DEMPSTER STREET STATION
SKOKIE, ILLINOIS
CLIENT:
Terraco Inc.
services:
architecture
PROJECT DETAILS:
- historic preservation and resoration
- 3,860 sf
awards:
2004 Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Award
President’s Award
2006 AIA Chicago
Distinguished Building Award - Restoration and Adaptive Reuse
To restore, renovate, and move the historic Dempster Street Station, Antunovich Associates teamed with local Skokie developers, the Taxman Corporation, and Terraco Inc. Already listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Landmarks Illinois (formerly LPCI) added the station to its list of "Ten Most Endangered" historic buildings.
The station was moved in one piece by saw-cutting the concrete foundations, building a temporary steel frame, jacking the structure up, and rolling it across railroad tracks to its new foundations. The faithful restoration of the building's exterior was accomplished by following original construction documents and period photographs. The team rebuilt losses in the outside wall by recovering interior brick partitions, reconstructed missing windows and storefronts using salvaged lumber, successfully stripped layers of paint from the brick, rebuilt the Ludowici clay tile roof with new tiles from the original manufacturer, made new globe lights to match the originals, and restored original paint colors.
The restored train station is the anchor project for a planned Dempster Street Renaissance, which includes transit-oriented mixed-use developments and streetscape improvements.
