Cedar Tower Axed

The proposed hotel tower to be built at the site of the Cedar Hotel in the Gold Coast is dead.

We've been following the attempted renaissance of the Cedar Hotel/Hotel Cedar (1118 North State Street) for a while (here, and elsewhere).  The most recent plan included plopping a 20-story hotel on top of the current block right in the heart of Viagra Triangle.

Who killed it?  Alderman Reilly.  He's started the process for changing the zoning of this parcel to something more modest.

Reilly believes that a 250-foot-tall hotel isn't exactly the right fit for the neighborhood.  While it can be argued that there are plenty of similar-sized structures within a couple of blocks of the Hotel Cedar, the junction of State and Rush Streets does mark something of a transition zone from the canyons of the Near North Side, and the more genteel architecture of the Gold Coast.

Worse, was the fact that the hotel would have tied up an already congested part of State Street with a loading zone, and it would have had 220 rooms, but zero parking.

In a newsletter published by his office this week, Reilly had other objections, "The proposal did not go through the rigorous and transparent community process it deserved; many local residents opposed the approved hotel tower; and the aggressive plans that were approved in the current Planned Development are not being pursued."

And you can't have a Chicago city council story without a whiff of corruption and conspiracy.  Reilly again:

The former Cedar Hotel property at 1112 North State Street was up-zoned to "Business Planned Development No. 1061" on May 9, 2007 by then-Alderman Burton Natarus.  The substantial up-zoning of the Cedar Hotel was approved just eleven days prior to Alderman Reilly taking the oath of office as the new Alderman of the 42nd Ward.  

So what becomes of the Cedar Hotel?  For the moment, nothing new.  It remains a beautiful old building that has seen better days.  Hopefully it won't remain stagnant long enough to become a liability and face the wrecking ball.

Leveling the Field at Ogden School

Construction is well underway on the new Ogden Elementary School (24 West Walton Street) on State Street.

We've talked about the demolition and construction of the new school before (here and here).  The old school is long gone, and foundation work is underway on the new one.  This picture was taken not that long ago when there was still a little snow on the ground.  With Odgen gone, it's easier to appreciate the the old Scottish Rite Cathedral (915 North Dearborn Street) across the street.  That, by the way, is for sale.  Hopefully the new owners will respect its visual integrity.

Slice of Life: Bus Tour

For some reason the two features of this blog that people seem to like the most are the "Slice of Life" pieces, and videos.  People who don't live in the city, or who live in different neighborhoods, seem drawn to scenes of everyday life in Chicago.  They also like moving pictures.

Recently my CrappyCameraPhone™ acquired the ability to create truly terrible-quality videos.  So to satisfy the readers desire for both the moving and the mundane, here is a really poor quality video showing a bus ride from the Loop to Water Tower Place (845 North Michigan Avenue). Enjoy!

Status Update: Hotel Palomar Chicago

The signs for the new Hotel Paolmar Chicago (505 North State Street) are up, but you may have missed them amid the construction mayhem that is the CTA's Grand subway station redevelopment.  The lobby is still a work in progress, but the outside looks pretty nice.  The company's web site won't take reservations before April 8, 2010 so it looks like we have an idea when it will open.

More on Columbia College's New Media Production Center

A couple of days ago I published an article here about Columbia College's new Media Production Center (1600 South State Street).  Although the location is starting to get a little off the beaten path, the building is very well done.  More importantly, it preserves a piece of Chicago's silent film history -- a chapter of the Windy City's evolution that is too often overlooked or forgotten.

In that article I also whined that my attempts at getting on Columbia College's media distribution list over the last year or so had fallen on deaf ears.  The most recent attempt was December 3, 2009.  Fortunately, Steve Kaufmann saw my complaint posted here and took it upon himself to rectify the situation.  Now the (hard to believe) thousands of people who read this blog will be a little better informed.

If any other P.R. folks are reading this, you can send your releases to press@chicagoarchitecture.info and either I, or the other employee here will take care of it.

Mr. Kaufmann sent along the official press release for the MPC, and some photos of the interior and exterior.  Much better pictures than I've seen elsewhere.  As always, click on the pictures to make them bigger, and you can read the full Columbia release after the pics.

