Chicago Vocational High School was built to educate 4,000 students when its sprawling, 22-acre WPA Modern campus opened on the city’s Southeast Side in 1941.
But today, between 700 to 800 attend the school, now called Chicago Vocational Career Academy. Large portions of the building have gone unused for years, prompting fears from architecture devotees and alumni that vacant sections of the architecturally significant complex might be someday demolished.
Landmarks Illinois on Thursday included Chicago Vocational, at 2100 E. 87th St., on its yearly list of the state’s 10 most endangered buildings.
The preservation group cited the school’s shrunken enrollment and its vacated and fenced-off Anthony Avenue wing, “which formerly housed the heavy industry vocational programs,” as reason for the listing.
Designed by the school system’s chief architect, John C. Christensen, Chicago Vocational is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Landmarks Illinois included two other Chicago buildings on the list: The vacant, dilapidated and foreclosed-upon J.J. Walser House, at 42 N. Central Ave., an early Prairie School residence designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, built in 1903; and the ragged and unused outdoor theater from 1920 on the southern side of the Chicago Park District’s South Shore Cultural Center, at 7059 S. South Shore Drive.
“A new owner is needed to bring the house back to life as a cultural anchor for Austin,” Landmarks Illinois said of the Walser House.
Of the outdoor theater, Landmarks Illinois said the park district “would like to make necessary repairs to the theater to bring it back into use, but a lack of funds has consistently delayed such work, leaving the theater to continue deteriorating.”
“This year’s Most Endangered list is wide-ranging, not only in the kinds of troubling threats these places face, but also in their historical narratives, geographical locations and building types,” Bonnie McDonald, president & CEO of Landmarks Illinois said. “Yet all celebrate cultural heritage and tell the important stories of the people who have shaped our communities.”
Built for $3 million with a portion of the cost covered by federal Works Progress Administration funds, Chicago Vocational during its heyday taught virtually every discipline from with aircraft repair to woodworking.
Architecturally, the building’s interiors and exteriors are a mix of Art Deco and Art Moderne. It was built with six gymns, a library, auditorium and lunchroom.
Chicago Vocational’s notable alums include the late comedian Bernie Mac — the school’s auditorium was renamed in his honor in 2016 — Chicago Bears great Dick Butkus, current Chicago Fire Department Commissioner Annette Nance-Holt, and your Sun-Times architecture critic.
A Chicago Public Schools spokesperson said, “While there are no immediate plans” for Chicago Vocational’s Anthony Avenue wing, “CPS and CVCA leadership will continue to communicate and collaborate with the community as the district evaluates future facility needs.”
In 2012, the school system set aside $75 million for a “major rehabilitation” at Chicago Vocational, according to a news release from then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel. But the project never happened.
The school needs $125.9 million in repairs and upgrades, according to the CPS Educational Facilities Master Plan from 2023.
Will Davis, a 1982 Chicago Vocational graduate who owns a home three blocks from the school, said the building should be repurposed because the elementary student populations are also shrinking.
“As much as I love this school, it’s at a point that the building needs to be restored for a new purpose,” Davis said. “With all the new tech, the job market is changing, so I believe [a] resource and training center [for adults] would be best.”
The vacant 12-story Spivey Building in East St. Louis also made the Landmarks Illinois list. The 1927 tower — the city’s only skyscraper — is being earmarked for demolition.
The 195-year-old Fordon House Barn in Oak Brook is also at risk, according to Landmarks Illinois. The village’s park district wants to raze the structure, which dates back to Oak Brook’s days an equestrian center.