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  #4881  
Old Posted Sep 21, 2008, 8:05 AM
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Bloomingdale Trail |

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http://www.suntimes.com/news/transpo...park20.article

Full steam ahead on park
BLOOMINGDALE TRAIL |
City seeks designs to turn old rail route into a bike-and-people-friendly green space

September 20, 2008

BY MARY WISNIEWSKI Transportation Reporter mwisniewski@suntimes.com
The old railroad right-of-way that runs east and west along Bloomingdale Avenue on the Northwest Side could become a "linear park" for bicyclists and pedestrians once the city puts together the design and the funding.

The city plans to seek proposals from engineers and architects by the end of the year to examine building a 2.7-mile "Bloomingdale Trail" along unused Canadian Pacific tracks from Ridgeway on the west to the Chicago River on the east.

Andrew Vesselinovitch, director of the urban parks program for the Trust for Public Land, said the Bloomingdale Trail would provide a crucial east-west link for bicyclists and pedestrians. Many of the city's bike paths run north and south.

The preliminary plans include new parks along the trail, including one in a weedy, unused concrete parking lot at Milwaukee and Bloomingdale. Other parks are planned at Albany, Damen, Marshfield and Kimball.

Eight access points would allow visitors to get on and off the elevated trail, which would pass through the neighborhoods of Logan Square and Bucktown.

The city is seeking proposals for the 18-month-long first phase of the project. During the first phase, contractors would develop designs and investigate the condition of the 37 rail viaducts along the line, which could be costly to repair and maintain, said Brian Steele, spokesman for the city's Transportation Department.

Once the first phase is complete, the city will have an idea of what the project will cost so it can figure out funding, Steele said. The city has so far received $2.6 million in federal funds and is matching $600,000 in local funds for the first two phases of the project.

It could be several years before the trail is ready for walkers and riders.
When I first read about this I did think it was a real cool and creative project but now like many here it seems like this could be a missed opportunity to set the beginnings of a great east-west rapid transit corridor (or at least BRT). I was thinking that down the line it may not be that hard to turn it back into a transit corridor if the support arises but then I got to thinking that once this goes green it will hard to go back and make it transit oriented without massive NIMBY interferance.

Last edited by nomarandlee; Sep 21, 2008 at 1:25 PM.
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  #4882  
Old Posted Sep 21, 2008, 2:36 PM
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I think the Bloomingdale ROW is too narrow for these uses. I could be wrong. But there's already the North express bus, which moves pretty fast (when it comes.) And of course this corridor already had an el before.
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  #4883  
Old Posted Sep 21, 2008, 3:35 PM
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I think the Bloomingdale ROW is too narrow for these uses. I could be wrong. But there's already the North express bus, which moves pretty fast (when it comes.) And of course this corridor already had an el before.
Great link there at the end. never heard about the Humboldt Line before.
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Old Posted Sep 21, 2008, 4:55 PM
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Great link there at the end. never heard about the Humboldt Line before.
chicago-l.org is just a fantastic site. There really isn't anything else like it for us transit/history geeks.

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  #4885  
Old Posted Sep 21, 2008, 5:15 PM
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http://www.chicagotribune.com/featur...0,303612.story

ARCHITECTURE

22 West Washington doesn't reflect strong streetscape
By Blair Kamin Tribune critic | Chicago Tribune critic
September 21, 2008

For nearly 20 years, as close to an entire block of Loop real estate sat empty, we have been waiting, waiting, waiting for the first new building to open on Block 37. Now it's finally here, and the outcome is like one of those trick guns from which you're expecting a violent blast—and a cute little flag pops out instead.

In other words, underwhelming.

That is a harsh judgment, and it should immediately be qualified: The glassy, reflective 17-story office building, called 22 West Washington, is unfinished, not without subtle pleasures and could get better. Public attention will be riveted on it Monday when one of its two tenants, WBBM-Ch. 2, formally opens its ground-level broadcast studio facing Daley Plaza.

In its present state, 22 West Washington offers a paradox. It is too quiet because its meek exterior doesn't hold up its end of the conversation carried on by the mighty buildings flanking the plaza. And it is too loud because its base flaunts a screeching broadcast screen that has been polluting the great civic space with promotions for the likes of Dr. Phil and Judge Judy.




Acclaimed architect
The results are especially disappointing because 22 West Washington's architect, Ralph Johnson of Perkins+Will, is one of Chicago's best, acclaimed for projects ranging from the site-sensitive Boeing headquarters along the Chicago River to the sculptural Contemporaine condo high-rise in River North.

