[denizen467]

http://lh3.ggpht.com/harry.r.carmichael/SQg_Pd1hDmI/AAAAAAAA85A/MD5rAjVBasE/s800/P1110958_59_60.jpg

What the heck is all that sheeting for? Are they doing more than just underbridges here?

[Busy Bee]

It appears that they are widening the entire riverwalk as opposed to just building jut out underpasses under the bridge. Was this in the original plan or is this only being done at Wabash?

[intrepidDesign]

I'm pretty sure they have always said that they were extending the entire walkway out by 14~16 feet.

[denizen467]

^ I was never aware of that. Makes one kind of fear for a Victoria Harbour-ization of the river. Hong Kong has expanded its shores so much over the decades that their beloved waterway has lost some of its magnificence now.

(On the other hand if eventually it all adds up to a commuter bicyclable riverwalk, then that would be fabulous, but I don't think that's in the cards.)

[honte]

^ Yep.

[VivaLFuego]

Yeah. I'll hold my breath for the finished product. I know Hizzoner latched onto this because he lovedthe San Antonio riverwalk (which is indeed quite awesome and the ultimate quainte touriste trappe)... but the Chicago River and its history/function, not to mention context, really aren't the least bit comparable to the little creeks in San Antonio, so I strongly hope the long term intention is not for a direct facsimile.

At that particular location (the Wabash bend) there is a little extra width to the river I think, so if the widening is just in this location it might be ok, but I hope otherwise the intention is really just underbridge connectors and design/landscape improvements to the rest.

[BVictor1]

http://www.chitowndailynews.org/Chicago_news/Voters_could_strike_blow_against_development_along_lakeshore,18366

Voters could strike blow against development along lakeshore

BY IAN FULLERTON
October 28, 2008 | 3:00 PM
Chicago’s northern lakefront has become the battleground for an ongoing dispute over its future developments in the 48th Ward.

Voters next week will decide whether to endorse a referendum opposing the planned expansion of the lakefront bike path from Hollywood Avenue, where it currently ends, to Evanston. Existing designs would require the creation of an off-shore island.

The project, headed by the advocacy organization Friends of the Parks (FOTP), has been met by criticism from StopTheLandfill.org, an informal group of Edgewater residents who fashioned the referendum after a similar one introduced in Rogers Park last fall.

Though not legally binding, the referendum is “meant to put the community’s view of the project on record,” says John Redell, Edgewater resident and administrator of StopTheLandfill.org.

The group asserts that the project, entitled “The Last 4 Miles,” will involve the construction of a landfill in the lake, and may eventually lead to the extension of Lake Shore Drive.

Jim Marlowe, an Edgewater resident, had not known about the project until a few weeks ago when a pamphlet endorsing the prohibition was slipped under his door. “If this project is initiated,” he asks, “will it be limited to a bike path?”

Marlowe shares a suspicion with others in the neighborhood that the project will lead to unwanted construction, in an area he feels is already underused and not in need of development. “The organization should be called the Enemies of the Parks,” he says, half-jokingly.

“Rather than trying to figure out what the community wants, they’ve given us a sales pitch,” says Redell, in regard to public forums held by the FOTP in the past.

According to StopTheLandfill.org, the FOTP ignored overwhelming votes in opposition of their project from South Shore residents in February. The website goes on to state that none of the FOTP’s board members live within the 60660 zip code.

John O’Connell, Vice President of Administration and Development of the Friends of the Parks, says the organization has been paying careful attention to public opinion, adding that the referendum does not address the real issues.

"At every public forum we have ever conducted, we have not advocated the extension of Lake Shore Drive, commercial development on the lakefront, or a landfill,” says O'Connell.

The word ‘landfill,’” he says, “implies a garbage dump.”

Mike Chrzastowski, Senior Coastal Geologist at the Illinois State Geologist Survey, says the correct term is "lakefill," indicating the project would involve clean sand and clay.

“No one is proposing a landfill," he says. "State law would not allow garbage in a lakefill.”

Aside from possible environmental repercussions, Redell claims that the major issue lies in the project’s financial consequences. “With a $420 million shortfall in the cities budget, where is this money going to come from?” He asks.

Friends of the Parks will spend the next few months studying potential ecological effects of the extension, researching funding sources, and working to publish their findings based on three years of public forums.

[BVictor1]

From:

stopthelandfill.org

http://stopthelandfill.org/images/Edgewater.jpg

http://stopthelandfill.org/images/Rogers%20Park.jpg


http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Stopthelandfill/

[Taft]

From:

stopthelandfill.org



This website makes my blood boil. Half-truths, speculation and BS from a bunch of people whose main concern is their own property values. Not to say that particular issue isn't important, but it doesn't trump all else and doesn't warrant the baloney they put up on that site.

Taft

[AdrianXSands]

From:

stopthelandfill.org

http://stopthelandfill.org/images/Edgewater.jpg

http://stopthelandfill.org/images/Rogers%20Park.jpg


http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Stopthelandfill/

oh my god... how do we stop this from happening? sad.

[ardecila]

^^ Are you being sarcastic, are you opposed to the specific design, or do you seriously take issue to the idea of continuous public space along the lakefront?

[jstush04]

^ I think it looks pretty sick. Hope we can afford it

[lawfin]

oh my god... how do we stop this from happening? sad.


Is Judge Aspen still living on Albion.....if so he talks to his Federal Judge friends and this thing is as good as dead....he stopped the landfill in 1991 or so....

I really hope this never , ever happens...the lake front already is all public as it is we do not need this crap

[denizen467]

^ The lakefront in Edgewater is de facto inaccessible to bikers and joggers going along the shore.

No, we don't need more parks, more marinas, more access to the lake. No, we like Sheridan being clogged half the day. No, the highrises east of Sheridan aren't harmed being cut off from their neighborhood by Sheridan and being deprived of a street life like retail and cafes.:koko:

If anyone, the people complaining should be Evanstonians, who would be getting an increase in thru traffic.

[honte]

^ I don't care for this scheme above because it seems 80% an excuse to get LSD up there and seems to offer very little public access to the lakefront. Some parts of that are so narrow, it reminds me of driving down the Florida Keys - nothing more than a causeway.

I do appreciate the idea that Rogers Park would still be "waterfront" property... it retains some of the charm of those areas without sacrificing the public need. I like the tunnels. And I have no real problems with having Lake Shore extend to the city's border. But the execution here is weak. I can see why the neighborhood feels like it's being cut off from the lake and does not look upon this as an improvement.

The larger park by the marina (near letter D) seems more acceptable.

[AdrianXSands]

^^ Are you being sarcastic, are you opposed to the specific design, or do you seriously take issue to the idea of continuous public space along the lakefront?

because it's complete bullshit. the first thing i thought was: causeway. (honte, you and i seem to, at times, think the same things :cheers:)

this plan seems more the opposite of its intension. it seems a more appropriate design would be to put lsd abutting the shore line (umm... kind of how the rest of the drive is?) and doesn't it make more sense to reorient all the green space together and to the east of lsd? why sandwich 20-30 acre park between lsd and the shore line? no thanks. most of this 'park' land seems more like expressway infrastructure than anything else.

anyway... the main reason i was initially appalled by this, was looking at this i thought: jesus, it's the 21st century! why not a big dig? why not do something that tokyo would have done ten years??? to me, these kind of things are city improvements; rather, they are just dull extensions of more of the same and evidence of even more atrociously stagnated city planning in chicago. yawn.

...and please don't give me that lame argument about how much money a big dig would cost and yada yada... whatever. if we don't have the money to do something grand and wonderful, we have no business taking on the project in the first place. sorry, but i person hate the idea of living a second-rate, econo-city. :shrug:


i applaud the efforts of stopthelandfill.org

[Nowhereman1280]

Why not do a "big dig"? Think about that question for a couple seconds longer Adrian and maybe you'll answer it yourself. Perhaps its because a "big dig" will cost billions of dollars and has a good chance of cost overruns and other engineering failures? LSD is the least obstructive road I've ever seen.

the lake front already is all public as it is we do not need this crap

Ummm no its not? Have you ever even been to Edgewater? The section between Thorndale and Devon/Sheridan is completely off limits to anyone other than the people who live in those rancid condominium towers, with a few small exceptions like Berger Park. On top of that, some of those condo towers literally have walls right up against the lake, how on earth could you even think that is remotely "public access"?

I live in a building a little south of Bryn Mawr with a North View from about the 50th floor and can see almost the entire area in question. There needs to be some kind of connection between Hollywood Beech and Loyola Park. I support what is shown in the first picture (minus the unecessary extension of Lake Shore Drive, though that could be what makes this affordable by leeching Federal dollars to "build roads"), however I don't believe that the bitchy little condo owners north of me should retain direct abutment to the water, there should be a strip of grass with a path and maybe a breakwater or beech between all condos and the water.

I don't know why these people are so against this, its not going to lower their condo values, in fact it will probably raise them. The prices of the condos in my cluster of buildings are quite a bit higher than in that cluster, probably because we have a gorgeous park with beeches between us and and water... I for one would not like to live up there without access to the beech.

