Time is running out for efforts to save the Damen Silos on the Southwest Side from being torn down, but negotiations will start soon to determine how to commemorate the historic grain structures near the site.
Despite pleas from community members and preservationists at a meeting in McKinley Park on Thursday night, the options for keeping the structures from being demolished by owner Michael Tadin Jr. appear to be limited.
The meeting was held by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is taking public input through next Friday from community members on how a piece of the historic property near 29th Street and Damen Avenue can be memorialized.
Tadin applied to the city to demolish the massive structures. The former grain storage site was first developed in 1905 and includes two sets of 80-foot concrete silos, a tower that is around 110 feet tall, and three mostly dilapidated buildings one to two stories tall.
The city will have to approve the demolition to review environmental and health safeguards, but first, the buildings will have to undergo a review by the Army Corps, which has already determined that the area on the Chicago River has historic significance and that “a complete demolition” of the buildings “would constitute an adverse effect” to the surrounding community.
That’s not a statement that the federal government will stop the demolition and there is no historic landmark designation by any government body that will save the structures. Rather, with the help of state officials, the Army Corps will work out an agreement with Tadin to somehow mark the silos area to recognize the history.
“This could be as varied as preservation of art on the silos and buildings, incorporation of materials into future walking paths and the like,” Army Corps project manager Colin Smalley told the Sun-Times. “The Corps does not desire any particular outcome.”
Tadin, who owns the controversial MAT Asphalt plant in McKinley Park, has not said what he wants to do with the Damen Silos property. He has said he won’t put an asphalt plant there.
Some residents at the meeting Thursday said they didn’t believe him, and Ald. Julia Ramirez (12th) announced she plans to try to change the zoning designation for that property within the planned manufacturing district where it sits.
Other community organizations are seeking additional safeguards for future development.
Kate Eakin, president of the McKinley Park Development Council, said her organization wants an independent engineering evaluation completed to figure out the structural strength of the buildings.
Her group also wants a “binding” site plan agreement before the silos are demolished and an assurance from the city that it can restrict who could buy the property if Tadin should decide to sell it.
Ward Miller, executive director of Preservation Chicago, said there may be some middle ground to preserve a piece of the silos, possibly with a connection to a new building and green space.
“I would hope the owner would listen to the community and the stakeholders,” Miller said. “At the end of the day — if he demolishes this — we may be looking at a park. There are ways for public good to make this happen.”
Miller, however, would love to see the silos reused as public art or some other creative use. He hopes the community input and suggestions will help tailor a plan for the newly developed site.
Tadin, on the other hand, is adamant that all the buildings are going to be destroyed, and he will work out an agreement for some historical marker.
He’s said that the buildings, which have also drawn late-night parties, are unsafe. Even with security guards in the area, he said, partygoers have found ways into the buildings.
“I value community input about the future of the site, but we are also eager to keep the process moving forward for the sake of its immediate safety,” Tadin said in a statement. “Despite retaining multiple security staff for the Damen Silos property, trespassing and other criminal activity continues to occur. I am very concerned that it’s not a matter of if, but when, something tragic happens there.”
Tadin acquired the property from Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration in late 2022 after bidding $6.5 million. It has sat dormant for decades, though it was featured in the 2014 movie “Transformers: Age of Extinction.”
