Second Church of Christ, Scientist, Chicago
The Pine Grove project preserves a monumental street presence while replacing the sanctuary, dome, roof, and most of the historic building behind...
Watchlist Blog
Second Church’s old walls now frame a nearly finished apartment building
The six-story Lincoln Park conversion has reached exterior finish work, making its bargain between streetscape preservation and interior loss fully visible.
August 19, 2026
Second Church of Christ, Scientist, Chicago
Updated 2026
Three facades of Solon S. Beman's 1901 church now enclose 22 apartments and a smaller worship space, while the sanctuary and dome survive only in the historical record.
From Pine Grove and Wrightwood, Second Church again reads as a finished building rather than a set of stone walls held upright by temporary steel. Windows and brickwork were complete by August 19, with the terraces among the remaining exterior tasks.
The apparent wholeness deserves a closer reading. The east, south, and west facades survive, but a new six-story, 22-unit structure occupies the site of the sanctuary, dome, roof, and north wall.
Read the church's full architectural and redevelopment record in Second Church of Christ, Scientist, Chicago.
Track more Chicago building changes in Watchlist Blog.
The corner keeps Beman's stone image, but not the complete church that gave the walls their meaning.
What The Construction Milestone Shows
The new building has long been topped out, and the installed windows and completed brickwork now make the retained facades read as an exterior envelope again. The congregation is expected to occupy approximately 4,700 square feet at ground level.
Twenty-two apartments, 31 below-grade parking spaces, and 17 bicycle spaces make up the rest of the approved program.
Preservation At The Surface
Three monumental elevations continue to shape the public street. That is a meaningful result for a church once threatened with complete demolition.
The same view can conceal the scale of loss. Beman's sanctuary volume and dome were integral to the work, so the project preserves an image and urban edge more fully than it preserves the original building.
What To Watch Next
Completion, occupancy, public access to the worship space, and interpretation of the original church should be documented.
The project will be most useful as a precedent if future debate names facade retention accurately instead of treating it as equivalent to full adaptive reuse.