The illegal building, intended as an archive for the neighboring landmarked National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture, has been at the center of controversy since 2022.

Tensions remain as the fight over the building has been seen by some as a symbol of the struggle to maintain Humboldt Park’s longstanding Puerto Rican heritage in the face of gentrification.

More than a year after the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture began construction on a non-permitted facility in historic Humboldt Park, a community meeting has been scheduled to discuss the project's status and explore future possibilities for the structure.

The National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture leases a historic landmark building in Humboldt Park. It began construction on an adjacent archive facility without obtaining permits.

The artwork is on loan from a museum in the town of Ponce on the southern coast. Now, Chicago’s National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture in Humboldt Park is the temporary home to a small but significant exhibit.

We continue our series of visits to beautiful corners of Chicago’s cultural landscape with a trip to Humboldt Park, where we get a dose of architecture and art.