Columbia College Chicago Officially Opens Media Production Center,

Its First Newly Constructed Building in 120-Year History

Designed for form, function and sustainability, the 35,500-square-foot South Loop facility 

provides students with state-of-the-art professional production studios

  

(February 5, 2010) Columbia College Chicago’s first newly constructed building in its 120-year history – the $21 million Media Production Center (MPC) at the southwest corner of 16^th and State Streets – will provide film and media arts students with invaluable hands-on experience in a state-of-the-art professional production studio while creating a next-generation collaborative learning environment.

The 35,500-square-foot facility, designed by Chicago architect Jeanne Gang & Studio Gang Architects, officially marks its opening today (Feb. 5) with a ribbon cutting ceremony hosted by Columbia College Chicago President Warrick L. Carter, Ph.D. and Board Chairman Allen M. Turner with Mayor Richard M. Daley. The building opened to students for the start of spring semester classes on Monday, Jan. 25.

“This hands-on facility will allow Columbia College to completely change how filmmaking and other communications arts are taught,” said Dr. Carter. “Our faculty collaborated closely with the amazing team at Studio Gang to design the Media Production Center. From the outset, the goal was to provide a 21^st century professional experience for our 4,200 School of Media Arts students to replicate the environment they’ll encounter in the working world.”

The MPC experience also provides for enhanced collaboration among media arts students and faculty in a variety of disciplines, with many production classes now under one roof.

“We didn’t just build a soundstage, we built an integrated curriculum encouraging interaction and collaboration between students across disciplines and departments, including Film & Video, Interactive Arts and Media, and Television,” said Doreen Bartoni, dean, School of Media Arts. “In this new age of film, video and television, segments of the industry are increasingly sharing skills and crossing boundaries - consider films like Avatar, combining both computer animation and live action footage.”

“This is our first building developed from the ground up, and we’re certainly pleased to have it come in under budget and on time – less than 12 months from our groundbreaking,” added Turner. “I’m also proud of how we were able to deliver our vision of this building as a breathtaking yet practical experience for faculty, staff and students that cannot be equaled by any other teaching facility in the world.”

The MPC was constructed for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification with a number of key sustainable design elements. They include a 50-percent green roof, radiant heating and cooling in the two soundstages, extensive use of windows for natural lighting throughout the building, and sets of lobby/mezzanine lighting fixtures that can progressively illuminate the lobby area as outdoor light decreases.

The 40,000-square-foot site, a vacant lot, was a “brown field” when it was sold to the college in 2008 by the City of Chicago specifically to build the MPC and help enhance the emerging neighborhood.  

“I’ve witnessed the transformation of this formerly contaminated plot of land into an architecturally significant, environmentally sustainable building that is a welcome addition to the revitalization of this area. Already, activity generated with classes in this building is increasing patronage to local businesses,” said Third Ward Alderman Pat Dowell.

“It has been truly remarkable watching the MPC come into fruition. The quality and style of films and media we create are now limited solely by our dreams,” said senior film student Michael Lencioni, Columbia Student Government Association executive officer and student representative to the Board of Trustees.

Highlights of the Media Production Center (MPC) include:

• Two professional soundstages (7,300 square feet and 2,200 square feet) will allow for Film & Video students to experience the culture of high-end studio film production both by observation from soundstage bleachers and eventually by hands-on participation

• A 2,000-square-foot Motion Capture Studio for the creation of 2D and 3D film and gaming will allow students to better understand and visualize human movement using sophisticated 12-camera motion capture technology at professional industry standards. The Motion Capture Studio was designed to integrate state-of-the-art learning technologies with the study of 3D computer animation, digital filmmaking and game arts.

• An animation lab, a high-tech set of classrooms, provides students with industry-leading technology for development of computer-aided design and animation

• Four “wired” classrooms with fiber optic technology to link the soundstages and Motion Capture Studio to classes, including the camera-eye-view, so that students can learn from the processes being conducted elsewhere in the facility in real time

• A fully equipped, 2,000-square-foot Production Shop with loading dock for the design, construction and delivery of set pieces

• A docking area for the college’s two-year-old High Definition Media Production Truck that connects to internal cabling to enable live feeds from the facility with professional and student operators

• An 11-by-13-foot LED screen, suspended in the lobby, comprises seven adjustable 9-foot-high LED panels that can operate seamlessly as one screen or independently and can rotate 180 degrees for film and video viewing  

• The 25-foot–tall terra cotta Lasky Arch, an artifact from the now-demolished, nearby office of the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, the parent company of Paramount Pictures formed in 1916 by Adolph Zukor. It uniquely honors Chicago’s important role in early film industry

30 Things You Don't Know About Block37

Yesterday there was a meeting to update the public about the status of Block37.

