A Ghost Block of Empty Homes and Apartment Buildings in Hyde Park (Chicago: 2014, construction)

[xavier xerxes]

Very sad to see such housing stock destroyed. It would be fine if it was all old wood frame houses.
Alot of cities would kill to have such housing.

[jahk]

with the new hospital (or medical center, or center for healing, or whatever they're called these days) in the background. It looks like some giant rogue machine invading a quiet neighborhood, sort of like 'War of the Worlds'.

Oh wait. It really is a giant behemoth invading a residential area.............

[facebookdigg123]

does anyone else think the hospital isnt that great looking? the inside is ridiculously awesome though

[rparz]

Originally Posted by xavier xerxes

Very sad to see such housing stock destroyed. It would be fine if it was all old wood frame houses.
Alot of cities would kill to have such housing.

While I agree with you, the whole area around there is surrounded by housing just like that is falling apart or dilapidated. Blocks upon blocks of boarded up abandoned buildings.
If UofC knocks a block or two down to expand, which then breathes life into a neighboring neighborhood, I'm okay with that.

This isn't like the Prentice Hospital for NW. That neighborhood and all those surrounding it doesn't need any help of any kind.

[ParkerP]

Man! I'd love to know how much the owners were offered

[rparz]

For that block a block away from UofC?

I've been working the sporadically for the last ten years and far back as I can remember, the University owned the buildings and rented them out as dorms. I wouldn't be surprised if they haven't been in private hands for decades.

[amxasdv]

Oh miserable, to destroy such a beautiful place!

[coldwine]

I am by no means an ancient miser (our resident Forum Ancient Miser being Tom), but even in my lifetime that has undergone so much change.

When I was at the University of Chicago for my undergrad, that area was just 100% different. I moved to NYC and came back for law school, and again, 100% different.

What never changed in that particular area was the fear. Even were it to be abandoned, I can still vividly recall the instructions: "Do not ever walk alone, do not ever go out at night, do not... do not... do not..." When my fiance was working at the medical center-- a part of the big building dominating the remains of that neighborhood-- for first time ever I walked through Washington Park without an escort.

I am going to passionately and loudly argue against tearing those buildings down. Just leave them alone, you can renovate them for students. It has a chance to become a neighborhood like absolutely nothing else on planet earth; this is how these things happen. This is how the most intricate and astounding urban areas admired far and wide occur. Usually it's an ugly beginning to the bloody end of a period in history.

For the love of god and all that is holy, just look at the other side of Washington Park. There's enough empty land there to sate even the University's appetite for real estate! Build there, leave some place for a community to grow with what already exists.

And those buildings are so lovely, it hurts my heart to think of losing them

[rparz]

Originally Posted by coldwine

I am going to passionately and loudly argue against tearing those buildings down. Just leave them alone, you can renovate them for students. It has a chance to become a neighborhood like absolutely nothing else on planet earth; this is how these things happen. This is how the most intricate and astounding urban areas admired far and wide occur. Usually it's an ugly beginning to the bloody end of a period in history.

Their proximity is the problem. They're across from two research buildings and the new hospital. The university owns the land, probably intending to raze them and build more research facilities / classroom space.

For the love of god and all that is holy, just look at the other side of Washington Park. There's enough empty land there to sate even the University's appetite for real estate! Build there, leave some place for a community to grow with what already exists.

And those buildings are so lovely, it hurts my heart to think of losing them

Like I said before, if tearing those down sparks interest in the area on the other side of the park, I'm all for it.
This isn't streeterville, where you're trying to preserve an area.
There's plenty of old buildings on the other side that are boarded up and would make great dorms. It's much more likly to have students walk across the park to school, than it is to see the University have a facility over on the other side. Especially since the cluster of University owned buildings over there over there (with that new powerhouse right near the buildings) ties together and shares steam for all the buildings in the area.

Those buildings days were marked for probably the past twenty years, and anyone familiar with the area probably could see that coming as well.

[JBVirtuoso]

I can say with confidence that we're at least 20 years out from having any student housing west or south of the park. I don't think the university would put any students over there until it has a relatively established presence with other buildings. Student housing means that the students will be walking there at all hours of the night, which would currently be a pretty dumb idea. As it stands, the U of C police only patrol to Cottage Grove, despite going all the way up to 39th and down to 65th. The areas west of Cottage Grove, both south and west of the park, are just a little too lively for the university's tastes.

I don't really think the destruction of the housing on Maryland will have any notable impact on the neighborhood aside from that immediate area. It's really isolated and completely surrounded by university buildings. And with a few exceptions, most of the apartments over there are essentially unlivable. A friend of mine was subletting a room in one of the six-flats last summer, and it was the most run-down apartment I've ever seen. Sloped kitchen floors, no windows that opened, the whole bit.

When the university opened its most recent dorm on the corner of 61st and Ellis, even that was controversial because of safety. There was a U of C student murdered on that corner in 2007 in a robbery gone awry, which got a lot of negative press. A lot of students who live elsewhere on campus are afraid to go down there at night. That reputation is really undeserved, as the area is now quite safe. Keep in mind that this was built next to a dorm that's been around since the 1930s, and it's in between a bunch of actively used university buildings. Given the perception of safety at 61st and Ellis, it's highly doubtful that the university can get much going at Garfield and King Drive.