Probably anyone interested in Chicago architecture that has met the cold, hard, wrecking ball has heard of the book “Lost Chicago” by David Lowe. Inside its covers are a great number of noble edifices that once were, and are no more.
Over the years, Brookfield has also had its share of vanished buildings, and the earliest of these I have already written about with accompanying photographs. The old Grossdale Pavilion, on the corner of Prairie and Brookfield Avenues was a most unique building, and it burnt down in 1897.
However, no one is alive today who can remember seeing it. Recently, I wrote of the old Brookfield village hall, and there are still plenty of people around who remember the way that looked.
I have avoided mentioning the more obvious and recently lost buildings, such as Alonzi’s, the old gas station at the corner of Forest and Brookfield avenues and Buresh’s Lobster House. In the Landmark of May 30, 2001, I wrote of “Brookfield’s Vanishing Past,” but that was about changes occurring right around that time.
What now follows are buildings, places and things which no longer exist, but are still within the scope of many residents’ memories.
Henkel’s Eat Shop
Let’s begin with Henkel’s Eat Shop, at 9220 Broadway Ave., that thrived as a cozy little eatery back in the 1950s. Initially, it did a great after-school business, being located right across the street from the S.E. Gross School. But the square, wooden frame building was torn down by the late 1960s.
By the middle 1970s, all that was left to show that some kind of structure had once been there was a cement slab still embedded in the ground, and a cement walk that stopped at the no longer existing doorway, in the midst of green grass and yellow dandelions.
Congress Park
and Hollywood Depots
I have written before of the Congress Park Station, at the corner of Burlington and DuBois boulevards, in my Nov. 2, 2005 article, “West Grossdale Story.” It still qualifies as a “lost” building, as it has not been seen since it was razed on March 17, 1979.
Built in 1895 by S.E. Gross, it suffered a fire on March 31, 1950, but continued to be used by passengers, and then, in its final days, solely by railroad employees. It had once been a proud and beautiful station house, but the ravages of time had taken its terrible toll.
At the same time that the remains of the station were being carted away, the wooden, trackside canopies were being removed to make way for newer shelters. As was the case with the station, the canopies hadn’t been painted in years, and the rain gutters sagged with age and neglect.
When the subdivision of Hollywood was opened by Gross in 1893, he built a magnificent station house a little above the level of the flat prairie land. Originally, the building had long canopies on both sides, but those were removed.
Like the Congress Park Station, the Hollywood Station, too, in its later years, suffered from fire, although here the damage was due to repeated acts of arson and vandalism. The passengers’ waiting room was closed off, and the building was demolished on Feb. 27, 1978. It has been missed by Hollywood residents ever since.
From the 1920s to 1981, at the southwest corner of Maple and Southview avenues, Brookfield had a much smaller water tower, a gray steel canister on four stilts. It was replaced that year by the present white one, featuring two dolphins and the village name. The old tower was taken apart, piece by piece, until nothing was left of it.
Old St. Barb’s School
St. Barbara’s Old School Hall, roughly on the southeast corner or Prairie and Windemere avenues, was an all brick building erected in the late 1920s. This project was begun by Reverend John J. O’Brien and had two upper floor classrooms and a large assembly room on the ground floor.
The classrooms existed as such for about 50 years. In its final years, it housed both classes of the eighth grade, and after that, the band room. In later years, when the old, adjacent church was still in use, the assembly hall was used as a second site to hold masses. In late 1982, St. Barbara’s Parish Center was completed, and, to make way for badly needed parking, the Old School Hall was demolished on a cold winter day in mid-January 1983.
Brookfield Library
Many residents still remember the old Brookfield Public Library building, that was leveled on June 20, 1985 to make way for the current building. The old library, an Andrew Carnegie donation, was built from 1913-14, and formally opened at 3 p.m., on June 27, 1914. The Frank M. Pray Addition to the library, in 1958, provided much needed space, until the library’s last day of operation.
Some patrons of the current library still recall, as children, making the trek up and down the many stairs to the Children’s Library section in the basement. Still others remember the wooden step they had to climb up to get a nice cold drink of water at the water fountain just inside the entrance door.