[Nowhereman1280]

In other news:

Wilson Yards is either under construction or damn close to it. There are two cranes with Cassion engines on them there right now, plus a gigantic hole with a dirt ramp going down into it. The cranes are not in the hole yet though, so when they are it will probably be Under Construction. Also, this site appears to have very strange soil conditions. The ground appears to be made of sand at the bottom of the hole. Was this site possibly lakefilled at one point or is this sand left over from natural changes in the lakeshore?

[honte]

^ Definitely, the part going through (aside) Edgewater is far less objectionable....

I also agree with Adrian through - why more of the same? LSD in 1938 was a very radical road, more radical than it is today in fact.

There was no shortage of good ideas at the lakefront competition from the Graham Foundation many years back... I'm not understanding why some of the more visionary ideas from that can't at least be considered. Maybe they were briefly and then rejected, I don't know... But I don't see any effort on the part of the City here nor many other places elsewhere to make something truly wonderful.

It's the same thing as with Millennium Park: When it's downtown and supposed to be a draw, then it's time to do great things. But for the average Chicagoan, apparently interesting projects aren't considered important.

[EarlyBuyer]

Photos taken by EarlyBuyer


http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/3110/dsc0538yf9.jpg


http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/4353/dsc0596sx7.jpg


http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/2077/dsc0600fd7.jpg


http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/5213/dsc0605yb7.jpg

[lawfin]

^ The lakefront in Edgewater is de facto inaccessible to bikers and joggers going along the shore.

No, we don't need more parks, more marinas, more access to the lake. No, we like Sheridan being clogged half the day. No, the highrises east of Sheridan aren't harmed being cut off from their neighborhood by Sheridan and being deprived of a street life like retail and cafes.:koko:

If anyone, the people complaining should be Evanstonians, who would be getting an increase in thru traffic.
Not if you know where your going it is not

Also it would destroy some of the nicest, broadest beaches certainly on the North side, and probably all Chicago

[Ch.G, Ch.G]

I agree with Adrian's assessment-- well, everything before his trademark melodramatic flourish. (The Big Dig, though an admirably forward-thinking idea, is hardly an example of sound execution and money well spent. And, as I've maintained before, the best design should never be prohibitively expensive.)

A project like this demands novel solutions from the best architecture firms in the world. The city would do well to take a cue from New York's Governors Island competition; Diller Scofidio + Renfro's proposal is simply breathtaking and a perfect example of the caliber of design Chicago should be aiming for for something of this scale.

Chicago already is a first-rate city, Adrian. The problem is that-- with regard to some of these civic projects-- it doesn't always act like one. Maybe my opinion is misguided, but I feel as though Mayor Daley bears most of the burden for this: I get the impression that he's trying to pack in as many ooh and ahh projects during his reign as possible when these are things that shouldn't be rushed.

[Nowhereman1280]

Not if you know where your going it is not


No, I'm sorry but its still not accessible at all in comparison with how the rest of the lakefront is. Two or three tiny little gaps in the highrises where you can reach the water does not equal accessible. Its bad enough having to cross a busy and dangerous Sheridan rd. to get to the lake, but having a wall of highrises where there should be a beech and some piers is not acceptable.

[harryc]

Parking garage on 400 block of Clark, many belled caissons put in.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_8TC_VUmf9Fw/SQzTQ1jxwnI/AAAAAAAA9YQ/taNRc37QJHo/s800/P1120436.JPG

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_8TC_VUmf9Fw/SQzG-jhAKBI/AAAAAAAA9U8/ZVrIE53bjjw/s800/P1120207.JPG

[VivaLFuego]

I just don't think selfish NIMBYs should be applauded. I say build it more or less as shown in the plans, ubt make sure there's a full 8-lane LSD extension over the islands, with a series of fans and pipes to direct the exhaust and noise directly into the Sheridan Rd highrises.

Just to prove a point.

Afterwards, I bet we'd get some innovative proposals and community buy-in for the south side lakefront extension.

[AdrianXSands]

I just don't think selfish NIMBYs should be applauded. I say build it more or less as shown in the plans, ubt make sure there's a full 8-lane LSD extension over the islands, with a series of fans and pipes to direct the exhaust and noise directly into the Sheridan Rd highrises.

Just to prove a point.

Afterwards, I bet we'd get some innovative proposals and community buy-in for the south side lakefront extension.

.........................:sly:


waste money to prove a point?

[honte]

Maybe my opinion is misguided, but I feel as though Mayor Daley bears most of the burden for this: I get the impression that he's trying to pack in as many ooh and ahh projects during his reign as possible when these are things that shouldn't be rushed.

I agree with this... it's part of the "City that works" mentality. Daley wants to be known as a guy who gets things done, and that's a tradition here. Cut to the chase, you know?

Unfortunately, with every project constantly under fire from community groups, budgetary groups, riled-up Aldermen, newspapers, warring suburbs, etc., it's hard enough to even get a basic design accomplished. I can see why the Mayor would see design as a frivolity and getting anything built beyond the most basic as a heroic accomplishment.

Not that this is any excuse... there simply needs to be a higher level of commitment at the government level to design. And preferably action on a community basis to counter the negative forces and hopefully make the DPD's job a bit easier. The is essentially the role that the Grant Park organization fills (too much a yes-organization for Daley, in my opinion). The design community also has a role to play: When the "designed" projects are constantly going over budget, that leaves a bad taste in the government mouth. Daley is still taking the heat for the screw-ups at Millennium Park. Some of the budgetary issues could be addressed by closer scrutiny in the design offices (but man is this a pain in the arse).

It would be nice if a city-wide community group (CAFBA? Chicagoans Advocating For Better Architecture?) could put together some literature to demonstrate that projects with great-to-fantastic design result in fewer community objections. There are many examples of this - Chicago Spire, Trump Tower, W=A, etc. And the reasoning for this is perfectly obvious - it just needs to be spelled-out and there needs to be a body constantly pushing this message. I suppose that's the goal of CBP, while I've never been to a meeting...

[the urban politician]

^ But Chicago needs more density.

I think a lot of people here, with all due respect, are skewed towards really putting a lot of importance on design elements that 95% of people ignore. What matters more is the vitality of a city and expanding the tax base. All else is secondary. I don't blame Daley at all

Having said that, of course architecture matters, but Chicago sometimes isn't always in the position to have the luxury to reject tax-generating city rejuvinating projects.

[AdrianXSands]

^ But Chicago needs more density.

I think a lot of people here, with all due respect, are skewed towards really putting a lot of importance on design elements that 95% of people ignore. What matters more is the vitality of a city and expanding the tax base. All else is secondary. I don't blame Daley at all

Having said that, of course architecture matters, but Chicago sometimes isn't always in the position to have the luxury to reject tax-generating city rejuvinating projects.

...hah

[honte]

^ TUP, what does lake fill and highways have to do with density?

[the urban politician]

^ Sorry, Honte. For some reason I must have thought you were responding to some of the development photos--not sure how I drew that conclusion.

My apologies--ignore and move on..

[honte]

^ No problem.

Your points are taken anyway - I'm sure we could have the same conversation at another time, as a lot of what I said probably describes my complaints on private development too. I would, however, hold those cases to lofty ideals somewhat less strictly for the reasons you mention.

[lawfin]

No, I'm sorry but its still not accessible at all in comparison with how the rest of the lakefront is. Two or three tiny little gaps in the highrises where you can reach the water does not equal accessible. Its bad enough having to cross a busy and dangerous Sheridan rd. to get to the lake, but having a wall of highrises where there should be a beech and some piers is not acceptable.
Yeah driving your car and parking in a nice big parking lot is just a great use of the lakefront, if you know where to walk the lakefront is very accesible in Edgewater and Rogers Park....they are arguably the most neighnorhood accesible beachfronts in the city....they employ a novel modality of transport...walking

[aic4ever]

I agree with this... it's part of the "City that works" mentality. Daley wants to be known as a guy who gets things done, and that's a tradition here. Cut to the chase, you know?

Unfortunately, with every project constantly under fire from community groups, budgetary groups, riled-up Aldermen, newspapers, warring suburbs, etc., it's hard enough to even get a basic design accomplished. I can see why the Mayor would see design as a frivolity and getting anything built beyond the most basic as a heroic accomplishment.

Not that this is any excuse... there simply needs to be a higher level of commitment at the government level to design. And preferably action on a community basis to counter the negative forces and hopefully make the DPD's job a bit easier. The is essentially the role that the Grant Park organization fills (too much a yes-organization for Daley, in my opinion). The design community also has a role to play: When the "designed" projects are constantly going over budget, that leaves a bad taste in the government mouth. Daley is still taking the heat for the screw-ups at Millennium Park. Some of the budgetary issues could be addressed by closer scrutiny in the design offices (but man is this a pain in the arse).

It would be nice if a city-wide community group (CAFBA? Chicagoans Advocating For Better Architecture?) could put together some literature to demonstrate that projects with great-to-fantastic design result in fewer community objections. There are many examples of this - Chicago Spire, Trump Tower, W=A, etc. And the reasoning for this is perfectly obvious - it just needs to be spelled-out and there needs to be a body constantly pushing this message. I suppose that's the goal of CBP, while I've never been to a meeting...