But on Block 37, for which he drew up a fine master plan unveiled in 2004, Johnson has played a role comparable to architect Daniel Libeskind at the World Trade Center, watching helplessly as commercial pressures undermined his vision for a vibrant mixed-use urban center.

At root, then, the problems of 22 West Washington have as much to do with finance as with form. It is a tight-budget office building, not a lavish corporate headquarters. It has had two developers—first, the Mills Corp. and then Golub & Co., which took over when Mills faltered.

Given the economic constraints, Johnson's big idea, clever on its face, was to craft a modest "background building" that would play a mirror game, reflecting such muscular neighbors as the rust-colored Daley Center and the many-columned City Hall-County Building.

With thin, asymmetrically arranged planes of glass and a dash of electronic razzle-dazzle, he sought to give the astonishing mix of styles surrounding Daley Plaza a fitting example from the 21st Century: an almost ephemeral architecture that would use contemporary technologies to achieve the kind of airy, see-through skyscraper Mies van der Rohe could only dream of in the 1920s.

But the steel-framed structure is compromised on many levels, beginning with the way it tries to act as a space-shaping wall that frames the east flank of Daley Plaza.

Ever since Block 37's lively hodgepodge of old office buildings, movie theaters and stores was demolished in 1990 to make way for a Helmut Jahn-designed office and retail center that never materialized, Daley Plaza has needed such a wall to give it the proper sense of containment. Yet 22 West Washington's lack of height and heft combine with its seamless glass wall to give the building a certain insubstantial quality, as if you could poke a finger through it. It looks wimpy compared with everything around it.


Distorted reflections
The wall itself is no prize-winner, either. While it is a pleasure to walk by and catch the reflections of the white terra cotta facade of the Reliance Building or the muscular, mid-20th Century grids of the Richard J. Daley Center and the Cook County Administration Building, those reflections often appear jittery and distorted. Johnson specified a curtain wall that would have produced less distortion, he said, but the Mills Corp. forced him to adopt a cheaper alternative.

Worse still—far worse—is the building's 30-foot-wide LED screen on which WBBM-Ch. 2 plans to broadcast news, sports and some prime-time shows. A feature such as this had the potential to bring electronic art to Daley Plaza, updating the civic contributions of the plaza's Picasso sculpture and Joan Miro's "Miss Chicago" outside the Cook County Administration Building. Instead, we get Times Square. City Hall planners flubbed things big-time when they approved this poke in the eye.

Still, there are pluses, as well as hopeful signs.

WBBM-Ch. 2's ground-floor broadcast studio will energize the plaza with lights, camera and action. Pedestrians should enjoy walking by the sleek TV studio, which will emphasize by its presence the way that the information society has infiltrated daily life. The limestone walls at the building's base complement the Art Deco ComEd substation that is the lone survivor of the old Block 37.

Equally good, the building's transparent glass opens a window onto the WBBM-Ch. 2's third-floor newsroom, which has been smartly designed by Goettsch Partners. That not only lets the public see in but also suggests that the station is an "eye" watching over the city—and, more important, the government. An old, masonry-covered newspaper building such as the Chicago Tribune Tower simply can't do that.

As for the building's future, Johnson is working with WBBM-Ch. 2 to fill in the unsightly gaps on either side of the screen and to create the wrap-around-the-corner focal point he always intended. The design could also improve if LED screens quietly advertising the presence of WBBM-Ch. 2 and the other tenant, investment research firm Morningstar Inc., are placed, as Johnson originally intended, near the building's top.

So there are things to appreciate in this first building on Block 37, but they tend to be details, not the big picture.

It is troubling, as we look forward to the project's completion next year, to see significant departures from Johnson's master plan by the architects of the rest of the project, the Chicago office of San Francisco-based Gensler. Entrances along State Street no longer are at the building's corners. Proposed digital decoration is gone, replaced by facile allusions to the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park. As was reported recently, the Chicago Transit Authority is mothballing Block 37's underground superstation indefinitely because the half-finished project is millions of dollars over budget.

Amid such fiascos, discussing the fine points of architecture may seem silly. But it would be more foolhardy to ignore the impact such buildings have on the Loop—as well as the message they send about Chicago's ongoing capacity to achieve design excellence.
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  #4886  
Old Posted Sep 21, 2008, 5:18 PM
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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...,4086563.story

Pilgrim Baptist Church rebuilding plans unveiled
By Jo Napolitano | Chicago Tribune reporter
6:36 PM CDT, September 20, 2008

For those wanting to know what the future will look like for Pilgrim Baptist Church, Saturday's unveiling of rebuilding plans surpassed expectations.

