These historic Chicago structures are most under threat of demolition

A proposed new wing at the Art Institute of Chicago could mean the demolition of a 1894-designed Chicago Stock Exchange Trading Room by a prolific 1800s architecture firm. The city’s most prominent preservation group is calling for it to be saved.

The room, once demolished and rebuilt at the art museum, is one of Preservation Chicago’s Most Endangered, announced Wednesday. It joins Pope Leo XIV’s childhood church and school, 18 bridge tender houses, union halls, an apartment designed by a former Frank Lloyd Wright colleague, a modernist 1898 commercial building, and a midcentury modern church and synagogue.

The annual list, published since 2003, highlights seven structures throughout the city most at risk for demolition or in need of restoration.

“Despite seemingly impossible odds, the public interest generated by the [endangered buildings list], coupled with devoted advocacy, has resulted in a remarkable number of preservation victories over the past 20 years,” said Ward Miller, executive director of Preservation Chicago, in a statement.

Past buildings now saved include the Thompson Center (now Google’s new Chicago headquarters), music venue Ramova Theatre and the St. Adalbert’s Church in Pilsen, which made the list four times.

Last year, Preservation Chicago highlighted Frank Lloyd Wright’s JJ Walser House in the Austin neighborhood. Since then, the home has been closely watched as it undergoes foreclosure and attempted protections by the Frank Lloyd Wright Conservancy and neighborhood organizations.

Here are the most endangered Chicago buildings of 2026, according to Preservation Chicago:

The structure at the top of this year’s list was originally built in 1894, dismantled and eventually reconstructed 83 years later in 1977.

Architects Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan of Adler & Sullivan designed the Chicago Stock Exchange, and as it was demolished between 1971 and 1972, activists preserved pieces of the Trading Room and the opening archway.

That reconstruction now lives at the Art Institute, displaying its double-height ceilings and ornamental, organic details, such as stained-glass skylights, wall stencils and a palette of gold, green and yellow. Vinci-Kenney Architects led the reconstruction. The original archway of the Chicago Stock Exchange is also located outside the Art Institute.

According to Preservation Chicago, the room is under threat of demolition to make way for a museum expansion, though exact redevelopment plans by the Art Institute are unclear. Another nearby portion of the museum, the McKinlock Court Building and Courtyard Garden, could also be demolished to make way. The McKinlock building was the museum’s first structure, opened in 1893, said the conservancy, and the garden was later added in 1924.

Art Institute President and Director James Rondeau confirmed to the Chicago Tribune in September 2024 that there was a chance McKinlock Court could face redevelopment.

Barcelona-based Barozzi Veiga is designing the master plans for expansion, which most recently includes a center for conservancy, slated to open in fall 2027.

An arguably unsung hero to Chicago’s iconic river bridges is its bridge tender houses. These small structures, built between 1910 and 1940, flank nearly every movable bridge in the city and house the operations.

Bridge tender houses range in designs, reflective of the time they were built. Most tender houses are limestone while others are brick, some even resemble a skinny house with siding and an asphalt-looking roof. Several have been demolished over the years.

Preservation Chicago believes many of the city’s bridges and bridge tender houses have fallen into disrepair. The Tender House Project, an effort to protect these structures, says a drop in commercial boat traffic leaves bridge houses unoccupied for 95% of the year. The organization says there are 70 bridge houses throughout the city.

Robert Prevost, now known as Pope Leo XIV and the first American pope, spent his childhood days of pietism at St. Mary of the Assumption Roman Catholic Church in Riverdale, Illinois, which has been vacant since 2011.

Pope Leo grew up in Dolton, Illinois, on the southern border of Chicago, attending St. Mary’s elementary school and serving as an altar boy and singing in the choir. The structures have deteriorated and in May 2025 after Pope Leo’s papacy began, Preservation Chicago filed a request for Chicago landmark designation.

Buildings on the church and school campus date back to 1917. Preservation Chicago believes reinvestment in the structure would preserve the pope’s formative years and support the Riverdale suburb.

The city’s ties to the labor movement and its status as one of the country’s largest union towns manifested itself into dozens of union halls across the city. Preservation Chicago says several have listed for sale in recent years, others need repairs and some are at risk for demolition.

Located between the Lakeview and Lincoln Park neighborhoods, the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America Building could face demolition. The proposed 24-story tower at 2800 N. Sheridan Road by Continuum Development and Chicago Development Partners could add apartment rentals and retail space to the area at the cost of the building demolition. The firms recently unveiled renderings of the Antunovich Associates design for the project.

Preservation Chicago recommends protecting the building through a Chicago landmark designation.

A declining parish has threatened the 1957-built Chicago Loop Synagogue, according to Preservation Chicago, and recent pipe bursts due to the severe cold this winter has further threatened the synagogue’s financial stability.

The synagogue was designed by Loebl, Schlossman & Bennett and features a famous Abraham Rattner-designed stained glass window. The entrance features a sculpture by Henri Azaz.

One of the organization recommendations is for the synagogue to sell its unused 17 stories of air rights to pay for building improvements, or use other nearby parcels and properties for generating income.

It’s been said that the architect of South Park Terrace Apartments, Harry Hale Waterman, knew Frank Lloyd Wright in the late 1880s, likely through working at the office of Silsbee and Kent. The Prairie-style South Park Terrace Apartments and its likeness to Wright’s now-demolished Francisco Terrace Apartments draws another line of connection between the two architects.

The building features two stories with a center courtyard and 52 apartment units, originally designed for middle-class Chicagoans. Like Wright’s version, Waterman designed a low-height, blonde-hued brick building with a large, more ornate archway at the center, also used for his Woodlawn Terrace project.

The building has since deteriorated and been foreclosed on, and residents were ordered to vacate in June. Preservation Chicago hopes the building could be granted Chicago landmark status for its architectural significance and impact as attainably priced housing.

The glass fronts and simplicity of design gave the Yukon Building a modernist vibe when it opened in 1898.

Preservation Chicago calls 111 W. Van Buren St. an example of a “taxpayer building,” originally known to be a small structure that would bring in enough money to cover taxes and offer the owner a small profit. Holabird and Roche, architects of the Marquette Building and part of the Monadnock Building, designed the Yukon.

It’s now mostly vacant and listed for sale, threatening its future. Preservation Chicago included the building in its endangered list back in 2016 for its position in what was formerly known as “Old Chinatown” before the community moved south.

The church parish in Humboldt Park was founded in the 1890s and closed in 2022. The campus includes a home built for a priest, a school building and a midcentury modern church.

The campus, without the school, is listed for sale. At a December neighborhood meeting, the public voiced a wish to retain the church’s use either for a new parish or community center, avoiding demolition.