This would be helped tremendously if architect's were capable of setting their egos aside and asking contractors for help with budgetary pricing throughout the design process. We do tend to offer it as a consulting service, or for free on private work so long as we end up on the bidder's list.

Unfortunately, where it is not an issue of ego, it is many times an issue of architectural politicking, where the architect will tell the owner some unrealistic price per square foot for the project, in order to be commissioned to do the drawings, without ever intending that the project get built.

Just a couple reasons I've seen projects come in over budget, other than with these nutball developers that think every building should only cost $180/sqft no matter what it is, where it is, or who designs it.

[Tom In Chicago]

Not sure if anyone's noticed this, but since this summer the Plenza fountains at Millenium Park have been in dire need of cleaning. . . well now that fountain season is over they're doing just that. . . using massive amounts of CLR, pressure washers and good ole' fashioned elbow grease, it will take a week to complete one tower. . .

http://www.pbase.com/temper/image/105401042.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/temper/image/105401194.jpg

[Taft]

because it's complete bullshit. the first thing i thought was: causeway. (honte, you and i seem to, at times, think the same things :cheers:)

this plan seems more the opposite of its intension. it seems a more appropriate design would be to put lsd abutting the shore line (umm... kind of how the rest of the drive is?) and doesn't it make more sense to reorient all the green space together and to the east of lsd? why sandwich 20-30 acre park between lsd and the shore line? no thanks. most of this 'park' land seems more like expressway infrastructure than anything else.

anyway... the main reason i was initially appalled by this, was looking at this i thought: jesus, it's the 21st century! why not a big dig? why not do something that tokyo would have done ten years??? to me, these kind of things are city improvements; rather, they are just dull extensions of more of the same and evidence of even more atrociously stagnated city planning in chicago. yawn.

...and please don't give me that lame argument about how much money a big dig would cost and yada yada... whatever. if we don't have the money to do something grand and wonderful, we have no business taking on the project in the first place. sorry, but i person hate the idea of living a second-rate, econo-city. :shrug:


i applaud the efforts of stopthelandfill.org


Ah, yes. Who wouldn't applaud rhetoric such as this...


Berger park is a Chicago park district park located on Sheridan Road and is also located directly upon the beach in the "endangered zone". It is a beautiful experience for children to play there. What do we tell the children when they ask us why we let the FOTP extend Lake Shore Drive (US Route 41) right next to their playground? Click here to see what it is like now.

(from http://stopthelandfill.org/endangeredparkspace.aspx)


Won't someone *please* think of the children!

Of course, the idea that Friends Of The Parks wants to extend LSD is a given. Nevermind evidence to the contrary. There must be a secret cabal of highly connected individuals that want to pave every inch of Chicago and they have *clearly* infiltrated FOTP.

What bollocks! Has anyone even bothered to look at the proposals that are on the FOTPs website? Everyone just takes for granted that the drawings on stopthelandfill.org are God's law. Well, folks, take a look for yourself:

http://www.fotp.org/programs/pubtrust/northsidemay28pdf.pdf
http://www.fotp.org/programs/pubtrust/Edgewater0908.pdf

Take note of the fact that none of the 10-odd proposals include any extension of LSD. In fact, any landfill put in would be for the exclusive use of pedestrians and bikes. Also take note of the fact that FOTP has *never* advocated for the extension of LSD.

So by all means, support the NIMBY's when they fall on your side for a particular issue. Just don't be surprised when they stab you in the back the next time a project you like comes down the pike.

Such shortsighted nonsense...

Taft

[Nowhereman1280]

Yeah driving your car and parking in a nice big parking lot is just a great use of the lakefront, if you know where to walk the lakefront is very accesible in Edgewater and Rogers Park....they are arguably the most neighnorhood accesible beachfronts in the city....they employ a novel modality of transport...walking

Yes, very logical response seeing as how I was advocating building a giant parking lot along the lakefront... :sly: :koko:

Seriously, who was advocating building parking lots and more cars? I guess a lot of people use LSD to get to the park :koko: . Or maybe you are suggesting that I use a car to get to the park. Yes, I, living on the 50th floor of a building adjacent to the park less than a half mile south of where this proposal would be built, use a car to drive into the park the whole 20ft from the entrance of our garage to the gate in our fence that leads into the park...

No in all honesty, not trying to be mean, but WTH are you talking about?

[VivaLFuego]

.........................:sly:


waste money to prove a point?

Hey, I thought we should demand flawless, uncompromising design for any project. I'm just telling you how we might accomplish that.


So by all means, support the NIMBY's when they fall on your side for a particular issue. Just don't be surprised when they stab you in the back the next time a project you like comes down the pike.

Such shortsighted nonsense...
Precisely. They should not be supported or applauded for being right for such a dramatically wrong reason. That website is indeed blood-boilingly selfish and short-sighted. The attitudes on display should concern AXS much more, if the goal is to be forward-thinking, progressive, and welcoming of change and improvement in urban design. Ally with these tools and AXS can surely kiss goodbye his dream of a city full of uneconomical, non-functional, experimentally quasi-modern urban scultpure. :friendly needling: :whip:

[honte]

South Side Update: They are currently demolishing the massive and horribly ugly ramp that leads up and over the street to Sox Park. Anyone know what's up? Is this prep work to sell the north side of 35th to a developer for the mixed-use development they hope to attract?

[ardecila]

South Side Update: They are currently demolishing the massive and horribly ugly ramp that leads up and over the street to Sox Park. Anyone know what's up? Is this prep work to sell the north side of 35th to a developer for the mixed-use development they hope to attract?

Unfortunately not. They are demolishing the east half of the ramp structure, and replacing it with a more expansive ramp containing retail space (gift shop). This new structure will be in a postmodern style like the rest of the ballpark, although I really hope it's not the watered-down Wal-Mart quality of the rest of the stadium.

Description and drawings from 'sox102' at White Sox Interactive, who is a glass contractor bidding for the project:

Description
I am still working on the bid for the latest renovations. It is a two story building with the Novelty Store. They are moving the ticket windows and main entry towards the parking lot and looks like they are creating an outdoor area that is fenced in. Maybe for the smokers? Can't really tell. Also installing a new grand stairway that will lead up to the Main Concourse level. Removing one set of escalators (along with the East part of the north ramp). The eastern most bridge over 35th Street will only have access at the Main Concourse level now. There will be access from the new area to the existing West part of the north ramp.

Plan
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/9867/siteplansf9.jpg

South Elevation
http://img366.imageshack.us/img366/2623/southzk5.jpg

North Elevation
http://img366.imageshack.us/img366/4197/northpe3.jpg

[honte]

^ Oh yeah, THAT's what I was hoping to see. Ugh.

Thanks for cluing me in... sometimes you wonder why you even bother to get your hopes up.

[Patel]

Thanks Tom for that Plenza photo journal.

I wonder if the rust was figured into the long term maintenance of the work?

High pressure washers are a tuckpointers helper in the long haul.


I wonder the effects of this art after a few decades of freeze and thaw cycles.

This one seems to be a delicate, in our climate, one or am I wrong on this assertion?

[ardecila]

Iron filters are a common and inexpensive device in Chicagoland, where water has a high iron content. I'm sure a solution to this problem can be figured out.

I thought Chicago's water treatment plants are supposed to remove these high iron levels. Maybe the iron came from somewhere else, like an old rusting pipe somewhere along the chain?

[the urban politician]

Two page article (click link for the whole thing):

Who You Calling Second City? (http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2008-10-31/chicago-power/)
by Scott Turow

Chicago, my hometown, and far more significantly, that of Sen. Barack Obama, appears poised with his election as president—pooh, pooh, pooh!—to become the Center of the Known Universe. For a city with a permanent chip on its shoulder, a place that willingly refers to itself as the Second City and which deeply identifies with the perpetual failures of the Cubs, who, as I like to say, teach us to take the bitter with the bad—for that place, becoming in many senses the most important city in America will require some serious attitude adjustment.

But the transformation appears imminent. The president’s home city and state traditionally prosper from added attention and influence, as well as the influx of visitors inspired by curiosity about our nation’s leader. More important, Barack has already signaled that Chicago will also be America’s political center. In June, the candidate-designate merged the Democratic National Committee into his own campaign apparatus and officially moved the DNC to Chicago. The decision produced not only a more efficient and less rivalrous organization, but it also, in some eyes, deepened the political insight. Roland Martin, the esteemed radio host and CNN political commentator, credits Obama’s decision to move the Democratic National Committee to Chicago as one of the key factors in keeping his campaign in touch with the “real” America, by removing campaign officials from the barrage of conventional wisdom absorbed in the media capitals and the beltway. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. As president, Obama’s political apparatus is virtually certain to stay here.

Even the most hard-bitten Chicagoans have to see very good times on the horizon.

