Quote:
Originally Posted by west-town-brad
"preservationists" seem to always be behind the ball...
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They have no time to act on anything unless a building has an orange or red rating in the CHRS (which was done in 1995; I've heard it's not an exhaustive survey), thus triggering a demolition delay. That might be their only source of intel in finding out about these demolitions. There would be no practical or even feasible way for a small non-profit to know which buildings are being threatened until either a demolition delay is issued (if that's even publicly published anywhere) or a demo permit is issued. Or they get lucky enough to hear through the grapevine about a developer's plan for a demolition before it's documented anywhere in the city process.
According to the MSN article, 720 Wells is green-rated in the CHRS, so no demo delay would have been issued (leaving no time to assemble a campaign):
"When the developer applied for a demolition permit in May 2023 for the 207 W. Superior St. building [this is the building just W of the Wells St. building in question], it was put on hold for 90 days and then approved for removal in August. As a green-rated building, the 720 N. Wells St. building didn’t require such a review before seeking demolition, the city said.
“'The survey missed the most historically significant structure on the block,' Miller said of the Wells Street building. 'Time and time again it slipped through the cracks. Now it may be too late for this building, but I hope it will lead to a broader landmark district for River North.'"