A developer pleges to save the milk-white Art Deco storefront of the old Pure Dairy building. But that doesn't mean a new building will be built on top. East Village Association members on Monday will see MCZ Development's plan for 1938 W. Augusta Blvd., most recently a Leona's restaurant. Renderings presented to EVA show the facade fencing in a 14-foot private yard and trellis, with a 5-story building behind it. EVA's planning committee worked with Space Architects + Planners on a concept that restores the facade and extends it to connect with the new building. MCZ will ask EVA members to consent to a smaller backyard without a loading area, which would require city approval. Otherwise, the 16 condos would be built within current zoning limits, with 16 parking spaces and 8 bicycle spots. The 3-bedroom units would be 1,535 square feet in size.

The Polish Triangle's prototypal transit-oriented development has a long history. The 1611 West Division location was a YMCA , a Pizza Hut and (at least on the drawing boards) a Walgreens drugstore. Next month it opens with 99 apartments above a PNC bank and Intelligentsia coffee bar. This site has posted more than 700 articles since 2007, not counting archived editions of the East Village Association newsletter . Names have changed for prominent sites: News about the 1611 West Division address is filed under Pizza Hut and lead anchor PNC Bank. Similarly, the several Fifield Cos. apartment proposals for 1822-50 W. Chicago Ave. are known for the vacant site's last building, the AAA Distributing news agency, and its onetime prospects for renovation as the Chicago Bowl nightclub. Search engines and real-estate blogs such as Curbed cite this site for background on these developments. Some of our most often-viewed posts date from several years back, including stubbornly p...

By Marjorie Isaacson How old is the East Village Association? I was there at the beginning, but nevertheless this anniversary came as a surprise to me: It has been 30 years since Dave Vavra invited a small group of residents to meet and talk about the "no-name" neighborhood. The ensuing years have brought a lot of changes, many of which were the direct result of the vision, commitment and tenacity of EVA members. That’s a legacy worth celebrating, and a new committee is already at work planning the party. In preparation for the event, we’re taking a look back at our past. If you’re new to the neighborhood or the Association, you can look forward to a series of newsletters where some of our history will be highlighted. If you’ve been around awhile, we want to hear from you. We invite you to contribute your memories. We’re especially interested in photos, or if you’d like to write. Please forward your information to me at marjiei@yahoo.com or 773-384-6088, or committee c...

Demolition at 814-820 N. Wood (Tom Tomek photo) By Margie Isaacson   What do you think of when you think of East Village? This "sense of place" may seem like a vague emotion, but everyone from urban planners to real estate agents recognize it as critical to the value of a community. One of East Village’s most distinctive qualities is its vintage architecture. Even people who are not architecture enthusiasts would say original buildings help give our neighborhood its character. These buildings drew the economic reinvestment in the neighborhood in the 1980s. As the neighborhood began to look more habitable to middle-class sensibilities, other new residents began to move in. Household incomes rose 13% in five years, according to Census Bureau estimates. The two East Village census tracts west of Ashland Avenue now have median incomes of more than $60,000. 1912 Division Street YMCA (Moody's Collectibles) The question of whether these century-old structures should be protect...

By Scott A. Rappe The East Village Association has worked diligently with Ald. Manuel Flores over the past six years. A wide variety of issues has faced the 1st Ward before Gov. Pat Quinn in January appointed Flores to chair the Illinois Commerce Commission. Some initiatives have succeeded: establishment of the East Village Landmark District, contentious within EVA through years of downzoning and land-use debates; downzoning of Leona’s restaurant location at 1936 W. Augusta Blvd.; preservation of buildings at 1916-24 W. Chicago Ave., and steering Walgreens away from the Polish Triangle. Some have failed: demolition of two "orange rated" buildings and loss of the historic Com Ed substation on Division Street. And many more remain incomplete: transit oriented development at the Polish Triangle and inclusion of EVA in the sidewalk café permit process. On Dec. 15, 2009, prior to Flores' appointment, fellow board member Rich Anselmo and I met with the alderman to di...

Closed for nearly two decades, St. Boniface Church again is in danger of demolition. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago rejected a purchase offer from Egyptian Coptic Christians and in December put the site at Chestnut and Noble on a three-month track toward demolition. A representative of the Coptic Assembly of America told neighbors that her congregation is still willing and able to restore St. Boniface as a house of worship. Support for reuse of the building across from Eckhart Park is on the agenda of the East Village Association's Jan. 6 membership meeting at Happy Village tavern, 1059 N. Wolcott. ( Update: Concerned residents were asked to contact Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. ) When the Roman Catholic archdiocese attempted to tear down the church and school nearly a decade ago, EVA fought for its preservation. Its research traced the parish to German immigrants who first developed West Town. Its buildings were the design of Henry J. Schlacks, a noted church architect and ...

