Historical Highland Park Home Set For Demolition

A 105-year-old landmark home in Highland Park’s Ravinia neighborhood is coming down.

The city council voted 4-2 last week to allow owner Neal Fortunato to demolish the home at 434 Marshman Ave. - according to the Highland Park News. He claims work cannot be renovated on the home - designated a local landmark in 1991 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1982 - without threatening the safety of the workers.

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Fortunato purchased the home in September, and shortly after was denied an emergency demolition permit. In June, the city’s Historic Preservation Commission unanimously denied his request for a Certificate of Economic Hardship for lack of evidence supporting a hardship claim. That decision was rescinded by the city council, however.

He says the home is structurally unsound due to its faulty original design.

“After the house is torn down, I am going to build a new house,” Fortunato said. “I have just started working with my architect to design a new house that is in conformity with the architecture of the neighborhood and which is the right size and scale for that particular lot. There are a lot of heritage trees on the site that we want to make sure we preserve and work around.”

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