Speaking of the library, the interior of the current building looks quite different than it did from 1986-1999. The newer, current entrance was then an “adults only” reading area, and any eligible patron could sit at the round table and look down most of the length of the library to the circulation desk.
Hollywood Motors
On Oct. 13, 1988, Hollywood Motors, at 3637 Woodside Ave., suffered a fire that decimated the building and the cars within. According to reports from that time, at about 9 a.m., a mechanic had a car up on the rack and was removing a gas tank, when some gas, left inside, accidentally spilled down onto a shop light with an open plug.
The burning gas fell down into the grease pit and flames spread instantly. Fire extinguishers were brought into use at once, but it was no use. Even with the fire department fighting the flames, the white-walled building was soon reduced to a hollow shell.
The distinctively curved building was erected in the late 1940s, and served for a time as an auto showroom before becoming a service station, the second of this type on this site. Owner Jeff Wahl immediately vowed to rebuild, and did so, not copying the exact look, but retaining the curved style of the structure.
Brookfield time capsule
Today there is no marker to tell you where Brookfield’s Centennial Time Capsule is buried, but it is at the same spot”underground, to the left of the main entrance of the village hall. This is where the old capsule was, which was dug up in September 1993.
Prior to this, the burial site had been well-marked by a rectangular monument stone set in the middle of a larger rectangle of cement. On each side of the granite stone was set a separate plaque, telling the names of 1968 Brookfield Diamond Jubilee officials.
Once dug up in 1993, the plaques were saved, and are currently in the Village Hall vault. The monument stone was not saved, but on top it had been inscribed: “1893-1968 … BROOKFIELD, ILLINOIS … 75th ANNIVERSARY … TO BE OPENED AUGUST 1993.”
And then came the ad plug carved on the side, “By Bertolli & Sons Monuments””25 years worth of free advertising.
Brookfield’s electronic sign
Possibly the only true fan of the electronic message sign across the street from Alonzi’s Villa, at 8828 Brookfield Ave. was the Chicago Tribune, which sponsored it. It greeted commuters with the time, temperature, wishes for the next of the “Happy Holidays,” and whatever event the village was wanting to promote.
Installed in December 1995, it was set in such a spot that its white-painted side could be seen from as far away as the corner of Fairview and Morton avenues.
The sign only lasted for a handful of years, and then was removed for all time. The paving-bricked site has since been used as a peaceful rest area, with benches and flowers. At Christmas time, a small tree was set up here. People have said the place has never looked better, since the sign was taken down.
Kiwanis Park’s “facilities”
Built in the 1930s in Kiwanis Park, this next building played an important part to the comfort of many people, and it was a welcome sight. I am speaking, of course, of the restroom building, containing facilities for the relief of all park visitors.
This brick edifice was constructed in the middle 1930s, and was in use until just a few years ago, when it was torn down with no especial ceremony and replaced by a more current and modern building, but still retaining its historically basic function.
However, the new building also has within it a small storage area. No doubt, in the years to come, this structure will be enshrined in the memories of future generations of parkgoers.
The secret shortcut
This last bit of lost Brookfield isn’t a building, although a building, or at least, a new addition to one now occupies its area. Confused? Don’t be. What has been lost is nothing more than a trail, a pathway in the dirt, used as a shortcut between Broadway and Monroe avenues.
Going back to the earliest days of this village, residents have cut across vacant lots to get somewhere by the shortest distance possible. If enough people used these trails, they became stamped down to the dirt ground, and were used until something was built that blocked them.
Such a trail existed on the small lot located between Tischler’s Finer Foods at 9118 Broadway Ave., and what is now the Broadway Bakery at 9110 Broadway Ave.
This path must have been fairly well used. It existed in the 1960s, and was still there as of a few years ago, when Tischler’s expanded right up next to the bakery. But now it has been built upon, and so, it is lost forever.
What next will be banished to the immaterial world of mere memory? Look around you. Change is always imminent.