The people from Joseph Freed and Associates did the presentation, and while they made every effort to be forthcoming, there were certain things they refused to talk about.*

Much has been written in the news about the project's legal and financial situation, and to date we've entirely avoided even mentioning those things in this blog because, quite frankly, they're boring and we don't care.  Open or closed is all we (and the wider public) care about.  We don't want to get bogged down in the minutiae of who appointed what receiver that can't get insurance for blah blah blah blah.  Open or closed.  That's all we want to know.

In our many explorations of the retail complex, we've come to certain conclusions:

• The exterior facade is not great, though it's our understanding that by the time Joseph Freed and Associates gained control of the project it was too late to make any changes.
• The multiple-level LED screens are pretty cool, especially when there are sharks swimming in them (See our CrappyCameraPhone™ video).
• Block37 has some of the cleanest public restrooms on State Street.
• Beard Papa's creampuffs are OK.  They're a little bland, but some people consider that a virtue.  It's also in keeping with its homeland's fondness for the appreciation of subtle flavors.
• WBBM-TV really screwed the public, and should be ashamed of the way it half-assed the screens above its streetfront studio.

On a different note, a lot was said in the meeting that we knew, but there were a number of new nuggets of information presented.  Here are 30 things about Block37 that you may or may not already know:

1. The first time a proposal was floated to demolish the entire block and start again was back in the 1980's.
2. There was once a plan to open Block 37 as a walkable, low-height suburban-style outdoor mall.
3. The planned hotel and residential towers haven't been cancelled.  They can still be added when the economy improves.
4. The hotel and residential portions of the building must be built at the same time for structural reasons.
5. When the hotel and residential towers are completed, a green roof will be planed on top of the retail podium.
6. The planned green roof will open as a small public park, like the one atop the Pepsico offices in the West Loop.
7. The planned hotel is expected to have 385 room.
8. The planned condo/apartment block is expected to have 400 residences.
9. If you look at the building's columns from the pedway level, you may be able to see that there have been diagonal rows created going southeast to northwest.
10. The diagonally arranged columns were done that way to accommodate future express train service below the building.
11. Block37 already has all of the infrastructure in place for the CTA to open an express train station with high-speed service to Midway and O'Hare airports.
12. The developer of the project was required to bring in a certain amount of stores that were new to the region.
13. The reason that the Anthropologie and Puma stores are both two levels is because ground floor stores were given reduced rents if they went vertical.  The idea is to lure shoppers into going higher in the building to explore the stores on the upper levels.
14. In 2009, seven million people passed beneath Block 37.  Two million going through the CTA Blue Line's Washington Street station, and five million through the CTA Red Line's Lake Street station.
15. Each day, 25,000 people use the CTA stations at Block 37.
16. Block37's southeastern ground floor exit was positioned to deliberately give its users a view of the former Marshall Field's building.
17. Block37's northeastern ground floor exit was positioned to give people a view of the Chicago Theater sign as they leave.
18. Block37's western ground floor exit was positioned to open up on Daley Plaza.
19. These three things were done to provide a sense of cohesion with the rest of the Loop, so that Block37 wouldn't feel like yet another isolated island of commerce.
20. Block37's mission is "A public-private partnership that creates a vibrant and successful mixed use development to strengthen downtown Chicago's reputation as a shop, dine, work, live, and play destination while embracing the community's desire for a central transportation hub."
21. 140,000 people live within two miles of Block37.
22. 65,000 college students go to school near Block37.
23. "108 North State" was not meant to be the building's final name, it was just a placeholder.
24. The name "Block37" was chosen because "108 North State" had the potential to alienate retailers in the building who were not positioned on State Street.
25. The big ugly empty steel spaces that wrap around the corner of Washington and Randolph Streets are where CBS was supposed to put in a huge Times Square-style wraparound video screen.  Instead, it went the cheap route and put in a single square screen, leaving the rest of the structure exposed.
26. Block37 has 280,000 square feet of retail space.
27. Block37 has 1,000 restaurant seats.
28. Block37 has 1,630 live and movie theater seats.
29. Block37 has underground parking for 350 vehicles.
30. Block37 has 440,000 square feet of office space.

