Just in time for the 26th Street Mexican Independence Day Parade on Sunday, one of the Southwest Side’s most recognizable landmarks is back to its gleaming best.
For much of the last year, the Little Village Arch — a symbol of ethnic pride, culture and resilience — was covered in scaffolding.
“This arch is a symbol of Little Village’s culture, people and what I like to call the soul of who we are,” said Mayor Brandon Johnson at the restoration ribbon cutting Wednesday. “It is important that this arch stands the test of time and, of course, we have to remain proud because it is a representation of Chicago’s Mexican community.”
The arch — sometimes referred to as the eastern gateway to the “Mexican capital of the Midwest” — spans West 26th Street just west of South Albany.
The restoration comes just two years after the Chicago City Council voted unanimously to make the arch an official landmark.
The arch was built in 1990, over a period of six months, and designed by Chicago architect Adrián Lozano in the same Spanish colonial style of arches commonly found in Mexican cities, towns, haciendas and religious sites. It features a stucco and terracotta structure, a wrought-iron grille, a metal banner that reads “Bienvenidos a Little Village” and a mechanical clock.
Lozano also designed the National Museum of Mexican Art and the Benito Juarez Community Academy, both in Pilsen. He died in 2004.
In 1991, then-president of Mexico Carlos Salinas de Gortari visited the arch. He gifted a bronze clock manufactured by Relojes Centenario, a historic clockmaker in Mexico. The clock was installed at the top of the arch, with faces on both the east and west sides.
In the intervening years, cracks have snaked across the stucco, terracotta tiles fell and the clock rarely worked. The restoration included major repairs, updated lighting and a new digital clock mechanism.
“It is the sign of the Mexican community here in Chicago. It is a welcoming to other Mexicans, but also to other Chicagoans and tourists visiting our community. It’s basically our best face forward,” said Jennifer Aguilar, the executive director of Little Village Chamber of Commerce.
The restoration was paid for with $1.25 million in TIF [Tax Increment Financing] money, according to a spokeswoman with the Chicago Department of Transportation.
Keen observers will notice one major change: The domes on either side of the arch are no longer gold. They are white.
“The gold domes were an addition done in the 2000s, but it wasn’t faithful to the original [structure]. Since now it’s a landmark, its historic so now they had to revert it to its historic state,” Aguilar said.
The arch serves as an entry point into one of the city’s busiest commercial corridors, according to the chamber of commerce.