Chicago Fire Department Engine Company 127

Chicago Fire Department Engine Company 127. Fire Rescue Station/Midway. This portal displays two relief sculpture and a limestone lintel. Both architectural artifacts were salvaged from Chicago firehouses that have been demolished. The terra-cotta reliefs on the columns were originally installed on the facade of a fire house located at 2740 North Sheffield Avenue. The limestone lintel, inscribed "Chicago Fire Department," was saved from the main doorway of Engine Company #103 (right), located at West Taylor and Lafin Streets. At one time this building housed the 2nd Division Headquarters and later the Firemen's Mutual Aid and Benefits Office, along with Engine Co. #103. The intel was relocated to Madison and Laflin in the 1970s when the original building was razed. , , The reliefs on the columns depict fire fighting tools hand carved in the hard, brown-red earthenware called terra cotta. In the panels, hoses and ladders, interwoven in a fluid composition suggestive of vines growing on a trellis, are placed against a background of laurel leaves, symbolic of honor. Overlaid on this are fire helmets and axes which integrate a heraldic crest into the organic composition. Attributed to the Northwest Terra Cotta Company, which also did much of the terra cotta work of architect Louis Sullivan, the hand sculpting of the panels is especially noticeable in the deep undercuts, which capture changing light and shadow. , , The terra cotta panels originally framed the second story windows of Lakeview Village Hall (left), which was constructed by the City of Lakeview, before Lakeview voted to join the City of Chicago in June 1889. The building, designed by architect Jules De Horvath, was a showplace of the times, serving as the Village Hall, housing not only the fire department but also police headquarters, and several court rooms. The fire house was occupied by Hose Company #1 of the Lakeview Fire Department, which was annexed by the Chicago Fire Department in September 1889, and Chicago Fire Department Engine Company #55 was assigned these quarters. When the building was razed in 1966 to make way for the Park West Senior Housing Complex, fire department historians removed the panels. , , Chicago Public Art Program , This project was installed by the Chicago Public Art Program of the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, in collaboration with the Chicago Fire Department and the Chicago Department of Aviation. Funding was provided through the municipal Percent-for-Art ordinance of the City of Chicago, which stipulates that 1.33% of the cost of the construction or renovation of a municipal facility be set aside for artwork. The purpose of this law, which was enacted in 1978, is to provide the citizens of Chicago with an improved public environment by enhancing city buildings with quality works of art by professional artists.