* To be perfectly clear here, the Freed people stated that they couldn't talk about certain things for "legal reasons."  While they are very likely acting on the advice of their lawyers not to talk about stuff, there is nothing in the law which actually prohibits them from doing so, which is why we used the phrase above "refused to talk" instead of the more common and journalistically lazy "could not talk."  It is a choice made by people at the company, not an actual restriction imposed by law.  Anytime you see a company say "we cannot comment on pending litigation" or "we cannot speak for legal reasons" it's not that they cannot speak.  It's that their lawyers advise them not to and they choose to follow that advice.  For the time being we still have the right to free speech in the United States.  With this in mind, you'll notice a pattern develop over time -- that companies with strong leadership and policies of public openness will talk to the media; while companies with weak leadership, a culture that stifles employee thought, and a "circle the wagons" mentality will go with "no comment."

Status Update: The Sullivan Center

Last Wednesday (January 20, 2010) I was standing at a Loop bus stop waiting for any CTA vehicle beginning with a "1" to come by and take me home when a thought struck me.  "Aren't I supposed to be under a scaffold right now?"

I turned around and discovered that the scaffolding surrounding the State Street facade of the Sullivan Center (33 South State Street) was gone.  Years after Carson Pirie Scott abandoned the heart and soul of its home town, the building that made it famous is emerging from its construction cocoon.

If you haven't been by in a while, you should make a trip.  The exterior is magnificent.  Hopefully something good happens to the interior, too.  There have been a few small shops that opened on the Wabash Street side, but the bulk of the retail space remains unclaimed.  A hoped-for grocery store fell through, and the latest out of Crain's Chicago Business is that Target might be interested in opening there -- probably the final nail in the coffin of the flagship Sears store across the way.

Slice of Life: Motorcycle Dog

Living on Michigan Avenue, I see a lot of small dogs traveling in bags.  Sometimes it's a proper Louis Vuitton dog case.  Sometimes it's a crazy homeless lady's dirty duffle bag.  And then there's this.

It's a little hard to see in this CrappyCameraPhone™ picture, but there's a little brown dog inside the black backpack, hanging on the motorcyclist going down state street.

It's like the antidote for those people who treat their pets like fashion accessories.

Status Update: Walton on the Park

Walton on the Park (900 North State Street) is really coming along.  The glazing is climbing up the side and it's not too hard to finally envision what this building will look like when it's done.

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas (2009 Edition, Part 9)

It looks like the cool color for Christmas lights this year is blue.  At least that's what's been installed along State Street in the Loop.  These are in front of the Harold Washington Library (400 South State Street). Unfortunately, they're not warm incandescent holiday blue, they're the cold techno-blue given off by LED lights.

Status Update: Holy Name Cathedral

The scaffolding that used to surround the southeast corner of Holy Name Cathedral (735 North State Street) has been taken down and you can now see the fruits of all those years of labor:  The new elevator.  It's that small annex on the right of this photo one of our readers e-mailed in last week.  The design by Jaeger, Nikola and Associates of Park Ridge emulates the top of the cathedral's bell tower, though since it's new the color doesn't quite match yet.  A couple of Chicago winters should do the trick.

Until now, people in wheelchairs or who couldn't navigate the church's steps had to use a series of ramps around the left side of the building.  In addition, the cathedral's lower level was completely inaccessible to them. That space includes confessionals, a preparation room for brides, and most importantly, restrooms.  As Father Dan Mayall put it in this past Sunday's bulletin, "They have been holding it a long time!"

In the parish bulletin, Father Dan also reported that the elevator will be operational within the next two weeks.  It's a project the parish has been working on since 2005 -- before the partial ceiling collapse of 2008 or the roof fire of 2009.  The total cost was about $1.7 million, paid for by parishioner donations.

Interestingly, one of the reasons the elevator is in a separate little annex of its own is to keep its "ding" from echoing through the very busy, but necessarily very quiet, cathedral.  It also allows people waiting for the elevator to wait inside, rather than outside on the snowy street.

