CHICAGO | Roosevelt University Dorm | 469 FT / 143M | 32 FLOORS | COM

[harryc]

Nov 4




Imbed plates waiting for the form to be moved in.






This conuduit will be just poking out of the mat later.






Nov 19




the conduit from 2 weeks ago.


One day someone is going to wonder how they got that cabinet in there.

[harryc]

And several shots of the crane parts in the tower crane thread #44

[Zerton]

Will this still rise over the winter?

[ardecila]

Presumably. The guys just dress warmly and stir some cold-weather chemicals into the concrete, and then they keep going.

Not sure if this will be concrete or steel-frame, though.

[spyguy]

New Roosevelt University athletic facility
Wabash and Congress

[emathias]

Originally Posted by spyguy

New Roosevelt University athletic facility
Wabash and Congress

SE corner, replacing that surface lot? Awesome! What's the timeline?

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by spyguy

New Roosevelt University athletic facility
Wabash and Congress

^ Hmm.

Is that the whole building or just a part of it?

[ardecila]

I'm cautiously optimistic. Buildings on Congress need to be carefully designed so that they have the proper scale, grace, and massiveness to match the grand character of the street. The Harold Washington did this very well. The University Center kind of did it. I'm not sure this athletic building will. It needs to be in the 8-12 story range, really. Too short or too tall would just be wrong.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by ardecila

...
the grand character of the street.
...

I know the city is investing in making Congress better, but its current configuration is a far, far cry from having a grand character. Even during this last boom, only two lots got added to constructiely (University Center and Library Tower). We still have at least two major lots west of the Exchange that need to be developed, and east of the Exchange, there's a parking garage that needs to go, a couple small parking lots that need to go, a gas station that needs to go, and 2-3 underutilized sites that would ideally be improved upon. It's probably going to be 2-3 decades before Congress gets to where it should be, unless the city actually buys lots and builds stuff itself (unlikely). In the meantime, any nice-looking building on a a surface lot will be just fine in my books.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by emathias

I know the city is investing in making Congress better, but its current configuration is a far, far cry from having a grand character. Even during this last boom, only two lots got added to constructiely (University Center and Library Tower). We still have at least two major lots west of the Exchange that need to be developed, and east of the Exchange, there's a parking garage that needs to go, a couple small parking lots that need to go, a gas station that needs to go, and 2-3 underutilized sites that would ideally be improved upon. It's probably going to be 2-3 decades before Congress gets to where it should be, unless the city actually buys lots and builds stuff itself (unlikely). In the meantime, any nice-looking building on a a surface lot will be just fine in my books.

^ My sentiments tend to line up with yours on the Congress issue.

As far as I'm concerned, these South Loop Universities have been a Godsend to the area, despite what some whiny residents think. They are developing parking lots into productive uses, populating the area, and slowly making this part of town more interesting. Ultimately these developments will improve the appeal of the South Loop, despite the fact that yes, some College kids can be obnoxious and sometimes throw beer cans out their window.

[Nowhereman1280]

^^^ Well any respectable architect takes into account the tendencies of drunk college students and plans for windows that are impossible to throw things out of. I imagine that all the new buildings have window treatments similar to the new dorms downtown at Loyola University where the windows only open 6 inches and do so in such a way that it makes getting above the open window to even throw something through it too difficult for a drunk person to manage. That and they have strong screens that add another layer of anti-tossing protection.

In addition to the minimal annoyances caused by downtown Universities the value the add to the city is immense. Having so many students downtown means we are breeding whole generations of city-lovers who will fall in love with the Central Chicago neighborhoods and then graduate with professional degrees and want to seek employment and residency in the areas they know and love. This means more young professionals living and working downtown and subsequently higher property values for the NIMBY neighbors.

Just imagine the value added to the city by the fact that both Columbia and Roosevelt have started to come into their own as respected, stand alone, full service, four year universities. I see the rise of Roosevelt and Columbia to national status as essentially a plus two gain in the number of universities in Chicago. Yes both schools have existed for a quite a time, but both have entered a new level of quality with their recent efforts to upgrade their offerings. The intellectual and cultural value of gaining two national universities/colleges with 17000 students is huge and I applaud their continued growth and efforts, this tower included. Thats not even touching on the long term commitments to downtown being made across the board by all of Chicago's universities.

[LA21st]

Columbia's film school has been respected for the past decade, at least.

[Nowhereman1280]

^^^ I understand that, their journalism/literature program has been well respected for a while too. However, the school didn't really experience the kind of growth into a full fledged institution until the last 10 years or so. I mean previously they hardly had anything in the way of on-campus housing and a much smaller enrollment. They have also greatly expanded their degree offerings and now are putting effort into a wide range of programs instead of just their film and journalism programs.

[LA21st]

Ah. I'm excited about the expansions as well, the south loop is one of my favorite parts of the city. I love Cafecito on Congress.

[FlashingLights]

Originally Posted by LA21st

Columbia's film school has been respected for the past decade, at least.

Eghhhh, your really pushing it on that one. Columbia is still regarded as overall mediocre. You are right the media arts (film, audio, journalism, radio, TV) school is decent but I wouldn't say highly respected, however the rest of the programs in fine and performing arts are not good at all especially in comparison to other local options such as the Art Institute etc.

Roosevelt however has really stepped it up in the last decade and is now a lot more respected.

Edit: edited to clarify thoughts

[BVictor1]

Originally Posted by spyguy

New Roosevelt University athletic facility
Wabash and Congress

If it's only 5 stories, I'd call it a waste of space.

[denizen467]

^ Well then it's a good placeholder until something grand is ready to be built way down the road, no? It's really just a tall box with high ceilings; should not be a big deal to tear down later.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by LA21st

I love Cafecito on Congress.

mmm... Cafe con leche.

Originally Posted by denizen467

^ Well then it's a good placeholder until something grand is ready to be built way down the road, no? It's really just a tall box with high ceilings; should not be a big deal to tear down later.

I'm not willing to settle at such an important site. The new building isn't even arcading the sidewalk, like every other building on Congress between State and Michigan.

I'm willing to wait for a better proposal. This site has tremendous views to the southwest because of the curve in the L tracks and the general low-rise nature of Dearborn Park.

Wider-angle (but smaller) rendering:


This is, apparently, more than just an "athletic facility". It's a fieldhouse and possibly an arena for Roosevelt's basketball and volleyball teams.

[caltrane74]

buildings in Chicago always seem to have these massive cores..

[george]

01-05