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Thank you for attending the first Chicago Preservation Expo
Held as part of Preservation Month and featuring a keynote by Chicago historian Geoffrey Baer, the DPD-hosted event featured 30 organizations that educated the public on historic resources and preservation strategies.
Questions? Email DPD@CityofChicago.org.
Watch Keynote Presentation
About Geoffrey Baer
Geoffrey Baer is an eight-time Emmy-winning public television writer, producer and program host. He has been a fixture on Chicago’s PBS station WTTW for 30 years, best known as the host and writer of WTTW’s popular specials about the architecture and history of Chicago and its suburban areas. His work includes more than 25 feature-length “television tours” including “Chicago by ‘L’,” “The Chicago River Tour” and “Chicago on Vacation.” Geoffrey hosted the WTTW series “The Great Chicago Quiz Show” and appeared for years on WTTW’s flagship nightly public affairs program, “Chicago Tonight,” answering viewers’ questions about Chicago architecture and history in a segment called “Ask Geoffrey.” Nationally, he hosted the PBS primetime series “10 that Changed America” about the built environment across the country. He also hosted and co-wrote the PBS primetime special “Weekend in Havana.”
Geoffrey has been a docent for the Chicago Architecture Center since 1987. In addition to his Emmy Awards, he has been honored by the American Institute of Architects Chicago, the Society of Architectural Historians, the American Society of Landscape Architects, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Chicago Headline Club.
Every May, preservation organizations and government agencies celebrate Preservation Month to promote the benefits of historic places. In 1973, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the U.S. Congress designated May 6-12 as National Preservation Week. In 2005, Preservation Week was extended to the entire month of May.
Learn more about DPD’s Historic Preservation Division.
A Brief History of Preservation in Chicago
Like all social and cultural movements, historic preservation in Chicago has a unique evolution, one that preceded by decades the national preservation movement that coalesced in the mid-20th century.
One of the city’s earliest preservation questions involved the demolition of the Green Tree Tavern in 1905. Built in 1833 near Canal and Lake streets and later moved to Milwaukee Avenue around 1880, the wood-frame tavern was one of the city’s earliest buildings. By 1905, it was in poor condition and some Chicagoans spoke in favor of preserving its legacy as one of the city’s founding structures. At the time, no legislation existed to protect the building and it ultimately collapsed.