A Pattern Developing in the Loop

For the last few months, this former bank location in the Loop has been hidden behind scaffolding.  Now 202 South State Street has emerged from its cocoon, and the result is -- well, rather much like a butterfly.

Windows and doors, even the facade are covered in the most interesting black-and-white design.  The design has even spread to the adjacent building at 212 South State.

I didn't have time to check for posted permits, so if anyone has any idea what's going on, let us know.

Please Don't Squat in the Middle of State Street

It's been noted that some photographers will do anything to get the perfect shot.  But in my opinion, this photographer went too far.

I spotted him in front of the WLS-TV building in the Loop.  He stood in the center of the street taking photos of the Chicago Theater.  Ordinarily the center lane has Chicago Police vehicles or CTA trucks or something parked in it.  Not today.  The only thing separating him from the passing traffic was a couple of thin yellow lines.

But wait -- just when I thought he was done -- he squatted down and changed lenses!  In the middle of traffic!  So now not only was he in the middle of the street, he as all hunched over so he couldn't be seen by most of the drivers.

Chicago Theater marquee photographs are a dime a dozen.  They're not worth risking your life for.

Crappy Restaurant Less Crappy Now

One of downtown Chicago's least pleasant looking McDonald's looks much better these days.

The restaurant at 230 South State Street has been given something of an exterior makeover.  There are clean new awnings, a light grey McDonald's banner wraps around the corner of the building, mimicking its structural stripes, and even the marquee looks a lot better than it used to.

Other people seem to have noticed, too.  When this picture was taken, people could clearly be seen eating in the second floor dining room, something I haven't seen before.

It's another positive step forward for the revitalization of State Street.

Status Update: Hotel Palomar Chicago

The new Hotel Palomar Chicago (505 North State Street) is progressing nicely, and is already taking reservations for dates starting May 1, 2010.  And while it's quite a handsome building, it's a shame that we lost that little park when there are three surface parking lots within 300 feet of this project.

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas (2009 Edition, Part 1)

Sure, it's just a chunk of black metal, but it's also the harbinger of the holiday season.  The base for the Christmas tree has been put in place in the plaza of the John Hancock Center (875 North Michigan Avenue).  Nearby, crews are putting the lights up in the trees that line the Magnificent Mile, and in the Loop, Macy's is working on its annual Christmas window displays.

And to think, I still have one more pumpkin to carve for Halloween.

Status Update: Walton on the Park

We've been following the construction of Walton on the Park (900 North State Street) for a while not (here and here).  Glass is moving up the sides of the building, but there's still plenty of work to be done at the top.

A Closer Look at the CTA Light Show

Once or twice in the past I've blogged about the CTA's elevated station at State Street in the Loop.  The reason was because last winter I noticed some kind of light show on the stationhouse.  At first I thought I was imagining things, but eventually I got the chance to see it up close and personal.  It is real.

It consists of semi-opaque panels just above the El superstructure.  Behind the panels appears to be arrays of colored LEDs.  The panels change colors quickly enough to be noticed, but not so quickly as to be distracting.

The light is powerful enough to actually cast a stripe across the width of State Street, as seen in this CrappyCameraPhone™ photo.

I still haven't been able to track down any information about it other than the CTA is required to set aside a certain percentage of any money spent on renovating stations for use in public art.  I'm OK with that, especially if this is the result.

New Food on State Street

There are a couple of new quick-eat options available in the Loop.  After months of anticipation, and renovation, the Page Brothers Building (177 North State Street) which used to just have an OTB, now has a deli and an ice cream shop on the ground floor.

The sandwich joint is called Halsted Street Deli.  Sharing space with HSD is South Side favorite, Rainbow Cone.  Rainbow used to have an outlet in Union Station, but that closed years ago.

A Chinese restaurant is still to come.  The person who sent the picture in didn't notice an opening date in the window.

Status Update: Holy Name Cathedral

Although masses are mostly back on schedule at Holy Name Cathedral, the roof repairs continue after last February's fire, and the ceiling collapse almost exactly one year earlier.

Inside, the cathedral is absolutely beautiful and has never looked better.  It's a glorious place for a wedding, and I should know since I got married there a couple of weeks ago.  If you haven't been inside, now's the time to go.  The gift shop is gone, but it's still an amazing space to sit and watch and wonder.