Artist Buys Old Building For $1 And Repurposes It Into Something Meaningful

We see so many urban exploration projects of abandoned building. It's fun to see how Rebuild Foundation is restoring this bank building for a change! Theaster Gates' non-profit bought Stony Island Trust & Savings Bank building in Chicago for $1 and had to raise $3.7 million to restore it. They did, in part by selling stamped and signed “bonds” made from the marble extracted out of the 1923 building. Now, the Stoney Island Arts Bank has been opened for the community.

Rebuild Foundation had been founder by Chicago artist Theaster Gates. The organization unifies community members and artists to create community spaces and transform neighborhoods. When not refurbishing century-old bank buildings, Gates is a professor in the Department of Visual Art and Director of Arts and Public Life at the University of Chicago.

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The former bank building was bought for $1.

It was cleaned up and turned into an art center.

It houses things like an extensive music library

Some rooms were left not restored, to connect the project to the building's past