Start with the Chicago Historic Resources Survey (CHRS) record, then name the later record you actually need. The City's historic-survey page describes CHRS as an inventory, and its record data include a color classification, a Chicago Landmark status field and a PIN. A color is not itself a landmark designation, a demolition decision or a permit. Copy the address and any inventory identifier exactly as the page shows them; keep an uncertain match marked uncertain.
The City's CHRS search shows an Address selector on its blank screen, along with other visible search categories such as architect, year, community area and style. No option, address or property was submitted in this check. The PIN is described as CHRS record data, not as a verified search field. If your paper names only a street address, use the documented address route as a lead and compare any returned identity against the paper you have; this guide establishes no result for that address.
Keep four record functions separate
- Survey entry: CHRS was completed in 1995 and published in 1996. The City describes an inventory focused on pre-1940 buildings, with stated exceptions for some later properties. Its color and descriptive fields tell you what the historical survey recorded, not what happened to the building later.
- Landmark action: The City's landmarks information page says the Commission recommends designations to City Council and reviews proposed alteration, demolition and construction affecting landmarks. Seek the actual designation or later review record, with its title and date, before interpreting a CHRS status field as a completed Council action.
- Demolition review: The published code section links red or orange CHRS coding to a demolition-delay stage of up to 90 days. It treats designated landmarks and structures preliminarily recommended for designation separately. A delay or exception category is not an issued demolition permit.
- Permit event: If you have a permit number, keep its issue and inspection history in a separate line. A survey row or landmark label cannot supply a permit issue date or show that demolition occurred. The Chicago permit-search guide covers the City's general permit-record route.
This separation matters when a color appears on an old survey page but a later paper names a different action. For a fictional example, a researcher has an orange CHRS printout for a building, a note saying “landmark review,” and a contractor's undated demolition reference. The survey printout answers only the inventory question. The note lacks the decision and date; the contractor reference is not a City permit result. The useful next ask is for the named designation or review paper and, separately, the permit record tied to the contractor's reference. Until those documents are matched, no approval or demolition outcome follows from the packet.
When a search or copy does not settle the question
The City says the published CHRS is also available in bound copies at public and university libraries, historical societies and major research institutions. That is a lead for the survey as published, especially when a database match is unclear. It does not promise a current landmark decision or a later demolition file in the bound volume.
Write down which gap remains. If the survey row is missing, retain the address and any name or PIN from your own paper and ask for the published CHRS entry. If a row exists but the designation decision is missing, retain the row's landmark-status label and seek the Council or Commission action by its title and date. If the question is demolition, keep the application or permit reference separate from both earlier records. Do not turn an inaccessible page or a missing row into a finding that no review happened.
The landmarks page lists landmarks@cityofchicago.org as a general Commission contact; it can be a custody inquiry lead for an identified landmark paper. The reviewed pages do not verify a current copy-order procedure for a designation or demolition decision, and no contact was made. The online code publisher labels its edition 2026 S-74 but cautions that its text may lag legislation, so use this guide to distinguish records, not to decide a real building's legal eligibility or deadline.
For an older permit-image question, the Chicago historic permit-ledger guide follows that separate file family. A CHRS result does not prove that a demolition permit was issued, that an inspection passed, or that work was completed. Current condition and permit closure require their own evidence.
Official sources checked October 8, 2026 UTC. No property, permit, landmark application, search result, account, record request or copy was tested.