Recent lunchtime reading of the news uncovered a few articles related to the status, reuse, and updating of some interesting old buildings:
- Chicago Post Office. The NY Times has an article about how the USPS is attempting to sell the Chicago Post Office… with a minimum bid of only $300K. The building has some interesting problems. It is 800 feet long and 350 feet wide, and was built using air rights over railroad tracks that terminate several blocks to the north, at Union Station, and so it has no basement. In addition, the Congress Expressway literally passes through the structure. The two-story-high tunnel carries six lanes of traffic. It features an imposing Neoclassical lobby at the north end of the building, which has cream-colored marble walls and an elaborate inlaid marble floor, and is 340 feet long and 40 feet wide, with a towering 38-foot ceiling. Other complications include costs of about $2.5 million annually for utilities, maintenance and security.
- Clifton’s Cafeteria. The LA Times is reporting that the Clinton family, who currently own the building housing their multi-story Clifton’s cafeteria, have put it up for sale. They bought the building in 2006 for stability in the rising leasing market, but now less traffic on Broadway is hurting them. They don’t plan on closing the cafeteria, however. If you haven’t been there, it is a really neat place. Clifton’s Cafeteria, or Clifton’s Brookdale, as it is also known, is the last remaining of eight Clifton cafeterias that once dotted the Southern California landscape. The nearly 47,000-square-foot building — with five stories and a basement — is on the market for $4.75 million.
- Wilshire Blvd Temple. The LA Times also has an interesting article on architect Brenda Levin, who will be doing the restoration of the main sanctuary at Wilshire Blvd Temple. No details on that renovation, but she’s the one behind the renovation of the Wiltern Theatre and the Griffith Observatory, and will work next on the Herald-Examiner Building.