Architects hired to resurrect the South Side church, which burned down in January 2006, detailed a $37 million restoration.

They plan to replicate the church—originally designed by renowned architects Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan—with the help of salvaged artifacts and photos. They also plan to build two new structures on church grounds: a social services building and a cultural center.

"I think it's glorious," said Carolyn Austin, 76, wife of Rev. Junius Austin Jr., who led the congregation until his death in 1992. "It's beyond what I was really thinking about. I didn't know what the possibilities were."



The Bronzeville church, built in 1891 and originally used as a synagogue, was destroyed when workers repairing the roof accidentally set it on fire. Only four walls—and piles of rubble—remained.

There is no date yet for completion of the church at 3300 S. Indiana Ave., because the work depends on the success of a fundraising campaign. Architects and church elders say they plan to focus on the church first.

Brenda Asare, who will lead the fundraising efforts, said she hopes to collect 75 percent of the $37 million from donors who contribute $100,000 or more. Asare, senior vice president and Midwest division manager for The Alford Group, a consulting company for non-profits, said the recent economic downturn will make her job tough.

"We will run into people who want to support our project but can't do it at the level they would have two weeks ago or three years ago," she said.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich promised $1 million, but the donation has been mired in controversy. The governor has said he intended the money to go to the church's administrative offices, but bureaucratic errors sent it to a school that held classes on the church grounds.

The congregation, which continues to attend services at the church's community center across the street, has grown since the fire. It has doubled its size of about 200 people when the fire occurred, and letters of support continue to come in from across the globe.

Along with its architectural significance, Pilgrim Baptist Church was home to the gospel music movement and has long played an important role in the African-American community.

The project unveiled Saturday seemed to speak to the church's past as well as its future.

Cynthia Jones, vice chairwoman of the board of trustees for the church, said tears came to her eyes when she saw the plans.

"I thought about the people—all of the saints, including my mother—who have come through this church," she said. "They are rejoicing in heaven to see it come out of the ruins."

Austin, whose father-in-law led the congregation for 42 years before his death in 1968, said she is excited for the future.

"I hope the Lord will let me live to walk in there one more time," she said.

jnapolitano@tribune.com

http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/theskyline/
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  #4887  
Old Posted Sep 21, 2008, 5:21 PM
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http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/1...grim21.article

Pilgrim Baptist unveils rebuilding plans
BRONZEVILLE | Landmark church ruined in '06 fire


September 21, 2008

BY CHERYL V. JACKSON Staff Reporter cjackson@suntimes.com


Storied Pilgrim Baptist Church will be rebuilt as part of a new $41 million campus in Bronzeville that will include a cultural center and social services building, church leaders said Saturday.

The sanctuary of the church at 3301 S. Indiana, an architectural gem designed in 1890 by Louis Sullivan, will be replicated as close to the original building as possible.


An artist’s drawing depicts a rebuilt Pilgrim Baptist Church as part of a $41 million campus including a cultural center and social services building. Fund-raising is to start in January.


While the vaulted wood ceiling will be replaced with steel in the new building, the acoustics -- a major feature of the church, the birthplace of gospel music -- will be the same, church leaders said.

A fund-raising campaign will kick off in January, the third anniversary of the 2006 fire that gutted the landmark.

"It's historically known and known around the world," Board of Trustees Vice Chairman Cynthia Jones said of the church where Thomas A. Dorsey created gospel and legendary musician Mahalia Jackson sang in its choir.

The campaign is expected to last three to five years and will be headed by the Alford Group consulting firm.

Chicago-based architectural firm Johnson & Lee is presiding over the project.

The cultural center could house a museum and dining facilities, and host cultural events. The social services building would house non-religious programs.
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  #4888  
Old Posted Sep 21, 2008, 5:39 PM
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^ Great news on Pilgrim!
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  #4889  
Old Posted Sep 21, 2008, 7:28 PM
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^^^ Wonderful! Best news I've heard all week.
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  #4890  
Old Posted Sep 21, 2008, 7:37 PM
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Excellent News! I can't wait to see this go up and lead to future improvement in general in my neighborhood!
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  #4891  
Old Posted Sep 21, 2008, 11:35 PM
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On the Pilgrim project, are they retaining [saving] the four walls remaining or were they demolished? No where does it state that and the articles mentioned the church will be replicated as closely as possible.
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  #4892  
Old Posted Sep 21, 2008, 11:55 PM
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The south, west and north walls have been saved via an extensive, vertical truss shoring system.
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  #4893  
Old Posted Sep 22, 2008, 12:19 AM
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The upside to this is that the upper parts of the church might end up looking closer to the original than they did before the fire. You all will recall that this part of the building was clad in lovely aluminum siding.

