Neighborhood Anchor — BVL Sales & Service

This article appeared last month in the Logan Square Chamber of Commerce Lamppost newsletter.  It’s a great fit for this blog; haven’t  you wondered about BVL?  The article is reprinted here with permission from the Logan Square Chamber of Commerce and the author, Mandy Guzman.

Guest post:  Mandy Guzman

Mandy Guzman received her bachelor’s degree from Bradley University and is now furthuring her education at the University of Chicago.  She has been teaching in a variety of capacities for the last nine years in both Spain and the Chicagoland area.  Mandy has been a Logan Square resident for the last two years.  She loves being involved in her community and spends Saturday mornings helping out at Nuestra Señora de las Américas in Logan Square.  If you’d like to contact Mandy, send her an email at brillmandy at hotmail dot-com.  

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BVL Sales & Service on Milwaukee Ave.

Nineteen sixty-one was a year of many great events.  John F. Kennedy became president.  Ham the chimp rode a rocket into space.  The Peace Corps was established, West Side Story was released as a film and the future Princess Diana was born.

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History of the Morris B. Sachs building (Part II)

(Also see History of the Morris B. Sachs building [Part I].) tagGallagher   

Guest post: Katy Gallagher

Katy Gallagher has an M.S. in Historic Preservation from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has worked as a photo researcher for historic documentary programs at the History Channel and WTTW Channel 11 Chicago. She has also worked as an archaeological conservator for the National Park Service, and as a curatorial intern for the Glessner House Museum. Katy has been a Logan Square resident for the past three years and enjoys researching structures both grand and modest in the neighborhood.    

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The architecture

At 2800-2808 N. Milwaukee Avenue, Leichenko & Esser created for building developer Sol H. Goldberg a six-story Art Deco style building encompassing a triangular lot.  Art Deco architecture is characterized by angular, linear composition, typically with a vertical emphasis, and often containing hard-edge, low relief ornamentation around door and window openings. The Morris B. Sachs flatiron building is a tremendous example of the Art Deco style (photo right*).   

The top four stories fronting Milwaukee and Diversey Avenues each contain seven sets of window units  — six sets of three-window units and one set of two-window units at the back — separated by vertical slabs of grey stone, the dominant building material. The slabs create a strong vertical visual effect. Atop each window are spandrels