunteers will enjoy due to such features as natural ventilation, natural daylight, and carbon dioxide monitoring. Earning a silver rating in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), Center on Halsted is taking advantage of an expedited permit process with the city because of its green design.