But that is not the only reason that Chicago is about to become a place with formidable political swack. There is a kind of perfect storm brewing that will greatly enhance Chicago as a power center. The Assistant Majority Leader in the Senate, Dick Durbin, the likely Majority Leader if Harry Reid ever steps down, is from Illinois, and on the House side, Rahm Emanuel, a representative from Chicago, is Chair of the Democratic Caucus, the number four position in the Democratic leadership. Jan Schakowsky, a congresswoman whose district includes parts of the North Side of Chicago, is also a member of the House leadership, as a Chief Deputy Whip. All three—Durbin, Emanuel and Schakowsky—have unusually close relations with Obama. Emanuel, a fabled political operative, who was Director of Finance in Bill Clinton’s original presidential campaign and then a senior adviser to the president, has emerged as an important figure in the Obama campaign this fall. Durbin and Schakowsky may be even closer to the man who would be prez. As the private lore goes, it was those two who were the first major elected officials in 2005 to try to convince Obama to take on Hillary Clinton in the primaries. They argued, reportedly, that Sen. Clinton would make a wonderful president, but that she would prove unelectable in November and that Obama was the only figure in the Democratic party who could seize part of Clinton’s base and wrest the nomination from her, thus saving the party—and the nation—for another four years of ruinous Republican rule. Durbin may be the closest of all to Obama, a sage figure with a sharp political wit, who mentored our junior Senator even before his election and who, should he care to leave the Senate, could end up as Attorney General.

Not only is there an unusually strong coterie of congressional leaders from Chicago, but the city is also the home to David Axelrod, Obama’s chief political strategist. Axelrod has been the keeper of the flame from the start. Even in the grim days last October, when Hillary Clinton was blowing Barack away in national polls, Axelrod was sanguine, even in private. He reminded friends that at the same point four years before the “inevitable” Democratic nominee had been—remember him?—Howard Dean. Instead, Axelrod was confident that Obama had been handed a unique advantage that would lead to victory in the Iowa caucuses. The date of the event had been pushed so far forward in the game of leapfrog being played with New Hampshire and other states that the college students, who were Obama’s chief bastion of support, would still be home on Christmas vacation. Axelrod was sure they would arrive in record numbers to caucus for his—and their—man. They did. It is great to be loyal in politics. But it is even better to be right. Axelrod’s crystal ball has been the best in the business this year.

[Loopy]

Iron filters are a common and inexpensive device in Chicagoland, where water has a high iron content. I'm sure a solution to this problem can be figured out.

I thought Chicago's water treatment plants are supposed to remove these high iron levels. Maybe the iron came from somewhere else, like an old rusting pipe somewhere along the chain?

It's algae. Algae turns dark brown when it is dry and dormant.

[lawfin]

Yes, very logical response seeing as how I was advocating building a giant parking lot along the lakefront... :sly: :koko:

Seriously, who was advocating building parking lots and more cars? I guess a lot of people use LSD to get to the park :koko: . Or maybe you are suggesting that I use a car to get to the park. Yes, I, living on the 50th floor of a building adjacent to the park less than a half mile south of where this proposal would be built, use a car to drive into the park the whole 20ft from the entrance of our garage to the gate in our fence that leads into the park...

No in all honesty, not trying to be mean, but WTH are you talking about?

My reply while in response to you was not neccesarily directed only at you.....so easy on the egotism....

I really could not care how YOU get to the lake / beach .....I do care how we promote transport methods for the thousands of people who do venture to the lake on a daily basis...

And yes thousands of people use the drive to get to the lake....just venture on down to montrose or wilson or foster or recreation drive especially during the summer.

The plans as posted strike me as somewhat updated versions of what we have south of hollywood to fullerton.....which are often auto clogged unlike just about anywhere in the metro area on nice summmer days esp in the eveneing and on weekends

Additionally I would have concerns about regultory taking as those owners of beach steeet end home would be facing serious property value loss if this plan came to fruition.

Also but quite frankly the simple economic cost of this would be staggering....we have many other higher priority needs in this city ....CTA funding, schools, police funding, raising clearances under over passes to accomodate larger trucks, just to name a few.

Look Loyola tried to put in a landfill back in the late 80's - early 90's.....it was struck down for multiple reasons.....Army Corp of engineers, Aspen living on ALbion..etc

this will never happen so our argument is moot




If you'd like to trade yarns about accessing the beach PM me as to not waste OPT

[dropdeaded209]

From Crain's:

Gourmet grocer Fox & Obel and trendy surf-wear retailer Billabong are dropping plans for stores in the former Carson Pirie Scott & Co. building on State Street, leaving the ambitious project with only one tenant as it approaches an opening next fall amid the bleakest retail climate in decades.

Full story (http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=31637&seenIt=1)

[BWChicago]

Additionally I would have concerns about regultory taking as those owners of beach steeet end home would be facing serious property value loss if this plan came to fruition.

Also but quite frankly the simple economic cost of this would be staggering....we have many other higher priority needs in this city ....CTA funding, schools, police funding, raising clearances under over passes to accomodate larger trucks, just to name a few.

Look Loyola tried to put in a landfill back in the late 80's - early 90's.....it was struck down for multiple reasons.....Army Corp of engineers, Aspen living on ALbion..etc

You do realize that the entire lakefront is landfill, right? Everything on the inner drive used to be on the lakefront, everything on Michigan avenue, everything bordering lincoln park, etc. It's not really taking if it's not taking any property.

[ChicagoChicago]

You do realize that the entire lakefront is landfill, right? Everything on the inner drive used to be on the lakefront, everything on Michigan avenue, everything bordering lincoln park, etc. It's not really taking if it's not taking any property.Mother Nature called, she wants Streeterville back.

In all seriousness, I'm a little disappointed that people are using the term “landfill” as if it’s a bad word. Most anyone that lives in Chicago lives on landfill. Almost the entire area was a marshy swamp when it was first founded. My personal opinion is that this town doesn’t have enough green space as it is, so why are we rejecting initial proposals for more of it, without seeing what our options are?

[Taft]

Mother Nature called, she wants Streeterville back.

In all seriousness, I'm a little disappointed that people are using the term “landfill” as if it’s a bad word. Most anyone that lives in Chicago lives on landfill. Almost the entire area was a marshy swamp when it was first founded. My personal opinion is that this town doesn’t have enough green space as it is, so why are we rejecting initial proposals for more of it, without seeing what our options are?

Your last line is absolutely perfect.

Taft

[nomarandlee]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-skyline1103nov03,0,4607073.story

Our skyline on pause
Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin sees Chicago's soaring artistry stall as money woes leave Spire, other towers short
Tribune staff report
November 3, 2008

A big chill is about to hit the city of big shoulders.

In the wake of the global credit crisis, Chicago's once-superheated skyline—radically transformed during the last 10 years by one of the greatest building booms in the city's history—is on the verge of being frozen in place.

With future projects on hold, the construction cranes that symbolize the city's vitality gradually will disappear. There will be less outlandish architecture for the city's boosters to crow about. Chicago, which prides itself on skyscrapers that combine the soaring artistry of the architect and the cunning ambition of the developer, will lose some of its swagger.

How long the freeze will last is hard to predict. But it's clear that a chill has set in. And the trend reaches beyond the halt in construction on two supertall skyscrapers, including the twisting Chicago Spire that promised to soar 2,000 feet above the city's lakefront.

The credit crunch has staggered the city's condominium market. Although developers are expected to deliver a record-smashing 4,900 units this year, fewer than 500 units may be finished in 2010.

"We have ground to a halt," said Gail Lissner, vice president of Appraisal Research Counselors of Chicago.

For a decade now, Chicago has been on an astonishing building binge. Since 1998, developers here have completed or started construction on more than 195 high-rise buildings, according to the Emporis building database. (A high-rise is defined as a building at least 12 stories tall.) That's more high-rises than there are in all of Detroit (132), St. Louis (106) or Milwaukee (83).

The boom will reach a symbolic climax when a helicopter lifts sections of a bright-gray spire atop the Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago, probably in mid-November. City officials postponed the installation, which had been planned for Saturday and Sunday, because of unresolved safety concerns. At a total height of 1,361 feet, the Trump skyscraper will be the tallest built in the United States since the 1974 completion of the 1,450-foot Sears Tower.

But now, a drought in major construction projects looms, not just in Chicago, but in New York and cities nationwide. And that may take some getting used to, especially for recent arrivals used to the sight of multiple construction cranes dotting the skyline and the sound of whirring cement-mixers. During the surge, Chicago's skyline morphed significantly.

New skyscrapers, mostly residential buildings, filled in the blanks between downtown high-rises or expanded the central area's reach to River North or the stretch of Lake Shore Drive across from Soldier Field. Towers popped up like beanstalks behind the cliff of skyscrapers along Michigan Avenue across from Millennium Park. And they wrapped like arms around the north and south sides of Grant Park.

To be sure, the city has weathered building busts before, most notably during the Great Depression and World War II. Some rental high-rises remain in the pipeline. And work stoppages on iconic skyscrapers are not unprecedented, though the delays were caused by faulty construction rather than financing woes. In 1966, construction halted for months on the X-braced, 100-story John Hancock Center to repair defective caissons.

Architecture fans also can take comfort in the fact that work on a handful of eye-popping towers is still steaming ahead. This week, in the 200 block of North Columbus Drive, construction crews reached the 59th floor of the 82-story Aqua residential tower, whose curving white balconies lend the skyscraper a voluptuous profile. Aqua's first residents are expected to move in next April.