However, I have to say, I don't have a lot of faith in Johnson and Lee and I really wish they would use an architect with a proven track record of restoration projects. This building is just too important.
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  #4894  
Old Posted Sep 22, 2008, 1:23 AM
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The upside to this is that the upper parts of the church might end up looking closer to the original than they did before the fire. You all will recall that this part of the building was clad in lovely aluminum siding.

However, I have to say, I don't have a lot of faith in Johnson and Lee and I really wish they would use an architect with a proven track record of restoration projects. This building is just too important.
To be fair, there's really nothing to restore. There are three walls left and absolutely nothing else. All they really have to do is copy the original design.
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  #4895  
Old Posted Sep 22, 2008, 1:33 AM
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^ Sure, but do you think that's an easy task? Most real restorations involve a fair amount of recreation ... it's a lot easier when the original details are there to copy.

Restorations themselves are very, very difficult and the results are usually not what we'd like them to be, unless the job is handled by a very skilled and caring architect with a great client.
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  #4896  
Old Posted Sep 22, 2008, 12:52 PM
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^ Sure, but do you think that's an easy task? Most real restorations involve a fair amount of recreation ... it's a lot easier when the original details are there to copy.

Restorations themselves are very, very difficult and the results are usually not what we'd like them to be, unless the job is handled by a very skilled and caring architect with a great client.
I don't believe it's an easy task in any manner. I have been involved in a number of different historical renovations, and they are always difficult. I don't know anything about Johnson & Lee, so I don't know what they are or are not capable of. Also, considering the building's age, similar to the Three Arts Club, which I am quite familiar with, there are likely to be about 15 to 20 drawings total for the building, since it was built in the days when architects actually did something on the site in terms of directing construction.

So yes, it will be difficult. However, I think they are in a much easier starting position than say, whoever has to go in and figure out how to do the restorations at the Uptown Theater.

The church is essentially going to be an historically accurate new construction recreation utilizing modern construction techniques. Not like they're going to have to figure out how to snake new piping and ductwork through without screwing up existing construction, you know?
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  #4897  
Old Posted Sep 22, 2008, 3:28 PM
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I don't believe it's an easy task in any manner. I have been involved in a number of different historical renovations, and they are always difficult. I don't know anything about Johnson & Lee, so I don't know what they are or are not capable of. Also, considering the building's age, similar to the Three Arts Club, which I am quite familiar with, there are likely to be about 15 to 20 drawings total for the building, since it was built in the days when architects actually did something on the site in terms of directing construction.

So yes, it will be difficult. However, I think they are in a much easier starting position than say, whoever has to go in and figure out how to do the restorations at the Uptown Theater.

The church is essentially going to be an historically accurate new construction recreation utilizing modern construction techniques. Not like they're going to have to figure out how to snake new piping and ductwork through without screwing up existing construction, you know?

Yeah, I see what you're saying. They won't have to worry about the electricians accidentially shoving some conduit through irreplacable plaster ornament. It's a pretty clean slate. And they don't have to ask questions about what's historic and what's not.

Supposing they do a top-notch job on the historic accuracy, I suppose we could agree that the actual architectural legwork in advance of construction will be harder than usual, but the construction after that point should become fairly easy.

I doubt they'll be able to get many historic plans at all, and as you mention, a lot of minor detailing may never have been recorded. Figuring out the ornament for the interior (if they even bother) will be very troublesome. It sounds like true historic accuracy is not their top priority anyway, with the steel members and so forth.
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  #4898  
Old Posted Sep 22, 2008, 3:39 PM
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$37 million dollars??? For a single sanctuary building???

I'm trying to imagine what Paul would have to say about using money that way.
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  #4899  
Old Posted Sep 22, 2008, 4:06 PM
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They aren't Catholic, Paul probably wouldn't have recognized today's Catholic Church let alone the Baptists.
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  #4900  
Old Posted Sep 22, 2008, 5:58 PM
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$37 million dollars??? For a single sanctuary building???
No, they're building that suburban-looking thing in the back too.
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