This browser does not support the Video element.
Here are Chicago’s 7 ‘most endangered’ buildings of 2025
Preservation Chicago released its list of the city’s seven most endangered buildings. The advocacy group said the historic buildings are under imminent threat and hopes to mobilize support to save them.
CHICAGO - Preservation Chicago released its list of the city’s seven most endangered buildings.
The advocacy group said the historic buildings are under imminent threat and hopes to mobilize support to save them.
Preservation Chicago described them as "architecturally and culturally significant structures and spaces that give our city its character.
Endangered buildings
What we know:
Here are the seven structures that Preservation Chicago says are the most endangered:
The Delaware Building, a 2025 Chicago 7 Most Endangered. 1872-1874, Wheelock & Thomas, with 1889 addition by Julius Huber, 36 W. Randolph Street Photo Credit: Eric Allix Rogers
The Delaware Building
Location: 36 West Randolph Street
Built in the 1870s after the Great Chicago Fire, the Delaware Building is one of the few remaining buildings from the Loop’s early reconstruction era. It was listed on the National Register in 1974 and designated a Chicago Landmark in 1983.
Clarence Darrow Memorial Bridge / Columbia Bridge, a 2025 Chicago 7 Most Endangered. Clarence Darrow Memorial Bridge/Columbia Bridge, 1880, Burnham and Root, in Jackson Park at 1766 Columbia Drive. Photo Credit: Eric Allix Rogers
Clarence Darrow Memorial Bridge/Columbia Bridge
Location: Burham and Roote in Jackson Park at 1766 Columbia Drive
Originally known as the Columbia Drive Bridge, it has provided passage over Jackson Park's lagoon for nearly 150 years. It's one of the few surviving architectural elements of the original Jackson Park and is a rare remaining feature of the World's Columbian Exposition.
J.J. Walser House, a 2025 Chicago 7 Most Endangered. Joseph Jacob (J.J.) Walser House, 1903, Frank Lloyd Wright, 42 N. Central Avenue. Photo Credit: Serhii Chrucky / Esto
Joseph Jacob (J.J.) Walser House
Location: 42 North Central Avenue
It's the only single-family house designed by renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright on the city's West Side. It was listed as a city landmark in 1981 and listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.
Olivet Baptist Church, a 2025 Chicago 7 Most Endangered. Olivet Baptist Church, 1876, Wilcox and Miller, 3101 S. King Drive. Photo Credit: Eric Allix Roger
Olivet Baptist Church
Location: 2101 South King Drive
It's the oldest surviving African American baptist church building and second-oldest African American church congregation in the city. During the 1919 Chicago Race Riot, the church fought to maintain peace and later serve as a community center during the 1920s as the Great Migration brought an influx of American Americans from the South.
Central Manufacturing District Clock Towe, a 2025 Chicago 7 Most Endangered. Central Manufacturing District Clock Tower, 1917, Samuel Scott Joy, 2000 W. Pershing Road. Photo Credit: Serhii Chrucky / Esto
Central Manufacturing District Clock Tower
Location: 2000 West Pershing Road
The tall, slender 11-story red-brick masonry and terracotta clad structure is the tallest in the Central Manufacturing District development. It functioned as a water tower for the first planned industrial district in the nation.
Western Boulevard Industrial Buildings, a 2025 Chicago 7 Most Endangered. Central Western Boulevard Industrial Buildings, 4200 to 4500 S. Western Boulevard. Wheatland Tube / Cold Parts, 4401 S. Western Blvd. Photo Credit: Serhii Chrucky / Esto
Western Boulevard Industrial Buildings
Location: 4200 to 4500 South Western Boulevard
The eight historic industrial buildings in the Back of the Yards neighborhood exemplify several architectural styles of the period. The buildings form the western boundary of the neighborhood, a historically industrial and working class area associated with the former Union Stock Yards.
St. Martin’s Church, a 2025 Chicago 7 Most Endangered. St. Martin’s Church, 1895, Henry J. Schlacks, 5848 S. Princeton Avenue. Photo Credit: Eric Allix Rogers
St. Martin’s Church
Location: 5848 South Princeton Avenue
Built in 1895 for Chicago's growing German Roman Catholic community in the Englewood community, it's a historical artifact for the Gothic Revival movement in the U.S. St. Martin's shuttered in 2017 and the building has suffered considerable deterioration due to vacancy and neglect.
For more information on the buildings and their history, visit preservationchicago.org/chicago-7.