| Sidney Lovell | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 26, 1867 Racine, Wisconsin |
| Died | August 6, 1938 (aged 71) Chicago, Illinois |
Sidney Lovell (February 26, 1867 – August 6, 1938) was an American architect best known for designing mausoleums.
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Lovell apprenticed his trade starting in 1882 with Colonel James Wood a recognized Chicago architect who specialized in the designing of theaters.
During 1885 to 1888, Wood and Lovell traveled from Michigan to California, designing and remodeling opera houses. Upon the completion of the remodeling of the Grand Opera House in California, he was taken in as a partner, and the architectural firm of Wood and Lovell was established, with an office in San Francisco. This partnership produced between 1888 and 1893 many fine examples of theaters in the East Indian style of architecture. In 1893, the firm of Wood and Lovell relocated their offices to Chicago, Illinois. Their interest in theater design continued with great success and many fine examples were produced. With the death of Colonel Wood in 1903, he continued the work of designing theaters and single family homes in the community of Beverly Hills in Chicago and outlying areas.
In 1912, Mr. Lovell was approached to design a mausoleum for Rosehill Cemetery at 5800 North Ravenswood in Chicago. He was asked to design a building that would show security and permanency for the entombed 'loved ones.' A few of the Chicago businessmen that purchased crypt space in the newly built mausoleum were: John G. Shedd, president of Marshall Field & Co., A. Montgomery Ward of Montgomery Ward & Co., and many other Chicago area businessmen. With the success of the Rosehill Mausoleum, he stopped designing theaters and started exclusively designing mausoleums. In 1917, he applied for and was granted a patent for a ventilation system to be use in mausoleum construction.[1] A trade magazine, The American Cemetery magazine, March 1931, featured an article titled, "The Work of Lovell and Lovell Architects."[2] The article stated that, Lovell & Lovell was in a class of architecture that has provided services to fifteen states in the Union, with the result being that they have designed forty-three of the finest, largest and most successful mausoleums[3] to be found anywhere. He died in Racine, Wisconsin in August 6, 1938 and was laid to rest in the Rosehill Mausoleum[4] in Chicago, the first mausoleum that he had designed in 1912.