The website saintbonifaceinfo.com makes the case for preservation with text from the East Village Association newsletter of December 1998. An excerpt: Rising majestically from its corner location, St. Boniface stands guard over Eckhart Park as it has for almost 100 years. It was constructed in 1902-04 and designed by architect Henry J. Schlacks. The park itself acts as the church’s forecourt and thereby creates its northern wall. Viewed across the park from the south, the full dimension of this important structure becomes apparent. Rendered in a solid Romanesque style, the church and its adjacent school building dominate the block on which they sit. The church is defined by its three soaring bell towers; their steeply pitched clay tile roofs provide an instantly recognizable symbol for the surrounding neighborhood and are visible for miles around. The base is made of rusticated ashlar block intersected by canted buttresses that extend down to the sidewalk. Its brick exterior is ...

This article originally appeared in the EVA newsletter in 1999. By Scott A. Rappe, AIA Principal, Kuklinski+Rappe Architects In a welcome gesture towards finding a mutually agreeable approach to saving St. Boniface, the Archdiocese of Chicago extended an invitation to Alderman Jesse Granato and five community representatives to tour the church on May 5, 1999. Several representatives of the Archdiocese, including Father Baldwin, Thomas Brennan and Gregory Veith joined the Alderman, representatives from the Eckardt Park community, respected preservation architects John Vinci and Ward Miller, and myself on the walk‑through. We were prepared for the worst, having been warned of structural damage and being required to sign releases prior to entering the church. I am pleased to say that our worst fears were not realized. While weather, pigeons and the lack of an ongoing maintenance program have left their mark, the building has survived a decade of abandonment with little apparent irrever...

President’s Message by John Scheer  Summer is almost gone and we have some dynamite memories of the East Village Association barbecue. Thank you to all of those who helped and those who came to enjoy. This type of neighborhood togetherness is part of what EVA is all about. Some of the interesting neighbors that I met are Adele and her daughter, Mary. Their history in the East Village started the summer of 1967, a number of years before EVA was formed. Adele moved to Augusta Avenue with her three children and found a very comfortable Polish neighborhood where she could raise her children. Mary went to Andersen School and became part of the "neighborhood kids" on Honore Street. There were many families on that block, each with 3 to 5 children. The kids would take over the street after school for a game of Frisbee, football or other seasonal sports. This same kind of grouping was present on Marshfield between Thomas and Haddon. So if you didn’t like the game on your street, you ...

President’s Message by John Scheer  Gonzalo Flores, better know as Charlie, made his first major move from Puerto Rico to New York City in 1947. In 1978 he moved again to what used to be called the DePaul neighborhood, then in 1980 to his current East Village home. He has been a pioneer, and a wise investor. Charlie Flores moved to Chicago with his wife Matilda, four daughters and three sons, and started his career as a pipefitter for Western Electric on 22nd Street and Cicero Avenue. I didn’t know Charlie, but his life moves were several years ahead of my own. I bought my first condo on West Armitage Avenue in 1982, on what would have been on the same block as Charlie. In 1995, I moved across the street from Charlie on Winchester Avenue. His new East Village home needed a lot of upkeep. He installed new floors, repaired the ceilings and walls, and cleaned the graystone front. Gang members, their friends and families populated most of the block. Charlie and his family learned to li...

President’s Message by John Scheer Longtime East Village residents have a wealth of knowledge and history about the neighborhood that has never been captured. These pioneers have added their own characteristics to the current culture of the East Village. This month’s message is a snapshot of one family that moved to the East Village, stayed through its evolution and became part of its fabric. This is a story about Louie Topacio, son of Luis Topacio. Luis moved to East Village in 1971. He worked as a nurse at two jobs, St. Elizabeth Hospital and Cook County Hospital, to support his wife and family. Many of the nine sons and four daughters were adults but the family was still a top priority for the Topacios. Soon after arriving in East Village, Luis bought a modest two-flat on the same block where he was renting. Ten years later, Louie (one of the sons) and his wife Linda relocated to East Village and moved into the two flat with Luis. Jane Byrne was mayor in the early 1980s when they m...