Compromise plan to landmark St. Adalbert Church advances, but some advocates aren't happy
The plan to grant landmark status to a historic Pilsen church moved forward on Tuesday, but some of the people fighting to protect the long-shuttered St. Adalbert Catholic Church said they feel slighted.
The City Council Zoning Committee on Tuesday approved a compromise plan that would landmark only the main church building, not the rectory, school, and convent buildings as originally planned.
"It's bittersweet. It's of course about the church. We need to protect the church. It all revolves around the church, but just landmarking the church is a very shortsighted plan," said Julie Sawicki, president of the Society of St. Adalbert, a group fighting for the church to reopen.
The vote, if given final approval by the full City Council, would mean only St. Adalbert's century-old cathedral, built by Polish immigrants, would be granted landmark status. The rectory, school, and convent buildings would not be protected.
Preservation Chicago, which has listed St. Adalbert among the city's most endangered historic buildings for years, backed the compromise landmark plan, but Sawicki said her group still wants the entire campus to be landmarked.
"[Preservation Chicago] executive director Ward Miller said to me, 'Don't worry, Julie, 99.9% of the time, these buildings are landmarked,' and I said, 'We still have to plan for the .01 percent,' and sure enough that .01% is what's happening, or what happened today," she said.
The Chicago Archdiocese closed the church in 2019, and has a potential buyer for the church - The People Church in Humboldt Park, which said, "We recognize that this is not just a building—it is a sacred space with a rich and profound history. Our hope is to honor that legacy by restoring it as a place of worship, community, and purpose, serving both Chicago and the Pilsen neighborhood."
Sawicki and her supporters would like to keep the church as a shine to St. Adalbert, with a 40-room bed-and-breakfast-style facility for potential tourists visiting Chicago for Pope Leo XIV tours.
"We ought to be preparing for Catholic tourism, and this is one way, by allowing our plan to move forward," she said.
The full City Council is expected to vote on the compromise landmark plan on Wednesday.
Sawicki said her group can still try to get landmark status for the three additional structures at a later date.
The Chicago Archdiocese has fought against landmarking in the past, but did not immediately respond to a request for comment on if it supports the compromise the Zoning Committee approved on Tuesday.
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