But Aqua's developers have put on hold a nearby, 76-story mixed-use tower designed by Miami architects Arquitectonica. A dramatic, 20-story hole was to be sliced into the tower's midsection, recalling the Arquitectonica-designed high-rises seen on "Miami Vice."

"The banks essentially are gun-shy about any large project," said the project's developer, Jim Loewenberg, the co-chief executive officer of the Magellan Development Group.

At the Spire site, 400 N. Lake Shore, the grandly conceived tower is nothing more than a hole in the ground surrounded by a ring of caissons. Construction cranes are gone. It is unclear when, if ever, they will return.

Developer Garrett Kelleher has spent at least $50 million on construction, according to project spokeswoman Kim Metcalfe. She cites that investment as evidence that work on the project will resume and that it will open in 2012, even though the skyscraper's star architect, Santiago Calatrava, recently filed a lien seeking more than $11.3 million in payment from Kelleher.

"When you've invested this much time, effort and tangible money in the project, it is not not going to happen," Metcalfe said.

Work also is frozen at 111 W. Wacker Drive, home to Chicago's other stalled supertall skyscraper, the Waterview Tower and Shangri-La Hotel. (To be considered "supertall," a skyscraper needs to be at least 1,000 feet high.)

The firm that developed and designed Waterview, Chicago-based Teng, planned for it to reach an impressive 1,047 feet, a foot taller than New York's celebrated Chrysler Building. Instead, the project is stuck on the 26th floor, its exposed concrete frame looming over Wacker.

Teng announced in April that the Beijing Construction Engineering Group Co. Ltd. and its American subsidiary would arrange for more than $300 million in construction financing to finish the job. Yet construction remains on hold. Sean McMahon, a spokesman for Teng, did not return telephone calls.

There are other signs of a skyline on hold. Since July, there has been no construction on the 16-story Staybridge Suites hotel at 127 W. Huron St., where the developer is Duke Miglin, son of cosmetics entrepreneur Marilyn Miglin and the late developer Lee Miglin. Although the building's innovative structural frame is complete, the frame is not covered. And winter is coming, with its destructive snow and ice.

"You can't let building materials sit exposed that weren't intended to be exposed for a long time," said the building's architect, Joe Valerio of Chicago. Miglin did not respond when asked to discuss the project.

In Trump's camp, the fate of the competing supertalls is hardly reason to gloat. For two years, the developer has been stuck at 75 percent in his quest to sell off all the units in the 92-story tower. A developer typically makes profit by selling off the final 10 percent to 20 percent.

"He's only going to barely make it financially because of the market hitting this crisis point," said architect Adrian Smith, who designed the tower while at the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and is now at his own firm. "Luckily, it's done. It's a matter of timing."

bkamin@tribune.com

click on link

[BVictor1]

thought I should let you know that this Thursday, 6-Nov, the city is having a public meeting to discuss plans for:

- Navy Pier;

- Coast Guard Boat House and Public Attractions;

- DuSable Park.



The meeting is at 5:30pm in room 328 (entry Door #2) at the East end of Navy Pier.



Alderman Reilly (42d) and others will be there.



Hope to see you there.

[photolitherland]

If Obama becomes president (We can only hope!!!!) than I dont think that Chicago will be any better off than it is now. Its not like all of the sudden people will be flocking there just because Obama is president. I mean, Clinton was from Little Rock and Little Rock still looks pretty much the same as it did in the 90's. There is the Clinton Library which has revitalized parts of downtown but still. People didnt flock to LR just because Bill lived there.

[intrepidDesign]

Chicago is not Little Rock by any means, and while I don't think we are in a unique situation, I'd like to think this isn't just another election, and not just any ol town.

[Nowhereman1280]

Obama moved the entire democratic party machine here. People are already "flocking" here because he forced them to. If he becomes president, then those operations stay here. Also, reporters will permanently be setting up shop. Both of these things will probably contribute millions of dollars a year to the Chicago economy on their own. Also, if our little spectacle tomorrow night is just another thing that will increase the world's knowledge of this relatively unknown city and may just catch a few foreigners eyes.

Thats not even considering this could seal the deal with the olympics coming here...

[OhioGuy]

From Crain's:

Gourmet grocer Fox & Obel and trendy surf-wear retailer Billabong are dropping plans for stores in the former Carson Pirie Scott & Co. building on State Street, leaving the ambitious project with only one tenant as it approaches an opening next fall amid the bleakest retail climate in decades.

Full story (http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=31637&seenIt=1)

This is unfortunate. :(

[denizen467]

home to Chicago's other stalled supertall skyscraper, the Waterview Tower and Shangri-La Hotel. (To be considered "supertall," a skyscraper needs to be at least 1,000 feet high.)

Looks like Blair is definitely a SSP acolyte - this is more or less just a nerd definition used on sites like this. Yoo-hoo, where are you Blair?

[Ch.G, Ch.G]

Two page article (click link for the whole thing):

Who You Calling Second City? (http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2008-10-31/chicago-power/)
by Scott Turow

^ :tup: Good find, TUP. I remember making a similar argument awhile back about the Chicago power nexus in D.C. should Obama win (minus Schakowsky who I didn't know about until reading this article). In the very least, it means more pork for the city; but I'm also in the camp that believes this would be the biggest boon to Chicago's Olympic bid.

A city's image doesn't change overnight but through its constant presence on the (inter)national stage over a sustained period of time. Obama's nearly two year presidential bid has certainly had this effect-- from the numerous references to and anecdotes about the city in his stump speeches to the consolidation of his HQ and the DNC here. The images to be broadcasted around the world tomorrow will be the most potent argument for the city yet, I imagine.

So... who's going to be there tomorrow night? I just got emailed my ticket this evening and am so fucking excited...

[ardecila]

Everybody who can remember, please go to the Old Post Office meeting on Thursday! It's hosted by Friends of Downtown at 12:15 in the Millennium Room at the Chicago Cultural Center.

I would definitely be going if I was in Chicago, but since I'm not, I have to rely on y'all.

[SolarWind]

Not sure if anyone's noticed this, but since this summer the Plenza fountains at Millenium Park have been in dire need of cleaning. . . well now that fountain season is over they're doing just that. . .
November 3, 2008

http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/6168/dsc0050ac1.jpg

Looks much better.

[denizen467]

Quote=Solarwind Looks much better.

^ Phew. And just in time for a few international visitors (media) passing by there starting tomorrow night...

[harryc]

Nov 4th lunch
Couldn't get very close to the rally site, actually went around Grant park which was locked up tight. other shots in BCBS, OMP(W), and OMP.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_8TC_VUmf9Fw/SRD8Gh6Mv-I/AAAAAAAA9zE/yQvsdetqpsU/s800/P1130551.JPG

Press had to walk in and out
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_8TC_VUmf9Fw/SRD8IHGaT9I/AAAAAAAA9zQ/ifYDb5HOkQY/s800/P1130554.JPG

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_8TC_VUmf9Fw/SRD8JMZCpGI/AAAAAAAA9zc/LV8QiQSPsVQ/s800/P1130555.JPG

Good looking city
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_8TC_VUmf9Fw/SRD8LBShbPI/AAAAAAAA9zo/WRWjvhxUuO4/s800/P1130558.JPG

Lining up before lunch
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_8TC_VUmf9Fw/SRD8MIjkL-I/AAAAAAAA9z0/i-1zoQ1PqxI/s800/P1130576.JPG

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_8TC_VUmf9Fw/SRD8Q2A7JEI/AAAAAAAA90Y/WpaYatBgXIE/s800/P1130586.JPG

T-Shirts
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_8TC_VUmf9Fw/SRD8OSkpwiI/AAAAAAAA90A/VW2LCAvSGsc/s800/P1130579.JPG

Serious antenna from the CPD
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_8TC_VUmf9Fw/SRD8O3qRogI/AAAAAAAA90M/jOcA7QB08CU/s800/P1130584.JPG


Not sure what this one is, seen from Roosevelt, looking WNW.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_8TC_VUmf9Fw/SRD5jzREQHI/AAAAAAAA9yM/hyIhhqpjm58/s800/P1130569.JPG

[ChicagoChicago]

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_8TC_VUmf9Fw/SRD8JMZCpGI/AAAAAAAA9zc/LV8QiQSPsVQ/s800/P1130555.JPG

WOW! Love that shot of...ahem...the bus! :worship:

[jjk1103]

.....does anyone know if there is a new link for the Art Institute Modern Wing web cam.....the current one has been dormant for almost a month........

[BVictor1]

Daniel Burnham's 1909 Plan of Chicago:

Centennial Symposium on Grant Park

Burnham's Vision: Grant Park's Role, Past, Present and Future...



Meeting Details:



When: Wednesday, November 19th, 2008 at 6:30pm



Where: Spertus Institute's Crown Family Great Hall - 9th Floor

610 S. Michigan Avenue





The Centennial of the 1909 Plan of Chicago is almost here and we have assembled a panel of experts to discuss Grant Park. This will be part of a series of discussions over the next year. The history over the last hundred years, the present and the future will all be discussed in a visual presentation.





