Islamic Cultural Center of Greater Chicago
Northbrook, United States
The ICC of Greater Chicago is located about 25 miles north of downtown Chicago, in the village of Northbrook. The history of the center dates back to 1906, when a group of Bosnian Muslim immigrants formed the Bosnian American Cultural Association in Chicago. The name of the association was later changed to the Islamic Cultural Center to reflect the increasing diversity of its members, and in 1954 the group purchased a building at 1800 N. Halsted St. 

In the 1960s the decision was made to build a mosque and school in Northbrook, and a groundbreaking ceremony was held on a 2 acre lot in Northbrook on September 8, 1974. On March 21, 1976 the first phase of the new Center opened, consisting of administrative offices, a library, weekend school classes, a nursery, and social hall. A groundbreaking for the second phase of the Center was held on June 29, 1984, and the construction was completed in 1988. This phase added a prayer hall which accommodates 500 worshipers,  a 200-seat lecture mall, and a minaret.

The ICC was the first mosque in the Chicago area constructed with the traditional elements of a dome and minaret. According to Omar Khalidi, it was built by the Illinois architect Aziz Tokh. It is a long, low brick-faced building with a multi-story prayer hall. A dome sits over the prayer hall, and the minaret flanks the front entrance.

Sources:

Chiat, Marilyn Joyce Segal. The spiritual traveler-- Chicago and Illinois: a guide to sacred sites and peaceful places, 187-188. Mahwah, N.J.: HiddenSpring, 2004.

Haddad, Yvonne Yazbeck. Muslim communities in North America, 240. Albany: State Univ. of New York Press, 1994.


Location
1800 Pfingsten Road, Northbrook, United States
Images & Videos
Associated Names
Associated Collections
Events
first phase of the Center, 1974-1976/1393-1395 AH
second phase of the Center, 1984-1988/1404-1408 AH
Variant Names
ICC
Abbreviated
Building Usages
public/cultural
religious
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