CHICAGO | General Developments

[Mr Downtown]

Curtain wall replacement at the Bond Building:



There's a pretty substantial frit on the inside surface.

[ardecila]

What about the existing curtain wall to the left? Is that also being refurbished?

[denizen467]

Photogs or any preservationists - the 2 old brick low-rises on Fairbanks between Ontario and Erie are surrounded by scaffoling and demo has begun. Not that they're precious gems, but this will be the last chance to document what long stood there.

[Rizzo]

That's a shame. I've given up hope on Streeterville. It could have had such great potential to be an interesting neighborhood by preserving some and building new...but nope. It's doomed for eternal ugliness.

[Baronvonellis]

Man that really sucks. To me those buildings are what makes Chicago unique. Walking around buildings like this are what tourists want to see. It's a strength of the city. I think it will hurt tourism when all these buildings are destroyed. Getting to see awesome old buildings like these are what made me want to move to Chicago in the first place. If I wanted to be around blank walls of parking podia I would just move to Miami.

[Rizzo]

Originally Posted by Baronvonellis

Man that really sucks. To me those buildings are what makes Chicago unique. Walking around buildings like this are what tourists want to see. It's a strength of the city. I think it will hurt tourism when all these buildings are destroyed. Getting to see awesome old buildings like these are what made me want to move to Chicago in the first place. If I wanted to be around blank walls of parking podia I would just move to Miami.

Agree X 1000000000

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by Hayward

That's a shame. I've given up hope on Streeterville. It could have had such great potential to be an interesting neighborhood by preserving some and building new...but nope. It's doomed for eternal ugliness.

^ Change that to:

"I've given up hope on Northwestern"

If it's any consolation, those buildings will be replaced by a much taller structure, but of course NWU will probably build another one of their bland buildings that looks like everything else in the neighborhood

[Mr Downtown]

These are not inconsequential losses:






Google Street View

The one on Erie was the Crerar-Adams Warehouse, 1910, Ottenheimer, Stern & Reichert. See a 1970s photo here. I'm having trouble finding info about the one on Ontario.

[lawfin]

Forgive me; but what are they being replaced by...those buildings are quite beautiful actually

[Rizzo]

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

These are not inconsequential losses:






Google Street View

The one on Erie was the Crerar-Adams Warehouse, 1910, Ottenheimer, Stern & Reichert. I'm having trouble finding info about the one on Ontario.

To me they are. And without them, the streeterville neighborhood gets closer to its achievement of near complete blandness. They were a wonderful accent against the homogeneous canyons of glass and precast. Downtowns also don't have to be entirely highrises. The occasional low and midrise building provides some variation, visual interest, and unique sightlines.

If the new buildings are dramatically different form the design trends of this neighborhood over the past few decades, I may change my mind.











Chicago can be any city. Any city can't be Chicago.

[lawfin]

^^^^I think you have misconstrued Mr D's comment. He said that the loss of these building are NOT inconsequential. That is their loss is consequential. It seems you agree with that assessment

[harryc]

^^^ I remember the building on Erie from my days at NTG (Notthwestern Technology Group), we had a server room on one of the upper floors and caught a world of grief from the city when we flew a cable to it from the parking garage (since torn down) across the street.

[Rizzo]

Originally Posted by lawfin

^^^^I think you have misconstrued Mr D's comment. He said that the loss of these building are NOT inconsequential. That is their loss is consequential. It seems you agree with that assessment

My bad, I read too fast. My apologies MrDowntown and to anyone else for the confusion. At the very least my thoughts on these demolitions are clearly posted.

[denizen467]

I also agree it would be nice if Streeterville (and the city as a whole) would keep most of these old warehouse buildings. (I was only saying these aren't necessarily Prentice-caliber gems. The maroon-colored window refurbishment job was pretty questionable regardless.) From the above photos, it looks like there is a definite silver lining to this redevelopment though. The ugly blank walls on the pair of '70s (+ / -) era mid-rises to the west will get covered up to some extent. The new hospital tower probably won't perfectly abut the blank walls, but at a minimum it will block most views of, and in any case distract from, the concrete monoliths.

[Nowhereman1280]

^^^ It's just too bad that the two blank walls will be replaced by 3 extremely bland walls... Now if they were building structures on par with the quality coming out of Roosevelt and Columbia, I wouldn't object very much.

Northwestern is a criminal blight on our city and should be kicked the fuck out.

[spyguy]

Don't forget the lovely curb cuts. There's going to be a covered driveway between Erie and Ontario (similar to the one under Feinberg/Galter) plus two loading docks on Ontario.

[ardecila]

I thought we already saw the pictures of the massive fugly replacement.

I do give Northwestern a bit of credit for using their land intensely, though. Their campus is infinitely better than the Illinois Medical Center, even if Rush recently discovered the value of good architecture.

Also, IIRC the city is asking Northwestern to sacrifice a strip of property along Fairbanks that will allow for the widening of that street. A wider street isn't necessarily a great outcome, but it will make things easier should the city ever put in bus lanes or a cycle track.

[Haworthia]

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

These are not inconsequential losses:






Google Street View

The one on Erie was the Crerar-Adams Warehouse, 1910, Ottenheimer, Stern & Reichert. See a 1970s photo here. I'm having trouble finding info about the one on Ontario.

Son of a bitch. Those were two of my favorite buildings in Streeterville. Between this and the almost certain loss of that Bertrand Goldberg building, this area is becoming soulless.

[denizen467]

http://www.suntimes.com/7526524-417/...into-town.html

350-vehicle classic auto museum rolls into town

By David Roeder
September 7, 2011

It’s not every day that Chicago gets a new museum ... . It’s a museum for classic autos and the person driving it is Larry Klairmont, an 84-year-old real estate investor and former Marine.

Klairmont, chief executive of Imperial Realty Co., plans to open the museum Sept. 25 at 3111 N. Knox, just east of Belmont and Cicero. It will house the cars he’s acquired in the last 10 years or so since vehicles became his passion - all 350 of them.

He has Rolls-Royces, Packards and Duesenbergs; a 1920s fire engine; an Amphicar, an amphibious auto that Lyndon Johnson once owned; plus odds and ends such as Vespa scooters from the 1950s and a model railroad layout that Klairmont said came from the New York World’s Fair of 1939. A couple of vintage warplanes hang from the ceiling.

It’s a lot to put on display after only 10 years of buying, but Klairmont works fast. He said he bought 32 cars just last weekend at an auction in Auburn, Ind.

And at this museum, tentatively called Imperial Auto Collection, the Klairmont Collection, there will not be an admission charge or gift shop in sight. Klairmont said his venture is not about making money but about giving back to a city that has made him wealthy.

“There’s no way I can make any money from all of this. I just love the cars and this is my gift to Chicago,” he said. ... Klairmont plans to keep the place open five days a week, 20 hours per week. It’s in a 150,000-square-foot space his firm has owned for years, property that used to be the W.F. Hall Printing Co.

The rest of the property, which stretches south to Diversey, has been redeveloped for industrial and retail uses. Klairmont said he has a deal with Wal-Mart, which is building a 176,000-square-foot store.

His museum includes a 100-seat dining room that Klairmont plans to donate to charities for fund-raising events.

...

[harryc]

The blank wall on Erie


Ghost signage next to the bracket we put on back in the 80s (cable came in through the pipe sticking out, the line down the side is from the old AC unit)