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player ready...Joseph Alexander, a 65-year-old architect, agrees with Tempo that the Roberto’s building at 214 S. State St. is one of the ugliest in the Loop.
But he has a soft spot in his heart for the 128-year-old structure, anyway.
More than half a century ago, his architect father, Isadore E. Alexander, redesigned the exterior and interior of the first floor space in the building for Martin Jewelers.
And much of what the elder Alexander created is still there to see — the elegantly curving glass display window along the sidewalk, echoed inside by softly curving wood paneling. Now, instead of rings and watches, the graceful glass cases inside and out hold sharp, colorful men’s clothing.
The rest of the building — Alexander is happy to say — his father had nothing to do with.
“My dad was my hero,” says Joseph Alexander. “In addition to being an architect, he was a wonderful water colorist.”
But, shortly after finishing the redesign for Martin Jewelers, the elder Alexander died of a heart attack at the age of 49 on March 17, 1951. “I became an architect because of him,” Joseph says.
And Joseph’s daughter, Elizabeth Delevitt, 29, became the third generation in the field when she joined her father’s firm after college.
Today, Alexander and Associates have their offices on the fifth floor of 11 E. Adams St. with offices overlooking State Street.
Every time Delevitt sits down to work, she can glance out her window and see the Roberto’s building and, amid the ugliness, see the art her grandfather brought to the first floor.
It’s an inspiration, she says.