The Grant Park Advisory Council and Grant Park Conservancy are proud to announce our distinguished panel for the evening:







Geoffrey Baer

Geoffrey Baer Tours Host and Producer at WTTW Channel 11



Geoffrey is an expert on all things in and around Chicago. From the El, the river, the lake and from the south and west suburbs to the very north and all in between, Geoffrey shows us a side of the city we have rarely seen before. He makes it fascinating. He is a graduate of Northwestern University and Miami University. His latest program: Chicago's Lakefront is coming in December 2008!



Gordon Gill, AIA

Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture



Gordon is a managing partner at Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture. He has designed award-winning architecture across the globe. His work emphasizes a holistic approach to design that works with natural surroundings- contributing to the sustainability of cities and augmenting the built landscape. Gordon?s work includes the design of the world?s first net Zero-Energy skyscraper, Pearl River Tower, and the first mixed-use positive energy building, the Masdar Headquarters. He was recently recognized for his Grant Park/Monroe Harbor Eco-Bridge which proposes the breakwater called for in Daniel Burnham's 1909 Plan, the last of its major components. This would be a grand civic space with a soft shoreline and a place to learn from and study Great Lakes ecology. These landmark projects exemplify Gordon?s philosophy that architecture must strike a balance with its global environmental context. Prior to founding Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture LLP in 2006, Gordon was an Associate Partner at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP and a Director of Design for VOA Associates. Gordon has a Masters of Architecture from Harvard University and one from the University of Texas.

Web page: www.smithgill.com

Linda Keane, AIA



Linda is a National Council of Architectural Registration Boards Professor of Architecture and Environmental Design at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Linda is an architect and environmental designer. She combines an architectural practice with environmental design leadership developing eco literacy initiatives that use animation and the Internet to introduce design thinking to the design-denied public. During her tenure as Chair of the Department of Architecture, Interior Architecture and Designed Objects at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, she initiated new undergraduate and graduate architecture curricula. She continues to work on green initiatives along the Chicago- Milwaukee corridor understanding that environmental issues are in part issues in education. She directed the City of Chicago?s Green Roof Website, advised Metropolis 2020?s Metro Joe?s Regional Web Game, and, with a team of teachers, students, architects and designers, co-created www.NEXT.cc, an educational non profit art + design eco web community promoting environmental stewardship across the K-12 curriculum.

Web page: www.studio1032.com




John McCarron



John is a contributing columnist for the Chicago Tribune and an adjunct Professor at Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism. John has covered all things urban throughout his long and recognized career having once covered the urban affairs beat for the Chicago Tribune. He also passes on his wealth of knowledge at Northwestern University, as well as through his numerous appearances on WTTW's Chicago Tonight including being a frequent Friday night guest on Channel 11?s The Week in Review.

He is also a former financial editor of The Tribune and former member of its editorial board. John continues to write a monthly column for the Tribune?s op-ed page. John was also a panel moderator on "Globalizing Cities - Chicago and the World" at UIC's 2006 Daley Urban Forum.





Web page:

http://www.medill.northwestern.edu/faculty/adjunct.aspx?id=5785



Lawrence Okrent

Okrent Associates, Inc.



Larry is a Chicago-based planning and zoning consultant with over 35 years experience in Chicago and around the world specializing in land planning and zoning, aerial photography, mapping, and graphic design for real estate marketing materials. Some of his work in Chicago includes the Chicago 21 Plan (Central Area) and Dearborn Park. He began his career at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, where he was a member of the planning staff for 10 years. Larry has processed dozens of planned developments in Chicago, including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Michigan Avenue?s Park Tower, and the expansions of the Adler Planetarium, the Museum of Science and Industry, Shedd Aquarium and the Field Museum.

Larry also has an extensive image base of Chicago's past which he will be sharing with us.

He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and a recipient of a Master's degree from Northwestern University.



Web page: www.okrentassociates.com.



Robert O'Neill

Moderator

President, Grant Park Conservancy and Advisory Council

Web page: www.grantparkconservancy.com.





Mark Sexton

Krueck + Sexton Architects, Principal

Mark is the architect of the new Spertus Institute, the Chicago Children?s Museum and the Crown Fountain in Millennium Park among many other projects. The Spertus Institute was an interesting challenge. It contains over 700 pieces of glass shaped in over 500 unique ways, including parallelograms tilting in different directions. Mark also designed the Penguin Seabird House at the Lincoln Park Zoo and the Art Institute of Chicago?s Joseph Cornell Galleries, and the Herman Miller showroom, the Shure Technology Center and the renovation of Mies van der Rohe?s S.R. Crown Hall and 860-880 Lake Shore Drive cooperative. Mark lectures around the world and is a member of the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects and, with Ronald Krueck, was named Chicagoan of the Year by the Chicago Tribune. Mark has a Bachelor of Architecture from the Illinois Institute of Technology.

Web page: www.ksarch.com.


Dr. Carl Smith

Northwestern University

Carl is a Franklyn Bliss Snyder Professor of English & American Studies at Northwestern University. He is the author of Chicago: Daniel Burnham and the Remaking of the American City, which was named Best Book in American Planning History by the Society for American City and Regional Planning History. In collaboration with The Art Institute of Chicago, he wrote the text and coordinated the preparation of the digital essay, The Plan of Chicago (http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/10537.html),
He teaches American literature and cultural history and holds a joint appointment in the history department. Dr. Smith has a Ph.D. American Studies, Yale University.

Web page: www.history.northwestern.edu/faculty/smith.htm .

Dr. Howard Sulkin

Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies, President and CEO



Dr. Sulkin has a perfect view of Grant Park's progress at the newly-constructed Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies where he has served as President for over 20 years. He has been involved in activating the park as well as in preserving its history. As an institution on the park, directly influenced by Burnham's plan, Howard has a unique perspective on both its history and its future. Founded in 1924, Spertus Institute is a multi-purpose institution for Jewish studies, and awards graduate degrees, has a major continuing education program, and an extensive library, archives and museum. He also serves as a Trustee of the Institute. Prior to going to Spertus Institute, Dr. Sulkin was at DePaul University, where he was founding Dean of their School for New Learning, and then University Vice-President. Howard received his M.B.A., MA. and Ph.D. degrees from The University of Chicago, and a L.H.D. degree (honoris causa) from DePaul University, and he serves on several civic boards.

Web page: www.spertus.edu



We'd like to thank the panelists for the gift of both their time and invaluable expertise. We'd also like to thank the generous support of the Spertus Institute for hosting all of us in its magnificent and topic-appropriate space... affording all a view of Daniel Burnham?s and Edward Bennett's great work.



Also, coming in 2009 is the 50th anniversy of Queen Elizabeth II's visit to Chicago and the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway. This area, where she arrived, is known as Queen's Landing at Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park. It was the first time in history that a reigning British monarch had come to Chicago.



I look forward to welcoming you all to this exciting symposium celebrating the centennial of Daniel Burnham's great Plan of Chicago.

[i_am_hydrogen]

Not sure what this one is, seen from Roosevelt, looking WNW.

Astoria Tower, I believe.

[SolarWind]

Astoria Tower, I believe.
Yep, Astoria Tower. I noticed it's now visible from the BP Bridge.

October 22, 2008
http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/5977/dsc0171el4.jpg
^ view from OMP

[Jibba]

^Is that one clad in brick? It appears as though it is from the coloring. The render on page one really isn't detailed enough for me to tell.

Edit: just checked the rundown page to get a refresher, and while I'm still not clear about the cladding, I'm certainly not holding my breath for the top-out of this one: the "crown" is absolutely silly and awful. Too bad, cause so far it seems decent enough.

[jc5680]

Is that one clad in brick? It appears as though it is from the coloring. The render on page one really isn't detailed enough for me to tell.

yes it is.

[sulthana.fds]

I agree in general that the money should be spent Regionally.. but this region has a poor track record for cooperation.The best we can hope for is that it actually went into Chicago infrastructure programs.
-----------
sulthana

Blaze Infotech (http://www.blazeinfotech.com)

[Jibba]

^If that's someone's idea of a "smart" software bot, then they need to refine it a little bit more.

[denizen467]

Overheard on the teevee:

Chris Matthews on his Hardball show talks about how the NYT and Chicago Tribune printed up tens of thousands of extra copies of their election result covers, and then he interrupts himself:


"By the way, after all that's happened this week, should we still be calling Chicago" - pauses for emphasis - "the Second City?"


That's pretty bold coming from the national newsmedia (even if half joking) and the first time I've heard a thought leader from the coasts posit such a thing.

[harryc]

Overheard on the teevee:
...

"By the way, after all that's happened this week, should we still be calling Chicago" - pauses for emphasis - "the Second City?"


That's pretty bold coming from the national newsmedia (even if half joking) and the first time I've heard a thought leader from the coasts posit such a thing.

I've lived in NYC ( Brooklyn ) and I've lived in Chicago, Chicago IS the second city, and this is good.

[harryc]

Silver Tower in the background, parking sstructure caison work in the foreground, 421(?) N Clark .
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_8TC_VUmf9Fw/SRRJhBbJPBI/AAAAAAAA96U/hhcmfqYmb3Y/s800/P1130227.JPG



http://lh5.ggpht.com/_8TC_VUmf9Fw/SRRKN4ptnTI/AAAAAAAA96g/V6GCldn2YRY/s720/P1130229.JPG
and yet these guys are always smiling.

