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Landmarks
35 East 21st Street, application for proposed new storefront and bulkhead.
At the regularly scheduled monthly meeting of Community Board Five on Thursday, May 08, 2014, the following resolution passed with a vote of: 34 in favor, 1 opposed, 1 abstained.
WHEREAS, 33-35 & 37-39 East 21st Street is a twin building, in the Ladies Mile Historic District, and
WHEREAS, 33-35 East 21st Street is a ten-story neo-Renaissance store and loft building constructed in 1905-06 by noted Chicago architectural firm of Daniel Burnham & Co.; and
WHEREAS, 37-39 East 21st Street is a ten-story store and loft building designed by John W. Stevens for the John W. Stevens Bldg Co. and constructed in 1902-03, and the building was expanded by the addition of 33-35 East 21st Street, which was designed as an extension to the Mercantile Building; and
WHEREAS, The first floor of both buildings has been modernized prior to the designation of the building in 1989; and
WHEREAS, The applicant proposes to install a new bulkhead to the roof, a new storefront to replace existing, a black fabric retractable canopies with signage; and
WHEREAS, The proposed bulkhead is minimally visible; and
WHEREAS, The proposed storefront design is using glass and aluminum; and
WHEREAS, The proposed canopies are of different dimensions over the store bay, and over the building entrances; and
WHEREAS, The proposed lighting would be metal halide concealed fixtures; and
WHEREAS, The applicant has not developed a master plan for signage on the canopies; and
WHEREAS, No effort to restore the first floor façade to a historically contextual state was presented; therefore be it
RESOLVED, Community Board Five recommends approval of the bulkhead; and be it further
RESOLVED, Community Board Five recommends denial of the application to replace the storefronts, encourages the applicant to prepare detailed renderings, and urges the applicant to incorporate restoration of the first floor masonry contextual to the historic nature of the building at 35 East 21st Street; and be it further
RESOLVED, Community Board Five is urging the applicant to establish a signage master plan.