It is the second time that the Polish consulate in Chicago has joined the programme to open the doors of the Windy City’s most famous buildings which are normally inaccessible.
The historical building of the Polish Consulate General in Chicago is one of the seven mansions labelled as architectural symbols of the biggest city of Illinois. The Consulate’s seat is an English Town House with elements of Italian Renaissance. Erected in 1916, the building was designed by Benjamin Marshall, the author of such Chicago landmarks as the Blackstone Hotel or the Drake Hotel. Initially, the building served as a private residence for Bernard Albert Eckhardt, an industrialist and Illinois State Senator. After two-year renovation completed in 2008, the building was given the prestigious Chicago Landmark Award for Preservation Excellence.
Architecture enthusiasts will have a chance to visit the Consulate General accompanied by the Polish consuls who will recount the building’s history and its function, as well as talk about the local Polish diaspora community, modern-day democratic Poland, and its achievements over the past 25 years.
The post in Chicago cooperates with the largest Polish expatriate community—over 3m Midwesteners are of Polish ancestry.
To visit the Consulate buildings under the Open House Chicago programme, please register on the Chicago Architecture Foundation website.
This year’s programme will run between 18 and 19 October 2014.
To read more about the programme, visit Open House Chicago.
Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs RP Press Office