[ardecila]

Shaping up the hulk
OLD POST OFFICE | Offices, condos may be coming, chunk of middle section going
November 7, 2008
BY DAVID ROEDER droeder@suntimes.com
------------------
The long renovation of Chicago's "incredible hulk," the old Chicago post office that spans the Eisenhower Expy., should start later next year, with office tenants probably the first new users in the space a couple of years after that, a developer of the project said Thursday.

Thomas Omundson, president of the Omundson Co., said he expects interior work to start a few months after city officials approve a contract for a $51 million subsidy for the project. Omundson is an investor in the deal with Chicago's Walton Street Capital.

Their proposal might be subtitled "Shrink to Conquer." It would reduce the size of the 2.5 million-square-foot structure by about a third, taking out most of the large, dark floors that cross the Ike as it becomes Congress Pkwy. The developers would renovate the building's north and south ends for offices and condominiums, respectively.

The remaining middle section would get a hotel and a private park longer than a city block, Omundson said in a presentation to the group Friends of Downtown.

With the condo and hotel markets looking bleak, the 455,000-square-foot office portion should be the first to go forward, he said. "We've always had good traffic with the offices," he said.

On the project's financial viability, he said, "We've had financing lined up for quite some time, but the reality is we're not going forward with the project without commitments" from tenants and condo buyers.

A member of the audience asked Omundson about persistent rumors that the site would be perfect for a downtown casino. Mayor Daley wants one, but the General Assembly has not authorized a license for Chicago.

"We thought of that eight or nine years ago," Omundson replied, "but that is another life that we don't have time for."

The building was finished in stages starting in 1921. The U.S. Postal Service moved out of the structure at 401 W. Van Buren in 1996 but still owns it.

The long-term sales agreement, which could close next year, calls for the developers to buy it for $10 but get $9 million from the postal service for internal construction.

Because of the renovation's complexity, the building "truly has negative value," Omundson said, adding that it would cost twice the value of the land to tear it down.

[denizen467]

I've lived in NYC ( Brooklyn ) and I've lived in Chicago, Chicago IS the second city, and this is good.
Sure Chicago isn't all-around "first" and the idea is not that we'll be starting to vie with NYC for that.

I think the key thing here is a suggestion from the outside of removing any indelible label that appears to be forever subordinating Chicago to second place. It's recognition from the coastal intelligentsia that they should actually admit Chicago is superior on some things some of the time. Big mental block for many of those folks, you know.

It all sounds like a simple and obvious thing, but you never hear them actually say it. Good things are to come to the city now that the Western White House is here.

[nomarandlee]

:previous: Even more cool is I heard some Washington pundit suggest that it was that Obama was from Chicago was part of the reason more people not from the NE/West felt comfortable with that he was not seen as some detached coastal "elite". Something tells me there is a bit of truth to that analysis.



Post office
"We thought of that eight or nine years ago," Omundson replied, "but that is another life that we don't have time for."

Perhaps I am reading into words but it almost sounds like if the politics were right they would still want to do but can't anticipate it. Given that the middle portion is going to be a hotel and not expected to come on line till better days I wonder if plans can change or room left open for a configuration of a casino.
Did anyone go to the FOD gathering about the P.O.?

[Mr Downtown]

Did anyone go to the FOD gathering about the P.O.?

Yes. The context was the developer saying they've had the building under contract since 1999. They're on their 55th contract extension with USPS. The way I interpreted the quote was that the idea of a casino undoubtedly had been discussed, and probably even discussed with the mayor, but that Walton Street couldn't keep waiting around and make their project dependent on such a long-range and uncertain possibility. He also pointed out that even a casino is only 100,000 sf, which would only be 4 percent of the building's total 2.5 million sf.

[alex1]

Sure Chicago isn't all-around "first" and the idea is not that we'll be starting to vie with NYC for that.

I think the key thing here is a suggestion from the outside of removing any indelible label that appears to be forever subordinating Chicago to second place. It's recognition from the coastal intelligentsia that they should actually admit Chicago is superior on some things some of the time. Big mental block for many of those folks, you know.


Now that I live on the East Coast due to school and inbetween NYC and Boston, I've made both those cities my adopted hometowns (since New Haven & Connecticut blows).

For those instructors and students that have been to Chicago, it is a love relationship. I know of noone that disparages Chicago. Our architecture classes are many times dominated by Chicago (even though the focus of the class has tried to limit Chicago's influence in the discourse).

But there remains a certain sense of isolation for many who grew up on the East Coast. They tend to limit their travels to this part of the country and I can't say I blame them. The diversity out here is pretty amazing.

Even so, those who do make it out to Chicago, they're always so impressed with the lake, waterfront and the culinary delight that is the Windy City.

[Jibba]

Riverwalk work under Wabash
http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/9053/dsc055365488584sa6.jpg

[Ch.G, Ch.G]

Now that I live on the East Coast due to school and inbetween NYC and Boston, I've made both those cities my adopted hometowns (since New Haven & Connecticut blows).

For those instructors and students that have been to Chicago, it is a love relationship. I know of noone that disparages Chicago. Our architecture classes are many times dominated by Chicago (even though the focus of the class has tried to limit Chicago's influence in the discourse).

But there remains a certain sense of isolation for many who grew up on the East Coast. They tend to limit their travels to this part of the country and I can't say I blame them. The diversity out here is pretty amazing.

Even so, those who do make it out to Chicago, they're always so impressed with the lake, waterfront and the culinary delight that is the Windy City.

How do you make Boston an adopted hometown when it's over two-and-a-half hours away? As an Eli myself I know firsthand you barely have enough time to even ensconce yourself in New Haven-- which, really, is only limited by its size; it's not a bad place and, in fact, from an architectural perspective, is quite impressive.

Also, New York may be diverse (though I'm not sure how much longer that's to last in Manhattan), but Boston? I love it dearly but that city doesn't hold a candle to Chicago in terms of diversity.

The East Coast is great but, bottom line, it's highly parochial and very, very self-satisfied.

[the urban politician]

^ And with that, lets all please drop this topic before it gets any closer to a city vs. city shitfest

[jjk1103]

I've lived in NYC ( Brooklyn ) and I've lived in Chicago, Chicago IS the second city, and this is good.

.........how so ??:shrug: :shrug:

[the urban politician]

A small excerpt of recommendations recently made to Daley by the 21st Century Commission, which was created last year by him:

2.2 Aggressively incorporate transit-oriented development (TOD) principles into planning decisions to take full advantage of existing transit infrastructure:
2.2a Through TOD, maximize existing infrastructure in order to alleviate congestion, reduce travel times, and enhance quality of life in neighborhoods.
2.2b Adopt and use planning criteria that take full advantage of existing transit infrastructure.
2.3 Support projects that enhance access for passengers and cargo to and from O'Hare International Airport.
2.4 Improve access and transfers across transit modes:
2.4a Offer integrated fare cards, valid on CTA, Metra and Pace.
2.4b Enable riders of all transit systems to purchase fare cards using credit and debit cards, and consider expansion of electronic fare "smart cards."

The whole report here:

http://www.cityofchicago.org:80/city/webportal/portalContentItemAction.do?BV_SessionID=@@@@2030488143.1226256498@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccccadefjfgfkffcefecelldffhdfif.0&contentOID=537018715&contenTypeName=COC_EDITORIAL&displayBack=null&topChannelName=HomePage&blockName=Content&context=Recent+News

[BWChicago]

From an email this morning:

Dear Colleagues,

DePaul moved one exciting step closer to elevating the prestige and possibilities of our renowned schools of music and theatre when the Board of Trustees gave its blessing to the direction we are heading to fulfill the facilities portion of VISION twenty12, our strategic plan for academic enrichment.

Faculty and staff will hear more about plans for new facilities over the next several months, along with our partners in the neighborhood, as we work toward City Council approval of a significant building plan that will improve dramatically our Lincoln Park Campus.

As you may recall, last March the board recommended that DePaul commence a master planning process for Lincoln Park. Since that time, the Strategic Facilities Committee was formed and has created draft plans that we will begin to share more widely. (...)

Creating marquee facilities for our music and theatre programs are the plan's main attractions. The plan will provide state-of-the-art performance and practice spaces long warranted by the quality of their students and faculty, who offer hundreds of concerts and plays each year. Many are free or have nominal ticket prices.

In addition, a new classroom facility is proposed for the center of campus to replace displaced classrooms. Plans also call for new art museum space recommended for the site of the temporary Fullerton El station and have a long-range goal of building a new residence hall on the site of the Sanctuary town homes.

Unlike our last plan that began in 1989 and saw the construction of the biological and environmental sciences center, new residence halls, the athletic, fitness and student centers and our first free-standing library, this plan is not designed to increase student enrollment. Like our new science building opening in January, the plan emphasizes academic quality, enabling our programs to use the latest techniques and technologies to prepare students for the diversity of careers they may pursue, from performance and concert halls to the halls of Congress.

