Panel denies demolition permit for former E2 nightclub building in Chicago
CHICAGO (CBS) -- At City Hall on Thursday, the Commission on Chicago Landmarks denied an application to demolish the building that once housed the Epitome/E2 nightclub.
E2 was the place where 21 years ago, 21 people were killed and 50 others were injured in a stampede.
The two-story building, located at 2347 S. Michigan Ave. in the Motor Row District toward the southern edge of the South Loop, is more than 110 years old. In June, the owner was asked either to demolish it or make it safe.
The owner hoped to create a 21-story development on the site, so he applied last month to demolish it. The application was denied.
"The Department of Buildings has not found that the demolition of the building is necessary to remedy conditions imminently dangerous to life, health or property," Emily Barton, of the Historic Preservation Division at the Chicago Department of Planning and Development, said at a hearing Thursday.
The application was denied as the panel highlighted its significance as a historic building. To the panel, it is the former Fiat dealership that was built in 1910.
But to Demetricta Carwell's family, the building represents a sad reminder of what was once the E2 nightclub.
"We come out here to celebrate our loved ones all the time, and there's nothing that's here that's like a good memory of them," said Carwell's daughter, Laneisha Crawford.
On Feb. 17, 2003, a security guard sprayed pepper spray to break up a fight at E2—causing a panic in the crowded club. The crowd rushed to the front exit, but because the doors opened inwards, patrons couldn't get out because of the weight of the crowd pressing out against the doors.
It took 40 minutes for first responders to help the trampled and asphyxiated. By then, it was too late. Twenty-one people died and dozens more were injured.
At the time, the club was far over capacity at the time and had been ignoring a judge's order to close its second floor because of a building code violation.
Demetricta Carwell was among the people who died that night at E2. Her mother and daughter said the owner wanted to make it a memorial.
"It would've been 21 floors that the seniors would be living on, and then a plaque would be on each floor—showing some kind of memorial, loved words, and stuff, as towards their name," said Demetricta Carwell's mother, Mary Carwell, "and that would've been really nice."
E2 nightclub was never mentioned in the hearing Thursday as a preliminary decision was made by the landmarks panel.
"And why should this place be a landmark?" said Mary Carwell. "It shouldn't. It should be what the family like it to be—a memorial place for them; a resting place where their lives was taken."
It is now up to the owner to make another decision about what to do with the building—or fight the demolition denial to consider other alternatives.
A final decision on the demolition permit could be made by the fall.