Author: lbchicago1@hotmail.com

Hope you enjoy these photos from my walk around Downtown Chicago yesterday.

Yesterday I enjoyed a walk through Wicker Park. It was great seeing new art, signs and murals!

The Prairie Avenue Historic District is located in the South Loop neighborhood of Chicago. It spans the 1800 and 1900 blocks of South Prairie Avenue and the 1800 block of South Indiana, and 211-217 East Cullerton. It was the site of the Battle of Fort Dearborn and became Chicago’s most fashionable residential district after the Great Chicago Fire. It was designated a Chicago Landmark on December 27, 1979 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 15, 1972. It contains the Clark House, which was built in 1836 and was untouched by the great Chicago Fire of 1861. It is Chicago’s oldest house.

The CVS in Wicker Park at 1200 N. Ashland (on the corner of Ashland, Division and Milwaukee ) will close its doors on March 7th. This news comes shortly after the announced closure of the Wicker Park Walgreens on Milwaukee, North Avenue and Damen at the end of January. The historic Home Bank and Trust Building is a landmark in the center of Chicago’s Polish community. It was built in 1926 and was designed by Karl M. Vitzthum & Company. It is a Classical Revival style building with a dramatic banking hall. It was built in an era when banking was a grand practice. CVS said the closure is a part of their larger business plan to respond better to consumer buying patterns. Prescriptions will be transferred to CVS at 771 N. Ogden.

The Walgreens located in the Noel State Bank building at 1601 N. Milwaukee Ave. on the corner of North and Damen in Wicker Park will close at the end of January. The building was constructed in 1919 and had housed a number of banks throughout the 20th century. It was designed by Gardener Coughlen in the Classic Revival style. Walgreens opened the store in 2012 after two years of restoration. The bank interior is unique because it captures both the old and new beautifully. An example of this is how the bank vault was turned into a vitamin vault. And appropriately, when you first enter the building there are signs reading “on the corner of yesterday and today” depicting how the interior looked then and now. The building is a part of the land marked Milwaukee Avenue District, so any new owners will be required to preserve its historical features.