ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, June 23, 1996 TAG: 9606210003
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHICAGO
SOURCE: STEPHANIA H. DAVIS KNIGHT-RIDDER/TRIBUNE
Nat King Cole grew up there. Jack Johnson ate there. Lena Horne slept there.
The place is Bronzeville, and it was a stopover and home to many famous and not-so-famous African-Americans. In the 1920s, it was the heart of Chicago's black metropolis, the end of the line for hundreds of blacks who made their way from the South in search of more opportunity, the area where black-owned and black-operated businesses were the norm, not the exception.
But in the 1990s, Bronzeville is a depressed urban neighborhood, its heyday a historical footnote.
Still, it's home to Byron Williams, a businessman who bought a house just outside the heart of Bronzeville five years ago and restored it.
He is one of many residents, politicians and community leaders working on several fronts to salvage the history of Bronzeville, get it recognized by the city and restore it as an economically sound neighborhood.
How, and by whom, that should be accomplished is the crux of the controversy that has raged around Bronzeville in recent weeks.
Williams envisions a Bronzeville where successful African-Americans, like he and his wife, live among those not doing as well to serve as role models and mentors for youths.
``That's what Bronzeville used to be like,'' he said. ``There were millionaires, doctors, entertainers and athletes living with housemaids and railroad porters. Everyone lived together because there wasn't anyplace else in the city where they were welcomed.
``And the community thrived.''
Bronzeville advocates say the city should lead the restoration effort by designating eight structures as landmarks. Four of the structures, plus one monument, have been on the National Register of Historic Places for 10 years, but have not received a city designation.
The designation would protect the buildings from being demolished or substantially rehabilitated. The national designation does not do the same.
In 1984, the city's Commission on Chicago Landmarks did consider creating a Black Metropolis Historic District. But the commission rejected the idea.
Charles Thurow, deputy commissioner of the Department of Planning and Development, landmarks division, said the commission concluded at the time there were no plans to use the buildings.
The Bronzeville area runs from 31st to 38th streets and from King Drive to Wabash Avenue. Nine structures are generally recognized as historically significant.
There's the Chicago Bee Building at 3647-3655 S. State St., home to one of Bronzeville's several black newspapers. When it was completed in 1931, the building was an example of the Art Deco style of the period. The entire facade was done in terra cotta of black, gold and green. It was a Bee editor who coined the term ``Bronzeville.''
Last month, the Bee building opened as a library. The facade has been repainted, but the inside was replaced with a modern, streamlined interior.
But the Bee is the only historic structure in the area whose future is relatively secure.
The Wabash Avenue YMCA, at 3763 S. Wabash Ave., is the birthplace of Black History Month. A coalition of churches plans to restore it as a single-room occupancy and recreational facility. Recently, the group had to challenge a demolition order.
The Overton Hygienic building, 3619-3627 S. State St., was billed as a ``monument to Negro thrift and industry'' when it was completed in 1923. It was the home of a cosmetics company and eventually housed the Douglass National Bank, the first black bank to be granted a national charter.
Formerly the headquarters of the all-black ``Fighting 8th'' regiment, the armory at 3533 S. Giles Ave., has been threatened with demolition by the company that bought it earlier this year.
The company hopes a buyer will take it over. The city says it would probably not allow the armory to be demolished.
At 35th Street and King Drive stands the Victory Monument, a sculpture celebrating the valor of the 8th regiment.
Those five structures are nationally recognized.
Additionally, the earliest home of the Chicago Defender, 3435 S. Indiana Ave., is recognized for its historic value as one of the oldest structures in the area.
The Defender building is not on the national register. Neither are Unity Hall, headquarters of the city's first black politicians, and the Sunset Cafe, 315 E. 35th St., where Louis Armstrong played.
Lastly, there's the Supreme Life Insurance building, 3501 S. King Drive, once home to the largest black-owned business in the Midwest. It was built in 1921. In 1950, the classical stone facade was replaced with porcelain-coated metal panels, so little of the original building has survived.
Preservationists want to save Supreme Life, but need at least $150,000 or it could be auctioned off this month.
Despite the call to designate a historic district, the Chicago Landmarks Commission is not considering it right now, Thurow said.
But Mayor Richard Daley is forming a committee to come up with an ``appropriate'' plan for the Bronzeville landmarks.
The move angers Harold L. Lucas, executive director of the Black Metropolis & Tourism Council. Lucas said there is no need for a panel when three years ago the city spent $300,000 on a 30-year strategic plan for the area that supported historic preservation.
``When you say you're going to form a panel, you say that the work of the community and their consensus document is not valid,'' he said. ``He is just discrediting what the community has done.''
The earlier development plan will be considered by the new panel, said Jim Williams, a mayoral spokesperson.
``Their work will not be in vain,'' Williams said.
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