Demolition of Chicago's Washburne Trade School on West 31st Street. Chicago Illinois USA. Late July 2009.

An era has ended for a long abandoned Chicago southside industrial landmark.

We are looking west on West 31st Street at the intersection of South Kedzie Avenue, in Chicago's Little Village neighborhood. Originally the Liquid Carbonic plant, this building in later years had become Washburne Trade School. This vocational trade school was owned and operated by the Chicago Board Of Education.

I attended Washburne Trade School in 1981 after I graduated from Curie High School.
The early 1980's were an econically tough time for the city of Chicago, and I was unfortunately very unemployed back then. From September of 1981 until Febuary of 1984, I studied Vending Machine Repair, Amusement Machine Repair, and welding # 101.

The nations economy was hard hit with numerous budget cuts under the late United States President Ronald Reagan at this time, and none of the representatives from the trades I had studied actually had jobs or employment opportunities to offer us.

Washburne Trade School had closed at some point during the late 1980's or around 1990, and has sat here vacant ever since. Local area residents have been lobbying for a "New" city park to be built here, and it looks like it is proceeding along.

Demolition began at the old Washburne Trade School site in late 2006, and now 2 /3rds of the old industrial building have been demolished in 2009.