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This month, the Chicago Architecture Center is proud to host Open House Chicago – a free public festival that features self-guided history and architecture trails across Chicago, lectures and programs, and behind-the-scenes access to architecturally, historically, and culturally significant sites through the city.
This year’s festival, with more than 100 locations across the city, including three in Austin, builds on the success of the 2020 mobile app to bring advanced content straight to your phone.
The sights are open on the weekend of October 16 and 17 at the times indicated and admission is free unless otherwise stated.
The three Austin locations are:
Austin Community Family Center, 501 N. Central Ave. (10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on October 16 and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on October 17). This non-profit community center shares the building with an SRO and a homeless shelter. The upper floors are really mixed-use and offer affordable housing as another important community resource. The building was a former YMCA that was built in 1923 and cleared in 2012. The center works with community partners to provide social services, recreational and cultural programs for local adults and youth to preserve part of the YMCA’s earlier tradition. These include a communal computer room, two basketball gyms, fitness facilities, and meeting rooms.
Episcopal Church of St. Martin, 5700 W. Midway Park (10 a.m. to 5 p.m. October 16 and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. October 17; access via the courtyard between the church and the rectory). St. Martin’s was founded in 1878 and is the last of seven episcopal parishes that once served the area. The church was built in the 1910s in the English Gothic style with some Arts and Crafts influences and distinctive windows in the roof. In 2000, a renovation of the worship room resulted in chairs replacing the benches and the addition of an altar and ambo. The rectory is being remodeled to create a space for art classes and cultural events. The rectory has been empty and largely unused for several years and needs to be brought up to date with new sanitary, electrical and accessibility features.
Kehrein center of the arts, 5628 W. Washington Blvd. (10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on October 16 and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on October 17). Built in 1954, this long shuttered auditorium is a great representation of Mid-Century Modern style. It consists of in-situ concrete with curved walls and rooms that are interlocked with the library and the courtyard of the attached school. The school opened as St. Catherine’s Academy at the turn of the 20th century and later became the High School of Siena. It closed in 1977 and remained empty until 2008 when a charter school, Catalyst Circle Rock, began renovating its classrooms; the complex also houses a church and Circle Rock Ministries. A $ 5 million renovation of the Belli & Belli designed auditorium is now complete. The restored space can seat 850 people and has all the necessary components to function as a multipurpose space, including theater lighting, audiovisual systems and acoustic panels to improve sound projection.
Please follow the guidelines of the Illinois Department of Public Health when visiting. Additional entry regulations may apply at individual locations, such as B. a vaccination certificate, a negative COVID-19 test or other measures.
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