(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — The CTA on Monday began moving a 1,000-ton historic building so that they can straighten out an elevated curved track in Wrigleyville.
It’s the Vautravers Building from the 1890s.
“In the early 1900s, when the CTA was first building the Red Line, the owner of the Vautravers Building refused to sell it. So, the CTA built the Red Line around the building,” CTA spokesperson Stephanie Cavazos said.
Now, the rail agency is sliding the building 30 feet west and 5 to 10 feet south so that the curve can be straightened and trains can move faster.
Ward Miller of Preservation Chicago says this is a building worth saving.
“We almost lost this several times, and I’m glad to say it’s among those that are going to be saved — and in the win column now.”
Miller says the Vautravers Building was by Frommann and Jebsen — the architects who designed many of the Schlitz-tied houses, or sponsored taverns, in Chicago.
The moving of the Vautravers Building was expected to be completed within a couple of days.
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