TweetEcho - April 19 - April 25, 2009

For those of you who don't subscribe to our Twitter feed , here are the things we tweeted in the last week:

1. Ever wonder what all the stones embedded in the facade of Chicago's Tribune Tower are? List of 150: http://bit.ly/17BJFC25 minutes ago from bit.ly
2. The Freshii we reported on earlier this year at Water Tower Place will open in July. Also look for new locations at 200 W. Monroe & Block 37about 19 hours ago from web
3. Some Chicago alderman are waking up to how hard it is to do business in this city. They're now proposing a Loop stimulus http://bit.ly/BRSRyabout 20 hours ago from bit.ly
4. Workers are reassembling the restaurant at Oak Street Beach. It should be summer any minute now!about 22 hours ago from Tweetie
5. The crane has been taken down at Aqua. Chicago's newest showcase skyscraper will get no taller.9:46 AM Apr 23rd from Tweetie
6. @VisitChicago I'm bundling up in my wool coat and hat, just like every day in Chicago. It's only 49 at the lake.9:45 AM Apr 23rd from Tweetie in reply to VisitChicago
7. The empty Bennigan's at the Illinois Center on North Michigan Avenue will reopen as Sweetwater Tavern & Grille:http://bit.ly/16xvdm1:09 PM Apr 22nd from bit.ly
8. Greenpeace damaged the new Michigan Avenue bridge railings that you paid $3.5 million to renovate. Good job, greentards: http://bit.ly/dwdbD12:37 PM Apr 22nd from bit.ly
9. Ouch! Chicago picture of the day: Covering up the "Sears Tower" sign with a "Willis Tower" banner: http://bit.ly/5chBg4:07 PM Apr 21st from bit.ly
10. City Council will vote tomorrow on a proposal to force the Art Institute of Chicago reduce admission fees for locals:http://bit.ly/2C34l76:24 AM Apr 21st from bit.ly
11. Chicago's Alinea named the 10th best restaurant in the world: http://bit.ly/6xQog6:19 AM Apr 21st from bit.ly
12. Overheard: Architects are working on plans to reconstruct Chicago's historic Lawson YMCA. Pics of the art deco building: http://bit.ly/MAAKy10:40 AM Apr 20th from bit.ly
13. @GossipChicago: The Kate Spade store is at 56 East Oak Street. It moved there last year after about a decade at 101 East Oak Street.10:09 AM Apr 20th from web
14. Girl who fell from 182 W. Lake ruled accident. It's at least the THIRD young woman to fall to her death from a Chicago skyscraper in a month10:07 AM Apr 20th from web
15. Overseen: Mike Ditka picking up take out from Ditka's restaurant and making his getaway in "da Benz."10:49 PM Apr 19th from Tweetie
16. New York Times article about the end of the "starchitect" era is illustrated with a nice rendering of the Chicago Spirehttp://bit.ly/16xbeI3:38 AM Apr 19th from bit.ly

Slice of Life: The Oriental Consistory

I admit it -- I had to look up the word "Consistory."  I still don't understand how it fits in to this phrase which adorns an arch at the Scottish Rite Cathedral on North Dearborn Street.  I checked the massive Encyclopedia of Chicago, but for some reason the tome has hardly any information on any churches in Chicago.  Not even Holy Name or Old Saint Patrick's warrant coverage in a book that's supposed to be encyclopedic.  I'm not sure how you can do a history of any American city without including something substantial about its faith community.

Slightly further off topic -- the park across the street from the Scottish Rite Cathedral is known by many as Washington Square Park.  But it used to be known as "Bughouse Square" and was named for the nearby mental hospital, or "bughouse" in the parlance of the time.

Chicago Brick of the Day: Boston Avenue Methodist Church, Tulsa

In an effort to showcase the magnificent architecture of Chicago's Tribune Tower, and to help people understand just how powerful and influential the Chicago Tribune newspaper once was, the Chicago Architecture Blog presents: Chicago Brick of the Day.

Today's brick is:

The Boston Avenue Methodist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Each day we'll show a photograph of a rock, brick, or other piece of stonework embedded in the exterior of the Tribune Tower .

If you haven't done it yet, play tourist for a couple of hours and wander around the outside of 435 North Michigan Avenue and marvel at an architectural work that will not be equalled in our lifetimes.

Lake Forest Retail Update

Another update out of Lake Forest.  Lake Forest Food & Wine Specialities is closed, and will remain so until after Independence Day weekend.  There's lots of construction noises to be heard behind the papered-over windows, so hopefully grand things will be in store for the second half of the summer.