North Lawndale Facade Improvement Program
Summer 1998
The Façade Rebate Program, sponsored by the City of Chicago’s
Department of Planning and Development, was created to offer communities
assistance with revitalizing and stabilizing commercial and industrial
areas. Financial rebates are provided to businesses and real estate owners
pursuing façade improvements. In 1998, the Lawndale Business and
Local Development Corporation (LBLDC) targeted businesses in North Lawndale
that might benefit from the program, and in turn, benefit the community.
LBLDC requested the City Design Center to develop façade design
proposals for ten selected businesses along Roosevelt and Pulaski Roads.
The proposals would be used to provide design ideas to the business and
real estate owners, as well as to gain the interest of other businesses
in the area by exhibiting the impact of the façade design efforts.
The City Design Center design process began by documenting the existing
conditions with digital photographs. Next, the photographs were manipulated
to illustrate the proposed design improvements at each phase of the design
program, from minor changes to major rehabilitation. Improvements included:
newly designed signage, façade treatments, windows, doors, canopies/awnings,
lighting, streetscape, and security systems. The recommended design improvements
fit within the Façade Rebate Program’s guidelines, cost considerations,
and general feasibility.
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Map of Chicago with project location
Proposed façade renovations
for North Lawndale commercial properties.
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City Design Center Affiliated Faculty
Tom Forman, Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Architecture, and
Associate Director, City Design Center
Collaborating Organization
Lawndale Business and Local Development Corporation (LBLDC)
Funding
Lawndale Business and Local Development Corporation (LBLDC)
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