| Sources |
- [S142] Newspaper Article, Chicago Tribune, 22 Apr 1983.
Frank Lucente obituary
- [S142] Newspaper Article, Southend Reporter (Chicago, IL), 2 Sep 1976.
Lucente recipient of
public service award
Frank Lucente Jr., of Beverly Hills, recently received a Superior Public Service award at a luncheon sponsored by eight city agencies and the Chicago Association of Commerce and Industry.
Lucente, principal of Du Sable High school, has a number of other educational awards to his credit as well as the support of the school's community organization.
He was selected by the U.S Office of Education to attend a working conference in Denver on new dimensions in education.
The conference was a working session of high school administrators rec-ognized for their expertise.
Three years ago, Lucente implemented the 45-15 extended school year plan at DuSable which has proven to be successful. The dropcreased and scholastic achievement has improved.
Lucente helped to boost reading scores at two elementary schools with a reading improvement program. He also developed programs that developed students' pride in themselves and their school.
Lucente received the Award for Educational Excellence from State Office of Education as well as an award for outstanding service to the community at a 2nd police district community workshop; an award from the industrial education department of the board of education for his ability to motivate students, and was honored by the Du
Sabie Advisory council for his ability to instruct, lead and inspire students.
He also received awards from Chicago State university.
The community, in a show of support for Lucente has nominated him for at least six additional awards.
"Lucente is held in high esteem in the DuSable High school community because and responsive to the needs of the community," said Pearlene Boldert, president of the DuSable High School Community organization.
He instituted a workshop program and outpost for dropouts, and implemented a job placement office through which close to 400 students have been placed during their 15-day vacations under the 45-15 plan.
Lucente worked out a program with University of Illinois at Urbana designed to fit the needs of DuSable for an advanced degree program for teachers in vocational education and career education.
- [S142] Newspaper Article, Chicago Tribune, 8 Jul 1994.
PRAIRIE SCHOOL MODERNIZING WRIGHT, BUT PRESERVING HIS STYLE
Chicago Tribune July 8, 1994 Author: Jim Sulski. Special to the Tribune.
Estimated printed pages: 3
Frank Lloyd Wright is known for his pioneering "Prairie School" style of architecture: strong horizontal lines, low-pitched roofs and intricate stained glass windows. What Wright wasn't known for was large kitchens. The architect's theory was that kitchens were for servants and should be kept to a minimum. In fact, his kitchens were also often "separated" from the rest of the house by hallways or butler pantries to prevent views of the kitchen from other rooms of the house. For Frank and Barbara Jean Lucente, who bought a large Wright home 21 years ago in Chicago's Beverly neighborhood, this presents a problem
"My wife has always wanted a large kitchen, possibly with a family room-like space added on because we usually congregate in the kitchen," said Lucente, who has six grown children. "We would also like to have the outside yard better incorporated into the new living space." The Lucentes would also like the kitchen to reflect Wright's Prairie style, as found through the rest of the house. To help the Lucentes determine their options for the stately hilltop home, which Wright designed for Raymond Evans in 1908, we asked for help from Oak Park-based architect John Thorpe. Complicating the issue are a number of additions to the kitchen area that were done over the years in a quasi-Wright fashion. Previous owners converted the maid's quarters and a covered porch into an separate eating area for the kitchen. A now antiquated sunroom was added on and an additional bedroom and bathroom was attached to the back of the house. A second-floor bedroom addition was later added on top of the kitchen and bedroom. Sometime in the 1950s, the kitchen itself was "modernized," with cabinetry and countertops of the time. As a result, the entire wing of the house is a mixture of the old and new, with Wright-like windows standing near modern sliding glass doors. "We'd like to bring the new space in line architecturally with the rest of the house," said Lucente. "We'd like to recapture some of style of the original kitchen, if that's possible." Lucente also hopes to open up the kitchen, eating room and bedroom to one large area that would house the new kitchen and family room. "That would provide a more functional kitchen," he said. "Wright kept the kitchens small because the families were not supposed to go into the kitchen," replied Thorpe. "That's why the maid's quarters was right next to the kitchen." "The problem with that is whomever is preparing food is isolated from the rest of our family or our guests," said Lucente. To open up the space, Thorpe agreed with Lucente and suggested "a gut job" to remove the walls between the kitchen, eating area and bedroom, as well as the removal of the small sunroom. In addition, he suggested removing an eastern wall that separates the kitchen from a butler pantry to bring more space into the kitchen. "Removing the butler pantry would make the kitchen space more accessible to the rest of the house, especially the dining room," said Thorpe. Once the space was cleared, a larger kitchen could be reconstructed, with a large eat-in area, possibly in the form of a breakfast bar. Additional counter space and cabinetry could also be added to increase the efficiency of the room. Thorpe said the new kitchen could be laid out to incorporate the home's large six-door refrigerator, another of Wright's unique touches. "Although it needs to be repaired, we would love to keep the old refrigerator because of its functionality," said Lucente. Looking to the family room, Thorpe suggested a few Wright touches to create a "distinct space." "We don't want to make one long room here but we want the rooms to connect," he said. "My recommendation would be to build a Prairie-style divider with piers, a flying ledge, lower decks and plaster columns with wood trim." Both the kitchen and family room would feature additional Prairie style details. "I would suggest bringing in a trim system that completely incorporates Wright's touches, such as the beautiful trim that's found in the dining room," Thorpe said. "That way, when you walk into the kitchen, it will feel like it's part of the original house and the new space will honor the front of the house, which is very significant." Another touch would be to reinstall a concave ceiling in the kitchen, another of Wright's signatures that's found in other rooms of the house. Through porches connected to living levels, and windows on three sides of a room, architect Wright had "a gradual and wonderful" way of incorporating the outside of the house with the inside of the house, said Thorpe, and those same tactics could be applied to remodeling the kitchen. For example, Thorpe suggested continuous windows running along the southern wall, as well as new windows added to the now windowless western wall. "With the existing kitchen windows on the northern wall, you will have windows on three sides of the space, which will add a marvelous amount of natural light into the room," said Thorpe. "That's why Wright relied heavily on the cruciform design in his buildings, so that he could add many windows." On the southern wall, French doors would be mixed with the windows to offer access to the outside. "French doors or casements doors would be much more in the style of the house rather than sliding glass doors," Thorpe said.
Caption: PHOTO: Homeowner Frank Lucente (left) and architect John Thorpe discuss demolishing a sunroom wall. Photo for the Tribune by Stuart Pearson.
Caption: PHOTO
Edition: NORTH SPORTS FINAL Section: YOUR PLACE Page: 8 Column: Home improvements.
Index Terms: ARCHITECTURE; CONSTRUCTION; CHANGE; PROFILE
Copyright 1994, Chicago Tribune
Record Number: CTR9407080325
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