Summary: The Commission on Chicago Landmarks announced 21 outstanding projects September 6, including properties designated as Chicago Landmarks and properties within Chicago Landmark Districts.

Among the noteworthy improvements were the exterior renovation of the Krause Music Store by McGuire Igleski & Assocs., exterior and interior renovation of the Chicago Board of Trade by the CME Group, stewardship of the Lincoln Park Zoo Lion House with exhibit design architecture by Interactive Design Inc., and exterior rehabilitation of the Biograph Theater by Daniel P. Coffey & Assocs.

The Krause Music Store
Louis Sullivan and William Presto collaborated on designing the elaborate terra-cotta façade of the Krause Music Store. It was Sullivan's last project. His intricate ornamentation is self-evident in this work. The current owner purchased the building and restored the terra cotta facade, the storefronts, and the upper-floor leaded windows.

The Chicago Board of Trade
The monumental Art Deco building at the end of the LaSalle Street high-rise canyon is home to the city's commodities market. Designed by Holabird & Root, the 1929 building has dramatic setbacks and a pyramidal roof topped by a statue of Ceres, the Greek goddess of grain and harvest. The building owners used the Cook County Class L Property Tax Incentive program to undertake a $22.6 million renovation, including restoring the first-floor lobby spaces, upgrades to interior common areas and building systems, and an extensive exterior repair and restoration of the Bedford limestone and low-relief geometric ornament. The dramatic Art Deco lobby interior, clad in various marbles accentuated with polished nickel, is one of the finest building lobbies in the city, and was carefully restored to its original luster.

The Lincoln Park Zoo Lion House
Built in 1912, the Lion House is an exceptional example of a Prairie-influenced park building. The Lincoln Park Zoo, the Lion House setting, is one of the country's oldest and most revered municipal zoological parks. Designed by Perkins, Fellows & Hamilton, the Lion House displays fine craftsmanship and geometric masonry ornament, including its visually distinctive brick lion mosaics. The Lincoln Park Zoo is exemplary for its continued maintenance and rehabilitation of the building, most recently having undertaken the rehabilitation, expansion, and naturalization of the exterior animal habitats.

The Biograph Theater
The Biograph Theater, designed in 1914 by Samuel N. Crowen, is one of Chicago's oldest neighborhood movie houses. The theater gained national notoriety as the setting of John Dillinger’s fatal shooting orchestrated by FBI agent Melvin Purvis in 1934. The building had been altered over the years, with the original storefronts removed, the upper-floor arched windows painted over, and the original marquee altered. Victory Gardens Theater bought the building in the summer of 2004 and undertook a $11.3 million rehabilitation project of the exterior and interior of the building. The exterior work included restoring the historic white terra cotta and red brick façade, replacing the arched windows, replacing the storefronts, and rehabilitating its signature marquee.

This year's award-winning projects also include:

• The stewardship associated with the stately Queen-Anne style Abbott House (1891), residence of Dr. Wallace C. Abbott, one of the originators of modern pharmacy and the founder of the global health care company, Abbott
• The rehabilitation of the Prairie Avenue mansion of Marshall Field Jr. (1882), vacant for 40 years, now renovated as six private residences
• The restoration of numerous historic structures and homes in landmark districts across the city, including Armitage-Halsted, Longwood Drive, Mid- North, Motor Row, and Wicker Park.

"The Landmark Preservation Award recognizes property owners, developers, businesses, and organizations for their stewardship in preserving Chicago's architectural and cultural heritage," said Chicago Department of Planning and Development Commissioner Arnold Randall.

Chicago has 238 individual landmark buildings, monuments, and sites and 46 designated landmark districts, which total more than 8,000 structures of historical significance. The Commission on Chicago Landmarks, whose nine members are appointed by the mayor and city council, works with homeowners, businesses, organizations, and developers to preserve and maintain historic properties.

Preservation Award winners were selected by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks, based on the previous year's projects that received approval from the Commission's Permit Review Committee. Only properties that have been designated by the city council as individual Chicago landmarks or as part of a Chicago Landmark District were eligible. The awards are presented to owners in recognition of their critical role in preserving the city's historic landmarks and keeping them in active use.