By Kari Lydersen
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At 12:47 AM on December 31, the old Nabisco factory went up in a “hot orange wall of flame,” in the words of nearby resident Tyner White. Fire brigades arriving on the scene shortly before 1 AM called repeatedly for reinforcements, eventually bringing out 125 firefighters to battle the blaze. Some stayed late into the following afternoon to douse the final embers in the rubble of the long-abandoned building. On January 1 a demolition crew leveled what was left. The neighboring Haas Brothers clothing store was another casualty. The shop was famous in Maxwell Street lore because it catered to musicians such as Count Basie, and bluesmen playing on the sidewalk would sometimes plug their amplifiers into its outlets. A pile of charred wood now sits in an empty lot just west of where the factory used to be, next to a “Wall of Fame” erected in homage to the market’s more famous citizens.
It was another sad day for Balkin, vice president of the Maxwell Street Historic Preservation Coalition. After the market was moved in 1994, and the University of Illinois at Chicago announced its plans to expand southward, the coalition fought hard to preserve some remnant of Maxwell Street. The group’s ambitions were scaled back as the fight wore on, and the university finally agreed to save eight buildings on Halsted, while 13 facades on Maxwell, Halsted, and Roosevelt would be integrated into its development scheme. But that wasn’t good enough for the coalition; it’s been trying to save more buildings by having the area listed on the National Register for Historic Places. Balkin says the group had hoped to use the Nabisco factory as an “economic anchor” for its alternate plan, converting the structure into retail shops and lofts. “That had so much square footage it was the perfect building to make a revitalization of Maxwell Street economically viable,” he says.
UIC spokesman Mark Rosati says the latest fire doesn’t affect the university’s plans, because the factory had been slated for demolition in the spring. He also disputes the charges of Balkin and Maxworks residents. “I can’t give you specifics, but we certainly make efforts to be sure the buildings are secure.”
