Readers might recall a dust-up from this past summer in which DePaul University in Chicago sold some property:

Vincentians at DePaul, in response to a minor dispute with the City of Lake Forest Illinois over a parking garage, decided that the 100 year tradition of Catholic Eduction in the pastoral wonderland setting of Lake Forest was not a worthy goal for their institution. Thus DePaul, dropped all support for the mission of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart, and sold the sacred structures of Barat Convent and College to a Presbyterian real-estate developer.

The Tribune reports that the Lake Forest Historic Preservation Commission denied the developer’s request for permission to knock it down:

Lake Forest developer Robert Shaw plans to build at least 120 condominiums, townhouses and rowhouses on the 23-acre site that he purchased from DePaul University, which formerly operated Barat. Shaw has proposed leaving intact portions of the college’s historic Old Main building but demolishing a wing that contains the 300-seat chapel.

Old Main, under Shaw’s plan, would be converted into 40 to 50 apartments on the campus at 700 E. Westleigh Rd., Lake Forest

The commissioners, who defeated the proposal 5-1, said Shaw’s plan did not meet the city’s criteria for demolition because of the building’s historic, cultural and architectural significance.

"Mr. Shaw is a seasoned developer," said Chairwoman Mary Jane Wolter. "When he bought the property, he knew the historic constraints concerning Old Main."

snip

Shaw said he cannot find a suitable use for the chapel, which would cost at least $7 million to restore.

He has proposed removing artifacts from the chapel, such as the Stations of the Cross, altar and stained-glass windows, and using them to create a memorial cloister near a nuns’ cemetery on campus.

Leaders of Landmarks Illinois, a Chicago preservation association, called the plan "cultural vandalism."