A historic corner of Chicago’s Washington Park neighborhood — once home to popular 1940s jazz music venue Rhumboogie Café — is now thriving again thanks to this marvelous 2018 adaptive reuse project designed by Morris Architects & Planners.
Like many properties adjacent to Chicago L stations, this one originally featured a small, one-story retail building dating back to the early 20th century. Four storefronts offered decades of commuters passing through the landmarked Garfield Green Line station convenient necessities and ways to pass the time. By 2015, the last of the businesses had closed, leaving the entire building as vacant as its neighboring lots.
But where others saw decay, artist Theaster Gates and his organization Arts + Public Life saw possibility. Through a partnership with the University of Chicago, the property was retrofitted into a state-of-the-art theatre venue known today as the Green Line Performing Arts Center. We were honored to supply Gates’ signature 100% recycled black Greenleaf Brick to the project, which was artfully laid in an eye-catching design to unify the structure’s street-facing exterior. Protruding headers at the top complement a perforated brick screen below; careful planning allowed for this unique pattern to be created using solid 12-inch “Norman”-sized units.
Aesthetic improvement wasn’t all this exciting development brought to its neighborhood, either. It’s open for rehearsals & performances by small ensembles and South Side artists, it offers a gathering space to the community, and paid training opportunities are available to help locals learn skills in venue operations and theatre tech.
See another project we did with this unique material here.
AWARDS:
— 2020 AIA Chicago Small Project Award
LOCATION: 329 E Garfield Blvd, Chicago, IL 60637
ARCHITECT: Morris Architects & Planners
GC: Powers & Sons Construction
MASON: Larmco Masonry Company
PRODUCT SUPPLIED: Theaster Gates‘ brick (made by Greenleaf Brick)
