Status Update: Loyola Television Studio

The Fall, 2009 timeframe came and went, but Loyola University's streetfront studio inside The Clare at Water Tower (55 East Pearson) looks like it's finally ready to go.

We first told you about the $400,000 project back in November as part of an article about Chicago's Seven Storefront Studios.

The Loyola setup seems like a nice little studio.  The cameras are a bit small, so I don't think they're professional grade.  More like "prosumer."  And the orange-and-gray color scheme reminds me of the studios of KHOU television in Houston where I worked back in the 1990's.  And the monitor wall is, of course, just for show for visitors and people walking by.  They're too far away to be used as preview or program monitors for the people on the set.

There also appears to be a little area off to the side to do radio interviews and chat shows.  It would be nice if Loyola would start its own radio station.  So many of the city's college radio stations are so low power that they're worthless where I live.  In fact, the only one I can receive reliably is WDCB out of Glen Ellyn.

If there are any forward-thinking people at Loyola reading this, here's a tip for you -- Start your college station on an HD subchannel of full-power FM station.  That way you get full market coverage without the expense and responsibilities of launching a full radio station, and the host station can write off the expense of carrying your signal as a charitable donation.  Just a thought.

Update: January 29, 2010:

Just got a Twitter message from one of our readers letting me know that Loyola already has a radio station.  WLUW is on 88.7, and comes in pretty good here on top of the John Hancock Center.  Here's a helpful diagram to see if you can get WLUW where you are:

Still, it would be nice to hear Loyola student radio on a full-power station.  Something like this:

Even though WLUW is only 100 watts, it still has a much better signal than the scatter-and-splatter 200-watt directional mess that was my college radio station:

Chicago's Seven Storefront Studios

The banners promise that Loyola University's new $400,000 streetfront television studio in The Clare at Water Tower (55 East Pearson Street) will open in autumn 2009, but I think we can safely say that isn't going to happen.  Especially considering that Loyola only got its permit to build the studio on October 2nd.

Loyola's will be the seventh streetfront studio in Chicago.  WGN radio was the modern pioneer with this in Chicago (though it's been done in other cities since the 50's).  720 was quickly followed by WMAQ, WLS-TV and eventually WBBM-TV.   I always thought WFLD had a great opportunity to open one when the Bennigans at Michigan Plaza closed, but that opportunity was missed.

Of course, WGN-TV (2501 West Bradley Place) and WTTW are half-way to the suburbs, so there's no point in them even trying.

Sometimes these are called "storefront" studios instead of "streetfront."  In that case, WLUP and WKQX are actually the leaders, since they have had a storefront presence in the Merchandise Mart (222 Mart Plaza) for years.

Storefront studios in Chicago:

• Loyola University: The Clare at Water Tower (55 East Pearson Street)
• WBBM-TV (2): Block 37 (22 West Washington Street)
• WGN (720): Tribune Tower (435 North Michigan Avenue)
• WKQX (101.1): Second floor, Merchandise Mart (222 Merchandise Mart Plaza)
• WLS-TV (7): 190 North State Street
• WLUP (97.9): Second floor, Merchandise Mart (222 Merchandise Mart Plaza)
• WMAQ (5): 401 North Michigan Avenue

WLUP's storefront at the Merchandise Mart

WKQX's storefront at the Merchandise Mart

Status Update: The New Loyola University Building

It's been a while since we checked in on this project.  We first told you about it back in January. Shortly thereafter a snow-covered Dunkin' Donuts at 24 East Chicago Avenue and some less savory storefronts were turned into dust.

Now the new building's exterior looks pretty much done, and it's hard to remember a time when this wasn't a part of the Loyola University Law Center (25 East Pearson Street).  Unfortunately, like other Loyola buildings, this one shows a blank wall to the world.  Is the university really planning for the day when the brand new McDonald's next door might be replaced by yet another Loyola expansion?  Seems unlikely.

Status Update: The still unnamed new Loyola building

Only a couple of weeks after we posted our article about Loyola University planning to tear down a grungy strip of retail stores on Chicago Avenue it actually happened.

Though Crain's Chicago Business and others predicted that demolition wouldn't happen until spring or even summer, if you blinked, you missed it.    Dunkin' Donuts, Tony's and the random vacant space are all gone and the newsstand has been closed up tight.  Look for that to disappear soon.  It will be stored in a city warehouse until the project is finished.

Soon to come -- a Loyola University building with offices, classrooms, and street-level retail.  Since the economy has made us new fans of McDonald's dollar menu, we'll keep a close eye on this for you.

Miracle on Chicago Avenue: Update 2

Well, just hours after our last update, Crain's Chicago Business published an article filling in the blanks for us .

Looks like the cost of the project is $9,000,000 and will be five stories tall.  And in spite of the hopeful fencing, demolition isn't imminent.

Miracle on Chicago Avenue: Update

Well, that didn't take long.  Word on the street (literally -- I ran into someone on the street with the answer) is that the demolition of the Dunkin' Donuts, Tony's, the vacant storefront, and the sidewalk newsstand on Chicago Avenue is a Loyola project.  Considering that explosive growth of that institution's physical plant, I guess we shouldn't be surprised.

The existing building has the address of 24 East Chicago Avenue, and was built in 1989.

I'm told that it's going to be ground-floor retail, topped by offices, and five stories of classrooms.  There will be a walkway connecting to the Loyola University Law Center at 25 East Pearson Street.

As for the stores that are soon-to-be-demolished -- they're welcome to return when the new building is finished in 2010, if they want to pay many thousands of dollars in higher rent to be in the new building.  The Dunkin' Donuts franchisee is expected to decline.

This is just the latest in Loyola Universtiy's rapid expansion of its Water Tower campus.  It also recently purchased the 1890 Chicago-State Building and the surface lot next to it for $40 million.  While that building is scuzzy, too, hopefully it can be rehabilitated instead of demolished.