Maxwell Street was once home to Chicago’s busiest open-air market: a place where one could shop at hundreds of street stalls while listening to live electric blues. These days, it’s the sight of a major redevelopment project being carried out by the University of Illinois.

Field Museum staffer, Maxwell Street preservationist, and StoryCorps participant Lori explains to Facilitator Nick Yulman that the facades of these old buildings have been disassembled, rearranged, and grafted onto a new structure which houses a parking garage.