The Warehouse in West Loop is one step closer to becoming a Chicago landmark
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The birthplace of house music is now one step closer to becoming a Chicago landmark.
In the heart of the West Loop, the Warehouse used to be a nightclub and a safe haven for Black and Brown queer Chicagoans. The nightclub shut down in 1982 and was sold to new owners in 2022, who had listed it as an opportunity as a site for new development.
"It was quite a remarkable experience, and a place where everybody was welcome, and especially if you were, you know, sort of in that underage to mid-20s, if you will kind of place," said Ward Miller, Executive Director of Preservation Chicago, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting and nurturing the cities architecture.
Frankie Knuckles, an openly gay man and New York transplant, became the resident DJ of the Warehouse. Amidst the public's growing disdain of disco in the 70s, word-of-mouth spread about the underground scene at the Warehouse, where Knuckles was one of the first to blend soul, R&B, disco, electronic, and gospel According to Preservation Chicago, Knuckles would go on to call house music "disco revenge"
On April 13, the Commission on Chicago Landmarks granted Preliminary Landmark Recommendations for the Warehouse. Miller joined CBS 2's Brad Edwards on the stream to talk about what this means and the next steps.
"It is the first step towards honoring this building. It's a preliminary landmark, which means it has all the protections of a designated Chicago landmark as it works through the cycle. The landmark cycle, which is a multi-step process, but it appears that the owners may be now on board with the landmark designation. Realizing the history."
Miller says that Chicago is the birthplace of not only house music, but long before that, it was the golden age of architecture. The Century & Consumers Buildings were also granted Preliminary Landmark Recommendations.
Built in 1913 and 1915, the two terracotta-clad skyscrapers are "remarkable buildings of the Chicago School of architecture, steel frame buildings, early Chicago skyscrapers," Miller said. "If we lose these buildings, not only do we lose part of the State Street wall and our great Chicago history, but these 2 early skyscrapers and Chicago is up for a Unesco World Heritage site, honoring some of these early skyscrapers of downtown Chicago."
Preservation Chicago's plan is to turn the buildings into a collaborative archive center.
"I want you to know we've been trying to save these for more than 10 years. But now there's a $52 million earmark to demolish them so you know the effort has stepped up."
