Have you ever asked yourself, "Self, what's so great about the Fulton River District?" I haven't either. But that doesn't mean there aren't great things there.
For tens of thousands of people, it's a way to get from their offices in the Loop to their homes in the suburbs. But the Fulton River District Association wants people to know there's a lot more going on on the western bank of the Chicago River.
Here's a video the Association put together. While the Haymarket Riot is certainly an historic event, I'm not sure celebrating a riot is the proper way to promote a neighborhood. You decide for yourself:
Last night I tweeted that the high clouds in the sky could make for an interesting sunset. So I set up the iPhone and made a time-lapse movie of the sun going down behind the Chicago skyline as seen from the John Hancock Center(875 North Michigan Avenue).
Unfortunately, the clouds cleared out just as the good colors were coming on, but you can still see its light making rainbows in the ice crystals.
There are a couple of times when the picture jumps. Those are when someone called on my phone. Oops!
Digging through some old files I came across this piece of video. It shows a raccoon getting its dinner on an El platform while passengers and trains come and go. The critter doesn't seem to care.
The video is pretty poor quality because it was shot in 2003 with a Sony Clie UX-50 -- a kind of souped-up Palm Pilot. It was state of the art at the time, but the art has changed a lot since then.
It's said that the devil is in the details. If that's true, it's no wonder that one of the most famous Chicago books is Devil in the White City. Literature aside, much of the architecture that helped make Chicago great is festooned with details that are often overlooked, even by people trying to look for them.
WTTW's Chicago Tonight program recently aired a piece about the details of Chicago architecture that often go unappreciated.
As an aside -- if you're wondering why there are suddenly WTTW videos on this blog, it's because someone from the station contacted me to encourage me to add them so they can be seen by a wider audience. It's also good because it helps people see the Chicago history and architecture pieces WTTW does without having to wade through things they're not interested in. And considering how frustrating and unreliable Comcast's WTTW on demand service is, this is probably an easier way to see the clips.
Last month we posted a film in this blog that showcased Chicago as it was in 1948. One scene in that film showed an unnamed castle along the city's lakefront.
We now know what that castle was. It was the home of legendary Chicago businessman Potter Palmer, who is responsible for making State Street what it is today.
Sadly, the castle which once overlooked Oak Street Beach is gone, replaced by the sibling apartment blocks known as 1350-1360 North Lake Shore Drive. We have friends who live there, so we won't call the buildings ugly. Whoops.
Recently, the "Ask Geoffrey" segment on WTTW's Chicago Tonight brought up the Palmer Castle and gave some very interesting background information.
There always seems to be a new book coming out about Chicago and its buildings. The latest one focuses on Soldier Field. It's called Soldier Field: A Stadium and its History. Its author, Liam Ford, was interviewed about it on WTTW's Chicago Tonight program:
This video is making the rounds these days, and I thought people here on the Chicago Architecture Blog would enjoy it.
It's a travel film produced in 1948. It's a great look at where Chicago was just 60 short years ago. The city looks very different, and very familiar now.
Mayor Daley has been bursting with pride lately as his long-desired Chicago Riverwalk finally takes off.
What was just a patchwork of concrete and pioneering restaurant kiosks for the last couple of years have finally developed into a cohesive system of walkways, eateries, pocket parks, bicycle rental places, and even a pair of minor museums.
Tourists and Loop workers both seem to be embracing the new outdoor venues along the main branch of the Chicago River. But while the area is labeled "Chicago Riverwalk," it isn't the only riverwalk in Chicago.
There is a much earlier riverwalk that most Chicagoans never see. Instead of being on the Main Branch of the Chicago River, this one is on the South Branch, off of Ashland Avenue around 31st Street. It's called the Canalport Riverwalk, and came to live in the mid-1990's.
Officially, there is no neighborhood designation for this area. It could most closely be called McKinley Park. But on city maps it's literally a big gray area.
In 1995, the city of Chicago bought an old Sears warehouse and tore it down. It then cleaned up 60 acres of land, fixed the bulkhead against a dead-end canal, and sold off pieces to businesses that promised to bring in jobs.
The most prominent business landed here was the Sun-Times News Group. It paid the city $12 million for the land, and opened a $100 million printing and distribution plant on 29 acres at 2800 South Ashland Avenue for the Sun-Times and some of its suburban newspapers. In return, the city gave the Sun-Times a few million dollars to offset land preparation costs, and helped it get a tax reduction from Cook County.
Today, the Canalport Riverwalk angles around two sides of the printing plant. It has a nice path with plenty of seating, a few trees, devices for holding fishing rods, and several swaths planted with native grasses and plants.
Birds have discovered the place, and on our visit we saw a flock of goldfinches and many other brightly colored visitors. There's some evidence of aquatic life, as well, though we couldn't tell if it was fish or amphibian.
It's hardly a quiet oasis, though. The noise from the metal sorting and barging facility across the water is substantial, and trucks visiting both the printing plant and nearby distribution centers add to the cacophony. If you're the sort of person who says, "I love work. I can watch it all day," then this is the place for you. Siting on a bench watching heavy machinery unload, sort, and load scrap metal is fascinating to some. It's like watching a life-sized episode of Dirty Jobs in the best HD money can buy.
Very few humans have found this place. In three hours spent there, only one other person appeared, and he was an angler. But it's a good example of turning what once was a strip of wasted industrial property into something nice, even though most people don't even know it exists.
Here's a view of what you'll see (and hear) if you go:
After weeks of delays, it finally happened -- on January 3, 2009 the spire was finally assembled at the top of the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago. Doing so raises the building's height to 1,326 feet, making it the second-tallest building in the city, and the third-tallest in North America (if, of course, you count spires but not antennae).
The spire isn't quite done yet. With the exception of three sections, it remains unsheathed. And it remains to be seen how it will be lit. Right now there's just a steady red beacon on top. It would be nice if it got the white illumination and a white strobe to match the Sears Tower and the John Hancock Center.
