Residential addition to historic Lincoln Park church is underway

A project that’s part historic preservation and part new construction is taking shape in Lincoln Park, adding a six-story residential tower to a Beaux Arts-style church.

Chicago-based Ogden Partners is redeveloping the Second Church of Christ, Scientist, where the parish will maintain a presence after a six-story residential tower is added. Three exterior walls of the 123-year-old church — once considered one of the most endangered buildings in Chicago by preservationists — are being reused under the project.

As of the last week of August, steel framework could be seen inside of the three remaining facades of the church, which is surrounded by fencing as construction continues.

Plans to redevelop the property at 2700 N. Pine Grove Ave. have been years in the making. It was rezoned to allow for multifamily units in 2018. In August 2020, in a virtual community meeting, the church showed renderings of what the redevelopment could look like, and permits were issued in June 2023.

And there have been changes in response to community feedback — Ogden lowered the unit count from 26 to 22 and reduced the tower’s height from seven stories to six, according to plans presented to Chicago Plan Commission. The project calls for 31 parking spaces.

Representatives of the church and Ogden Partners did not respond to calls or emails for information about a completion date or other comment this week.

The project will help save the church after the congregation dwindled, making it more difficult to support the building. The Second Church of Christ, Scientist, will maintain about 5,000 square feet of space. The church is currently holding its Sunday services and Wednesday meetings over Zoom as construction takes place, according to its website.

The church was built in 1901 and designed by Solon S. Beman — architect of the Pullman neighborhood and the Fine Arts Building on Michigan Avenue. Preservation Chicago included the Lincoln Park structure on its 2019 list of the "most endangered" buildings in the city, noting that the building was for sale , which could lead to its eventual demolition.

Then-Ald. Michele Smith (43rd) told the Sun-Times in 2022 the homes in the residential tower would be for sale, not rent. The ward's current alderperson, Timmy Knudsen, did not respond Friday to requests for comment.

The addition is designed “not to compete with the existing façade, but to subtly complement it,” the development team said in its report to the city.

“This saves the exterior and the whole front part of the building so that the congregation can still worship," Smith said in 2022. "It’s a compromise and it’s a good one."