We've already begun discussions with our neighborhood leaders. Early in the new year, we will participate in public meetings to share our ideas to contribute not just to a great campus, but to a great neighborhood. Once we have earned the support of our neighbors and our aldermen, we must submit a final draft plan to the City Council for review and approval.

As our plans become better defined in the coming months, I look forward to sharing details with faculty, staff, students and alumni, and then spending the coming years fulfilling our ambitious and important mission.

Sincerely,

Rev. Dennis Holtschneider, C.M.
President

I'm curious what the implications of "displaced classrooms" are, and what they mean by center of campus. I presume it would be the Fullerton/Sheffield site with the crappy shipping and receiving building and the strip mall and parking lot that used to have Blockbuster. This is also curious, as there have been a series of past plans for various skyscraper configurations in the Loop on the site of the CTI building on Wabash or the Wabash space around Symphony Center. This planning also has implications for the Merle Reskin/Blackstone Theater, since new theatre facilities would likely render it extraneous. I would imagine DePaul would then sell off the current Theater School facilities on Seminary south of Webster, as they are somewhat removed from the rest of campus. I also wonder how DePaul's recent acquisition of the Lytton building at State and Jackson plays into this.

[ethereal_reality]

FYI Chicago lovers.
I came across some slides of Chicago from the 1960s on ebay.
Sadly, I'm on budget right so I can't buy them.

Here's a pretty rare JHC under construction.

http://img239.imageshack.us/img239/7929/chgo1012hancockconstrucyn1.jpg


This one is from the Prudential Building.

http://img239.imageshack.us/img239/9852/chgo1012hanriver1960soc9.jpg

North Shore

http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/5854/chgo1012han1960sslidec1qg7.jpg


Here's another one of JHC under construction.

http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/7379/chgo1012hancockconstviejh5.jpg




Actually, I have an ulterior motive...I thought someone from skyscraperpage might buy them and scan them for the rest of us. :)

You can find them if you type in Kodachrome under Photographic images.

[spyguy]

http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/theskyline/2008/11/chicago-archi-1.html#more

Chicago architect Douglas Garofalo gets $50,000 grant for artistic excellence
Blair Kamin
Originally posted: November 10, 2008

...As he looks to the future and the possibility of some bigger projects, Garofalo has reason to hope that Chicago and the Midwest will recall their history of innovation, rather than just emulating it with mock Prairie Style houses and the like.

He's designing a 36-unit residential complex along the CTA's elevated tracks in Bucktown, a theater building for Logan Square and a summer home in Burlington, Wis., for the Manilow family of Chicago. Recently completed works include a soaring, visually dynamic lobby in Chicago's new high-tech center, the old Lytton Building at 235 S. State St., and, in the same structure, the offices of Thornton-Tomasetti Engineers.

[BWChicago]

http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/theskyline/2008/11/chicago-archi-1.html#more Recently completed works include a soaring, visually dynamic lobby in Chicago's new high-tech center, the old Lytton Building at 235 S. State St., and, in the same structure, the offices of Thornton-Tomasetti Engineers.

This is Chicago's "new" high tech center that was acquired by DePaul for use as class space. Oh well...

[BVictor1]

Trials and Tribulations: Daniel Burnham & Chicago City Planning in the 21st Century

Wednesday, December 3rd
5.30 - 8.00 pm (program begins at 6pm)

Columbia College
Film Row Cinema
1104 South Wabash, 8th Floor

One hundred years after the Plan of Chicago was published, downtown Chicago is a much different place than Burnham imagined -- though benefits and visions from his plan endure. Join the Friends of Downtown during its annual meeting to discuss if and how urban planning can work in the 21st Century. The evening features three experts on planning and development as they review the successes, failures, and potential future legacies of the Burnham Plan, followed by a group discussion.

We hope you will join us for an evening of light appetizers, drinks and discussion. Please call 312- 458-9454 or email info@friendsofdowntown.org if you plan to attend.

This event is free for Friends of Downtown members. You may become a member at the door and enjoy your membership through 2009.

[Jibba]

^Man, all these Burnham-inspired events are making my head spin. Architectural foundations are really making a big deal about the centennial. BLDGBLOG has had a bunch of posts about it as well. Kind of neat that everyone still gets so excited about it. I've been wanting to go to some of the events, but with so many I really don't know which ones to choose.

"Offshoring Audacity" sounded really neat (it was at the Chicago History Museum on the 8th), but I had to work during it. Anyway happen to catch that one?

[pottebaum]

[BWChicago]I presume it would be the Fullerton/Sheffield site with the crappy shipping and receiving building and the strip mall and parking lot that used to have Blockbuster.[/quote]

I hope so! That strip mall's a total eye-sore. I wonder if any new buildings would be completed by the time I graduate..(I'm a freshman this year)

[alex1]

How do you make Boston an adopted hometown when it's over two-and-a-half hours away? As an Eli myself I know firsthand you barely have enough time to even ensconce yourself in New Haven-- which, really, is only limited by its size; it's not a bad place and, in fact, from an architectural perspective, is quite impressive.

Also, New York may be diverse (though I'm not sure how much longer that's to last in Manhattan), but Boston? I love it dearly but that city doesn't hold a candle to Chicago in terms of diversity.

The East Coast is great but, bottom line, it's highly parochial and very, very self-satisfied.

we spend a lot of time in Boston during school breaks (summer for example) and visiting my fiance's family during the school year.

Obviously, the resources are much better in N.Y. and it's proximity makes it an easier destination during the school year. For both research and pleasure.

N.Haven is a joke. yeah, it's got some very fine buildings but the urban fabric of the city was removed unlike none other. Modernism had its most profound impact on this town and it has rarely been for the better.

I do love the reworked A&A building though. A Beauty. And Kahn's staircases at the Yale Gallery and BAC are nothing short of spiritual.

In any regard, the diversity I speak of is geographic in nature. The large number of destinations out here is reason enough to keep people from travelign to the Midwest much. Lots of nature and an extemely vibrant mix of large cities, and charming new England towns. So yeah, I agree with you, very self satisfied.

[alex1]

http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/theskyline/2008/11/chicago-archi-1.html#more

Chicago architect Douglas Garofalo gets $50,000 grant for artistic excellence
Blair Kamin
Originally posted: November 10, 2008

...As he looks to the future and the possibility of some bigger projects, Garofalo has reason to hope that Chicago and the Midwest will recall their history of innovation, rather than just emulating it with mock Prairie Style houses and the like.

He's designing a 36-unit residential complex along the CTA's elevated tracks in Bucktown, a theater building for Logan Square and a summer home in Burlington, Wis., for the Manilow family of Chicago. Recently completed works include a soaring, visually dynamic lobby in Chicago's new high-tech center, the old Lytton Building at 235 S. State St., and, in the same structure, the offices of Thornton-Tomasetti Engineers.

the man deserves it. Incredibly talented guy and from what I hear, he's an amazing mentor and person to work with.

[the urban politician]

Looks like the area around Doctors Hospital in Hyde Park was voted dry by referendum.

Good one, NIMBY's.... :rolleyes:

[honte]

^ That actually passed?

This is one preservation battle I just can't identify with... I think the building is unremarkable, and the site could be much better served by a higher-density use. Now this fight is having ramifications far beyond its target, and could backfire quite easily. Battles like this don't help the preservation cause very much in my opinion.

[ardecila]

^^ Is this just supposed to be a detriment to redevelopment, by forbidding any potential restaurants or banquet facilities from serving alcohol? I suppose this could lead to a crop of BYOB joints.

[VivaLFuego]

^^ Is this just supposed to be a detriment to redevelopment, by forbidding any potential restaurants or banquet facilities from serving alcohol?

Yes, and to satisfy the ego of the smog-belching communist NIMBY scumbags.

Yes, scumbags: they blatantly lied in their efforts to get this thing passed, and the whole neighborhood is worse off for it.

[honte]

^ Can you elaborate?

[VivaLFuego]

They lied about White Lodging's labor issues (the issue being that White Lodging is non-union - no jobs are better than non-union jobs apparently), they lied about the form the proposed hotel would take, they lied about the significance and feasibility of salvage of Dr.'s Hospital, they lied about the impact on light/air from the proposal, they lied about the parking impact, they lied about the negative impact of having a frickin upscale restaurant and banquet hall serving alcohol (apparently rowdy Bar Mitzvahs would spill over and mar the neighborhood).... how is that for starters?

This flyer/mailer is a decent microcosm:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Q_dSKYFCecw/SPIROqWt3CI/AAAAAAAAAJ4/HTgDl255X5s/s1600-h/Mailing+re+White+Lodging+retouched.jpg

Major weakness by the Alderman on this one. And the people who led the dry vote movement are truly a blight on the neighborhood and should be zoned out of their residence there.

Some pictures of inside the hospital too: http://hydeparkprogress.blogspot.com/2008/01/inside-drs-hospital-see-what-youre.html
A real gem for the neighborhood.

("smog-belching communist" refers to a few particular NIMBYs who led the charge that I don't see the need to name personally here, but I feel the description is fair and objectively accurate)

[Nowhereman1280]

I think this is a case where Arson could be a good thing... If the hospital were to burn to the ground, wouldn't they be forced to reconsider their "preservation". Or would the morons try to reconstruct it in the name of history...