Imagine the massive Damen Silos being preserved and the surrounding land being used as music festival grounds.
It’s an idea that a pair of groups is floating even as the city moves closer to issuing demolition permits for the century-old structures.
So far, property owner Michael Tadin Jr. hasn’t budged on plans to tear down the historic structures near South Damen Avenue along the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. Nor has he been swayed to sell the property.
Preservationists and a community organization say the buildings should be saved and restored. They could be a backdrop for public park space that would be used as permanent music festival grounds, they argue.
McKinley Park Development Council is circulating a petition to make the Damen Silos a public park and festival grounds. So, far more than 400 people have signed the petition, according to Kate Eakin, the group’s managing director.
Preservation Chicago is also leading the charge on converting the land into park space and a concert area.
Such a proposal would be costly and it’s not clear how it would be funded.
Tadin said Thursday he has no plans to sell the property.
Tadin acquired the structures along with the more than 20 acres around it for $6.5 million in December 2022. He hasn’t said what he will do with the land, which is in an industrial area.
Blue Star Properties, which redeveloped the former Morton Salt warehouse on North Elston Avenue and created The Salt Shed concert venue, was among the bidders in 2022. Blue Star was the lowest bidder, however, offering about $3 million less than Tadin.
A Blue Star representative couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
The cost of restoring the silos and surrounding property would be far more money than the price Tadin paid for it, though no estimate has been made public. It’s also unclear who would foot the bill.
A spokesman for Mayor Brandon Johnson didn’t immediately respond to a a request for comment.
No demolition permit has been issued. A public meeting about the demolition plan is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday night at Arturo Velasquez Westside Technical Institute, 2800 S. Western Ave.
The demolition is considered by the city to be an “environmentally complex” because of its size and potential for creating harmful pollution.
The grain silos, owned by the state for more than 90 years, were featured in the 2014 Hollywood movie “Transformers: Age of Extinction.”
