Consul of the Republic of Poland Robert Rusiecki invited Chicago architecture enthusiasts to a concert by Chicago jazz singer Grazyna Auguscik and Poland’s own Jarosław Bester, a renowned accordionist to mark this occasion. There were many other community leaders, activists attending event as well.
The program featured presentations of old and new photographs of the Consulate’s building and recollections by aficionados of Benjamin Marshall’s architecture.
Designed by the master of the Chicago school of architecture Benjamin Marshall, author of such Chicago landmarks as the Drake Hotel or the Blackstone Hotel, the Polish Consulate’s building is set on the north-eastern edge of the Gold Coast neighborhood overlooking Lake Michigan. Erected in 1916 as a private residence for Bernard Albert Eckhardt, an Illinois Senator, this English town house with elements of the Italian renaissance was purchased by the Polish government in 1974. After a 2-year renovation completed in 2008, the building was given the prestigious Chicago Landmark Award for Preservation Excellence.
A.M.