September 19, 2008 – Three buildings designed by Marina City architect Bertrand Goldberg are on a list of historic sites considered by a preservation group to be in danger of alteration or demolition.

Landmarks Illinois released its seventh annual “watch list” this week, reflecting where the group will focus its efforts over the next year.

The former Prentice Women’s Hospital on East Superior Street features a seven-story four-leaf concrete tower on top a five-story conventional rectilinear base. Completed in 1974, the design won an award from Engineering News Record for distinguished architectural and engineering development.

Now part of Northwestern Memorial Hospital, a new Prentice Women’s Hospital opened last year nearby on East Huron Street. Northwestern Memorial still owns the original building. Stone Institute of Psychiatry occupies the base of the structure but, according to Landmarks Illinois, the clover-shaped towers are vacant.

Ownership of the property reverts to Northwestern University in a few years and they plan to develop the site for a new research facility. Demolition of the old building is an option, along with re-use. In April, a NWU spokesperson told the Chicago Tribune, “We don’t have any decision or inclination one way or the other.”

Goldberg also designed two buildings at Elgin Mental Health Center that are on land its owner plans to sell. In the mid-1960s, Goldberg designed a laundry facility and a surgical building, both of which are now vacant. The preservation group assumes the buildings will be demolished.

“This eclectic list of historic structures shows the range of preservation issues we are facing throughout the Chicago metropolitan area,” says Landmarks Illinois President/CEO Jim Peters on the group’s web site.

Landmarks Illinois wants the Chicago buildings on its list to be evaluated by the Landmarks Division for possible designation as official City of Chicago landmarks.

 Landmarks Illinois web site

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