Preservation Alert: October 2008
Fell Company Store in Winnetka Faces Demolition
Please pass along this information to any colleague,
friend, or relative you think may be interested in helping
to preserve this modern building.
The Fell Company Store currently faces demolition as a development
company, New Trier Partners, plans to redevelop the property.
The proposal will include a building with four floors of retail,
condominiums, and underground parking at the one-acre site.
The project, at 50 feet high, exceeds the village of Winnetka
's current building height cap of 45 feet.
Designed
by well-known local architect Walter H. Sobel, FAIA and Associates,
the Fell building won the Outstanding Merit Award for the Planning
and Design of a Small Department Store in an international
competition of the Institute of Store Planners and the National
Association of Store Fixture Manufacturers in 1970. Besides
the aesthetically pleasing exterior, refined details, and space-efficient
interior design, the project was planned with future expansion
in mind. It was innovatively designed to permit an economical
addition of at least two floors of housing or additional retail
space at a later date. Even so, it now faces demolition and
replacement by a larger scale project.
The importance of the Fell Store and Sobel’s architecture
are underscored not only by the by Merit Award but by the fact
that the plans and drawings for the Store are now being collected
by the Midwest Architectural Archives at the University of
Minnesota and the Spertus Museum archives in Chicago. Other
projects by Walter H. Sobel include Beth Emet Synagogue in
Evanston , the Geico Building in Wilmette, and the Wack House
in Kenilworth . He also designed renovations to the Braeside
and Ravinia Schools in Highland Park while working for John
Van Bergen.
The redevelopment proposal received approval from Winnetka
Design Review Board on June 6, 2008.
The Winnetka Landmark Preservation Committee meeting approves
demolition permits for historic buildings. This committee meets
next on Monday, October 6 at 6:30pm.
The Winnetka Zoning Board of Appeals will have a special meeting
on Monday October 6 at 7:30pm. This is a continuation from
the August 11 meeting and will specifically review the Fell
Building proposal.
Recent articles about the Fell Company Building:
Winnetka
Talk, October 20, 2007
Winnetka
Talk, July 3, 2008
Chicago
Tribune, August 26, 2008
To support this building:
Please attend these two meetings
on Monday October 6, 2008:
Landmark Preservation Committee
meeting
6:30 p.m.
Zoning Board of Appeals meeting
7:30 p.m.
Council Chambers
Winnetka Village Hall
510 Green Bay Road
Winnetka, Illinois
Please send letters to the Chair and
staff of the Winnetka Landmark Preservation Committee, the
Plan Commission, the Zoning Board of Appeals, and the Village
Council.
c/o Village of Winnetka
510 Green Bay Road
Winnetka IL 60093
Winnetka Landmark Preservation Committee
Chair: Louise Holland
Staff Liason: Jill Morgan, Assistant Director of Community Development
tel: 847-716-3587
fax: 847-716-3588
jmorgan@winnetka.org
Winnetka Plan Commission
Chair: Maureen Mitchel
Staff Liason: Brian Norkus, Assistant Director of Community
Development
tel: 847-716-3522
fax: 847-716-3588
Bnorkus@winnetka.org
Zoning Board of Appeals
Chair: Molly Lien
Staff Liason: Michael D’Onofrio, Director of Community
Development
tel: 847-716-3526
fax: 847-716-3588
Mdonofrio@winnetka.org
Winnetka Village Council
President: Edmund Woodbury
Staff Liason: Doug Williams, Village Manager
tel: 847-716-3541
fax: 847-501-3180
Dwilliams@winnetka.org
