PLATT LUGGAGE BUILDING

The Platt Luggage Building, originally located at 2301 South Prairie Avenue, was designed by Howard Van Doren Shaw, one of the region's most successful and celebrated architects.

Antunovich Associates were architects for the design/build team that relocated and reconstructed this spectacular facade, which was moved to 2203 South Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, alongside another of Shaw's masterful buildings, the Lakeside Press. The facade was mapped and cataloged for dismantlement before moving, with each brick and stone marked for removal or replacement. The dismantlement took three months in which every stone and brick were photographed, logged, and placed in storage where all damaged stones and bricks were repaired.

After the entire facade was dismantled and repaired, the stone and brick walls were reconstructed and attached to a new structural steel support system. The original brick and stone components were rebuilt to match the original historic Platt Luggage Facade identically. Since the original windows were not transferred to the new location, replica windows were fabricated and installed in the reconstructed facade. This facade stands as an example of masonry construction excellence of the past as well as the present.