The 1872 buildings, which have one of only two cast-iron facades left in downtown Chicago, are not landmarked. (Vince Michael)

After 107 years in business, a Chicago eatery closed last month, prompting fears that the two rare 1872 buildings it occupied could be sold or demolished.

Berghoff's, which opened in 1898, served its last apple streudel on Feb. 28 after its third-generation owners retired. Herman and Jan Berghoff are leasing the site to their daughter, Carlyn, who plans to run her catering business there.

But the two Italianate buildings, which have one of only two cast-iron facades in downtown Chicago, aren't landmarked, despite the city's attempt in 1991, which Herman Berghoff fended off. Located in the Loop, the buildings carry the city's highest rating, red, meaning they have national significance, according to the city's 1996 historic resources survey. Yet that red rating only delays demolition for 90 days.

"We're disappointed that the city has not moved forward for landmarking designation. If any building in the city is a no-brainer for landmarking, this is it," says Jonathan Fine, executive director of Preservation Chicago. "The building is not safe."

To complicate matters, the General Services Administration is in the process of buying and redeveloping the rest of the block. In a report issued last year, however, the agency stated that it doesn't plan to purchase the Berghoff buildings.

Still, preservationists are wary. "This is [the Berghoffs'] plan to demolish the building," says Vince Michael, a historic preservation professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. "For years I had used the building as an example to students of how you tear down a landmark. What they're going to do is, in two years, say, 'The business is not strong enough; we're going to sell the building,'" says Michael, who is also a board member of the Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois. "My theory is that they want all the hubbub to die down, and then they can say it's not economically viable."

Whatever happens to the buildings, the restaurant will be missed. "There were lines out the door every single day," Michael says.

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