Plans have been revealed for a new health clinic at 467 E 31st Street in Bronzeville. Located just east of the intersection with S Martin Luther King Drive, it will be dubbed the Bronzeville Health Center and occupy the existing office building within Lake Meadows. The project is being developed by Cook County Health and serve as an expansion of Provident Hospital.
Site context map of Bronzeville Health Center via Google Maps
467 E 31st Street. Photo by Jack Crawford
Rising two-stories in height with a roughly of 26,000 square-feet of space, the structure dates back to 1959 and originally served as offices for Illinois Bell. Designed by SOM in the International Style, the jewel-box building recently completed a full exterior renovation which included a new white exterior, windows, and landscaping.
Rendering of Bronzeville Health Center via Cook County Health
467 E 31st Street. Photo by Jack Crawford
While it was first announced that Howard Brown would open a new clinic in the space, plans were scrapped and it now will be home to a new family medicine and behavioral health clinic. It will join 13 other Cook County clinics and “address the persistent systemic barriers to health we are all aware of” according to Toni Preckwinkle.
Rendering of Bronzeville Health Center via Cook County Health
467 E 31st Street. Photo by Jack Crawford
Inside will be 44 exam rooms, a gym/physical rehabilitation center, and more, set to serve 85,000 patients per year. Its opening will also allow for additional services to be offered at Provident Hospital, the first Black-owned hospital in the nation, within the current spaces used for both services.
With a total cost of around $10 million, construction on the interior spaces is set to start soon and be completed by early 2025.
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This is great! Not only does it satisfy a major need, but it also is a great use for this Meisian buidling. I’m so gld an appropriate use was found for it. Good work!
Chicago will “reuse” non descript ugly buildings like this but will tear down beauties like the one in old town. make it make sense
Taste is subjective, but this is a terrible take.
An underutilized structure in a neighborhood that needs more resources, not less…
Honestly, it’s sometimes better not to speak. Keeping one’s mouth shut is a respectable achievement of self control. I’d recommend practicing it.
I get your point, except for “reuse” in quotes… what does that even mean?? I wish we had better preservation but there’s a lot of reasons for this being a win:
-This satisfies an important demand for the neighborhood (one that Old Town doesn’t have)
-Post war buildings like this, especially minimalist modernism with no ornamentation, are easier and more cost efficient to renovate than 19th-early 20th century buildings with more complex designs
-Any building with potential to be reused positively is important to preserve for the environment and history.
-Reusing can be a lot cheaper and faster than the long and expensive processes of demo and construction, as well as a design for a whole new building and everything that entails. How many lots in Chicago have approved plans that won’t even break ground until years from now, or approved plans that get delayed and delayed and/or end up in a limbo where the developers are waiting around to start construction. Chicago has demolished far too many buildings and it’s a disease we need to stop.
-This building may not be anything special in my opinion, but some could argue it has historical merit.
-The most important point again: anything worth being reused (like this) should be for the sake of the environment, history, and just not being wasteful.
We all prefer different building styles; but that doesn’t mean you should trash tallk one style over the other. Just state your preference. This is an excellent example of the international style. I’m not sure a victorian style would work here. I do agree that it’s a travesty that Department of Planning allows tearing down beautiful older buildings.
I wish they didn’t paint it white. It seems to detract from the international style of the building. The structure stands out more, rather than fading into the background.
Glad to see this building being put to use, and to add, I was completely stumped that the city and alderman allowed pre-fire historic buildings to be demolished on Wells St.