January 29, 1872 – The Chicago Common Council
takes up Section 7 of the proposed Fire Ordinance, which reads: “No wood building or part of building within
said city limits shall be raised, enlarged, or repaired, except as herein
provided: nor shall any such building, or part of building, be removed from one
lot or place to another within the said limits of said city; nor shall any such
building be removed from without the city limits to any place within said city;
nor shall any wooden building within the limits of said city, which may be
damaged less than 50 per cent of its value, be so repaired as to be raised
higher than the highest point left standing after such damage shall have
occurred, nor so as to occupy a greater space than before the injury thereto.” This is a strict covenant that attempts to
make sure that the disastrous fire of three months earlier does not occur
again. But the council members go
straight to work on amending the strictness out of the bill. One amendment substitutes “fire limits” for
“city limits.” Another amendment
proposes that the Board of Public Works may grant permits to move any building
from one place to another as long as the move occurs outside the fire
limits. An alderman moves to amend the article
with the phrase “provided it shall not be moved on to an improved street.” An Alderman Gardner “thought the Council
might just as well pass no ordinance at all as to pass that amendment. It defeated the protection of the city, and
was its death-knell.” [Chicago Daily Tribune, January 30, 1872]
Another amendment is offered, proposing that “Any person wishing to remove a
wooden building, for the purpose of building brick or stone on the same lot,
will be allowed to move further away from the centre of the city; also, any person
owning a house on a leased lot shall have the same privilege.” Ultimately, the amendment that carries the
night is offered by Alderman Gill. It
considerably weakens the original wording of Section 7, following the words
“from one lot or other in the said limits of said city,” in the original with
this addition, “except it be removed in a certain direction, to-wit, from the
centre of the city toward the city limits.”
That amendment is approved, and the meeting immediately adjourns. As the city begins to rebuild, the struggle
to save the ruined city from itself moves forward. The above diagram shows that the final ordinance did do much to diminish the prominence of wooden buildings, but it also clearly shows that huge sections of the city are left out of the mandate.
Also on this date from an earlier blog entry . . .
January 29, 1911 -- A new tunnel is opened that carries Washington Boulevard under the Chicago River, the second tunnel at this location. The first one was opened in 1869, but an act of congress in 1904 declared it an "unreasonable obstruction to free navigation," and the Secretary of War ordered its removal. Because the roof of the old tunnel was less than 17 feet below the surface of the river, vessels were constantly grounding themselves on it, obstructing river traffic in a narrow channel that was filled with ships heading to the lumber yards and grain silos to the south. When the river was reversed in 1900, the river had even less depth which prompted the action of congress four years later. The new tunnel lay 27 feet below the surface and extended for 1,520 feet. The tunnel was still used by streetcars in the early 1950's, but the portals were filled in during the 1960's and a tunnel at Washington Street ceased to exist after close to a hundred years of service.
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