(WBBM NEWSRADIO) – David Bahlman -- a man credited with helping save the old Cook County Hospital building from the wrecking ball – is being remembered for his impact on historic preservation.
“He raised the level of preservation awareness in Chicago,” says architect Joe Antunovich, board member of Landmarks Illinois and president of Antunovich Associates.
Bahlman headed Landmarks Illinois for nine years when it was known as the Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois.
Besides leading the charge to save the old Cook County Hospital building – now a hotel -- Bahlman is remembered for rescuing the renowned Edith Farnsworth House. It is a one-story glass house designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe along the Fox River, 60 miles west of Chicago.
“There were rumors that they would dismantle it and erect the house elsewhere,” Antunovich said.
Bahlman helped find enough money to win the auction sale of the house for $7.5 million in 2003. The house receives about 10,000 visitors every year.
Antunovich was among those who worked with Bahlman to fight to save the old Cook County Hospital building.
“Ultimately, what has been done at Cook County Hospital is a testament to how old buildings should be preserved and brought back for reuse,” he said.
David Bahlman died of leukemia two months ago in North Carolina. He was 78.
“He was a visionary, he was a man who no idea was too big for him,” Antunovich said.
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