A Career Observed

Milton M. Schwartz---1925-2007 Chicago architect Milton M. Schwartz died in late January. I nearly missed the obit in the Tribune. And of course, my old newspaper, the Chicago Sun-Times didn't cover the architect's death at all, as far as I can tell. Once they figured out it wasn't Sherwood Schwartz who died, they probably lost interest. Milton Schwartz' died at age 81 on Jan 19. And if his name isn't familiar, some of this buildings might be. Particularly the elegant, 21-story 320 W. Oakdale. Built for $2 million, this residential tower was a bit of a revelation when it was completed in 1954. Its overhanging, exposed concrete floor slabs and horizontal bands of floor-to-ceiling window differed from the dark, steel-and-glass-tower model established by Mies' 860-880 Lake Shore Drive just a few years before. Schwartz' building appeared weightless at night as darkness reduced the tower's profile to streams of light shining out from its 57 units. The tower took on a bit of infamy in 1960 when it was reported Loop gambling chief and Chicago mob underboss Frank "Strongy" Ferraro lived there. The overhangs were "concrete eyebrows [that] protected him from undue exposure," the Chicago Tribune quipped at the time. Schwartz had a nice run in the 1950s and 1960s, designing what is now Hotel 71 at 71 E. Wacker in 1957; a modernist home in the city's Chatham neighborhood for Dr. Earl Renfroe, an African American orthodontist (when I get the address nailed down, I'll post images of it here); and buildings in Philadelphia and Las Vegas. Schwartz also oversaw the interior restoration of a Louis Sullivan-designed residence at 2147 N. Cleveland in 1960.