| Address | Montgomery Ward Memorial Building, 303-329 E. Chicago Ave.; Wieboldt Hall of Commerce, 339-343 E. Chicago Ave.; Levy Mayer Hall/Gary Law Library, 349-361 E. Chicago Ave. |
|---|---|
| Built | Various |
| Architect | Various |
| Status | Designated Chicago Landmark District |
| Designation Date | September 10, 2014 (Final)City Council Journal of the Proceedings |
| Type | Historic district |
Direct quotes from the Chicago Landmark Designation Report
“Taken together, the Northwestern University Chicago Campus District forms a handsome enclave of gray limestone-clad, Gothic Revival-style buildings along the southern edge of Lakeshore Park that are visually distinctive within the context of Chicago's Near North community area and that exemplify Rogers' effort to create an attractive, planned campus on behalf of Northwestern.”
“Architects that were leaders in this movement include Boston's Ralph Adams Cram, Philadelphia's Cope & Stewardson, and James Gamble Rogers. The Northwestern University Chicago Campus District exemplifies this nationally-important trend in early 20th-century university architecture.”
“The Northwestern University Chicago Campus District as a whole retains excellent historic integrity, while the district's individual buildings each retain very good to excellent historic integrity, including their historic siting, overall forms and decorative detailing, including historic stone ornamentation.”
“The Northwestern University Chicago Campus District exemplifies the historic importance of Northwestern University to the history of Chicago as one of the City's oldest and most prominent universities.”
“Typical changes to the district's buildings include some replacement windows, decorative-metal fencing, and lighting. The Wieboldt Hall of Commerce originally housed the heating plant for the campus; at the time of its removal, the building's original office tower/smokestack was shortened and rebuilt.”
“Despite changes, the Northwestern University Chicago Campus District retains the ability to express its historic, community, architectural, and aesthetic values as a finely-designed and -crafted group of university buildings designed in the Gothic Revival architectural style by James Gamble Rogers, a significant architect in the context of Chicago and United States architectural history.”
“In the 1870s and 1880s, however, the university took important steps towards adding graduate programs in the professions of law, medicine and dentistry. In 1870, the university reached an affiliation agreement with the independent Chicago Medical College, which had been founded in 1859.”
“Wieboldt Hall is eight stores in height and is rectangular in overall plan, with a relatively narrow, simply-detailed facade facing Chicago Avenue. Most ornamentation is centered on the building's main entrance, which is a single large Gothicstyle arch within which are two sets of wooden doors.”
“Similar to the buildings' exteriors, their courtyard walls are clad with gray limestone walls and ornamented with Gothic-style detailing, including arched windows and ornament. (Robert McCormick Hall, built in 1959-1960, completes the courtyard and is not included as part of this proposed landmark designation.) PEARSON ST.”