Scoville Square
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The Masonic Temple Building (also known as the Scoville Block, Gilmore's Store, and Scoville Square Building) is a historic Prairie-style building in Oak Park, Illinois, at the corner of Oak Park Avenue and Lake Street. It is in the Ridgeland-Oak Park Historic District and was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. The building is one of only a few commercial buildings built in the Prairie School architectural style. The three-story building was built for C. B. Scoville to a design by E. E. Roberts and was constructed between 1906 and 1909. The first floor was designed for retail use, with iron and glass
storefront A storefront or shopfront is the facade or entryway of a retail store located on the ground floor or street level of a commercial building, typically including one or more display windows. A storefront functions to attract visual attention to a bu ...
s. A course of limestone separates the storefronts from the upper stories, which are faced with brick. A fourth story was added in 1914. Architectural details in the interior include an oak staircase and a
lobby Lobby may refer to: * Lobby (room), an entranceway or foyer in a building * Lobbying, the action or the group used to influence a viewpoint to politicians :* Lobbying in the United States, specific to the United States * Lobby (food), a thick stew ...
with
leaded Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cut, ...
art-glass windows and marble wainscoting. Oak Park's Masonic lodges were among the building's first tenants. After the Masons vacated the premises, the building was sold to Gilmore's Department Store. The department store used the building from 1930 until it closed in the 1970s. After Gilmore's department store closed, the village of Oak Park bought the building to save it from demolition and contributed public money toward its restoration and renovation. Restoration work including removal of a black glass facade that Gilmore's had applied to the building. The building is now known as the Scoville Square building and houses retail business on the ground floor and offices on its upper floors.


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Scoville Square, Oak Park
Designslinger.com {{Oak Park, Illinois , state=expanded Clubhouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Cook County, Illinois Prairie School architecture in Illinois Commercial buildings completed in 1909 Oak Park, Illinois Former Masonic buildings in Illinois Ridgeland-Oak Park Historic District