IDI Logistics’ plans to demolish century-old warehouses on the city’s Southwest Side sparked outrage among local preservationists and community leaders, but the buildings are still coming down.
The Atlanta-based firm secured demolition permits for multiple structures at 4115 West Ogden Avenue, between Pulaski Road and Keeler Avenue, the Chicago Tribune reported.
The 15.5-acre site includes the Western Felt Works building, a 1916 Prairie School-style structure, and two 1918 buildings designed by renowned architect Alfred Alschuler. The buildings lack protective landmark status.
IDI, a major player in industrial development, purchased the buildings for more than $16 million in late 2022 and plans to replace them with a 246,000-square-foot distribution facility.
The project has faced resistance from Alderman Michael Rodriguez, who cites increased truck traffic, pollution and the potential loss of higher-paying manufacturing jobs among his objections to the development.
“Typically, the truck traffic is much less with manufacturing, and the jobs pay much more, and that’s what my residents want,” Rodriguez said.
IDI representatives met with Rodriguez’s North Lawndale Economic Development Advisory Committee more than a dozen times, which only frustrated local leaders, the outlet reported. The firm hasn’t proposed any alternative plans, despite community opposition, and it has the right to demolish the buildings.
Preservation Chicago and other advocates argue that Chicago has already lost too many historic buildings to development. They warned against replacing Alschuler’s industrial architecture with a generic distribution warehouse.
“What the community has said is that they don’t want an Amazon-type facility and the pollution that comes with it,” said Richard Townsell, a member of the advisory committee and executive director of the Lawndale Christian Development Corporation. “I can’t imagine I could go to Naperville, and build whatever I want to build, and the people there would have no say about it. Residents and homeowners in North Lawndale should have a say in what happens in their community.”
— Andrew Terrell
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