CHICAGO | Legacy at Millennium Park | 819 FT / 250 M | 73 FLOORS | 2010 - Page 15

SolarWind · #**281** Posted **Nov 3, 2006, 11:17 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjk1103

...I was by the site yesterday and they have made substantial progress on the "facadectomy". It looks like the outside facades are now shored up and seroius demolition can begin.

November 2, 2006

Alliance · #**282** Posted **Nov 3, 2006, 7:50 PM**

Nice pics. I often enjoy seeing this stuff torn down almost as much as I enjoy seeing the stuff go up.

urban_encounter · #**283** Posted **Nov 3, 2006, 7:54 PM**

Thanks for the photos Solar...

Nice to see that they're trying to preserve paert of Chicago's past while building for it's future..

Lecom · #**284** Posted **Nov 3, 2006, 8:39 PM**

Looks like they're using the same facade braces as on Henry Miller Theater facade on Bank of America in New York.

Alliance · #**285** Posted **Nov 5, 2006, 1:16 AM**

It saddens me that this will block our only view of Hyatt from the park.

But its tall

museumparktom · #**286** Posted **Nov 5, 2006, 1:46 AM**

Solar that last shot? Where did you get that access - Rock On! Is there an alley that you went down? Spill.

BVictor1 · #**287** Posted **Nov 5, 2006, 2:06 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by museumparktom

Solar that last shot? Where did you get that access - Rock On! Is there an alley that you went down? Spill.

There's an alley there between the university club and the sharp building where these images were taken. hopefully the alley will be open like this for the duration of the construction.

SolarWind · #**288** Posted **Nov 5, 2006, 4:40 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by museumparktom

Solar that last shot? Where did you get that access - Rock On! Is there an alley that you went down? Spill.

Yeah, as mentioned by BVictor1, there's an alley off of Monroe that you can go down and take pictures. I was surprised by the progress made on demolition. I thought that would only take place after all the buildings were braced.

the urban politician · #**289** Posted **Nov 5, 2006, 5:01 PM**

Just a question for those of you who understand how 'facadectomies' work:

When a facadectomy occurs to, say, multiple buildings, does the new structure built behind the facade maintain the original separations between the buildings? I'm going to assume that they don't above the ground, but what about at street level (retail, etc)? Are the barriers between the buildings completely removed?

honte · #**290** Posted **Nov 5, 2006, 6:24 PM**

^ In this case, the Landmarks Commission has a lot to do with the internal organization of the structure. I believe they are insisting - for good reason - that the facade storefronts behave as independent units.

DePaul Bunyan · #**291** Posted **Nov 22, 2006, 6:37 AM**

Any updates? How will we know when they officially start construction, as this site is kind of tucked away behind a bunch of buildings?

BVictor1 · #**292** Posted **Nov 22, 2006, 9:52 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by DePaul Bunyan

Any updates? How will we know when they officially start construction, as this site is kind of tucked away behind a bunch of buildings?

the same way you know when any other highrise in Chicago is under-construction. we';; let you know that they have started drilling caissons

pherek · #**293** Posted **Nov 22, 2006, 11:18 AM**

Site prep as viewed from the Madison St 'L' station

Big John · #**294** Posted **Nov 23, 2006, 1:58 AM**

From chicagobusiness.com Nov. 20, 2006

“Those 6,500 aren’t all going to get built, because they’re not going to reach their pre-sale,” says Mr. Hanson, whose firm is currently building a 72-story tower near Wabash and Monroe streets called the Legacy. Mr. Hanson says 255 of the 356 units are sold for the building, which is scheduled to open in fall 2009.

[URL="http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=22930"]

jjk1103 · #**295** Posted **Dec 1, 2006, 3:22 PM**

....this one seems to be seriously stuck in "site prep"......when are they supposed to begin costruction?

Chicago3rd · #**296** Posted **Dec 1, 2006, 5:11 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjk1103

....this one seems to be seriously stuck in "site prep"......when are they supposed to begin costruction?

It ain't a vacant lot and they have to preserve facade...so realistically how quickly do you think they could have taken down all those buildings under these circumstances?

Mr Roboto · #**297** Posted **Dec 1, 2006, 7:09 PM**

Im glad they are preserving all those facades. While its not as good as preserving all the buildings themselves, it is an acceptable compromise. Its good they are willing to sacrifice the time and effort to do this, so I dont care how long site prep takes. As long as I know this building will go up eventually.

Nowhereman1280 · #**298** Posted **Dec 1, 2006, 9:06 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr Roboto

Im glad they are preserving all those facades. While its not as good as preserving all the buildings themselves, it is an acceptable compromise.

I'd much rather have skyscrapers like Legacy built than presereve the architetually insignifigant back rooms of old buildings, nothings really being lost when you are just tearing down standard brick and beams and leaving the facade (which is what really differentiates these buildings) intact. I may be wrong, but weren't the interriors of these buildings already modified and thus did not contain anything of interest anyhow?

I think Legacy is a great building because its nearly nothing lost and a whole lot gained.

Alliance · #**299** Posted **Dec 1, 2006, 10:24 PM**

It does bring up an interesting concept though...of buildings ontop of buildings.

If you follow this through to conclusion, you have whole cities with levels of historical development, or at least with newer buildings covering the onld short ones.

Kind of like strata in rock layers.

honte · #**300** Posted **Dec 1, 2006, 11:57 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nowhereman1280

I'd much rather have skyscrapers like Legacy built than presereve the architetually insignifigant back rooms of old buildings, nothings really being lost when you are just tearing down standard brick and beams and leaving the facade (which is what really differentiates these buildings) intact. I may be wrong, but weren't the interriors of these buildings already modified and thus did not contain anything of interest anyhow?

The Landmarks Commission investigated them and described the interiors as basically plain loft buildings. You'll of course get widely different answers from people concerning the historic value of the rear portions of these structures, but generally I don't think anyone is lamenting the loss of the rears too much.

Of course, the constant question that surfaces is whether or not we are actually preserving buildings, or just slapping the new facades on something else like that fake brick asphalt siding from the 1950s that you see around.

Aside, it is great to see how these buildings were constructed. The ironwork details that have been exposed on the Italianate structure are absolutely fascinating. The structure looks almost new, and is pretty modern in its technique.