More Information About the Wacker Drive Reconstruction

We're learning more about the upcoming reconstruction of North and South Wacker Drive between Randolph Street and Harrison Street.

We first mentioned the rebuilding of Wacker Drive back in November, and now that the April, 2010 start date is fast approaching, it's time to take a closer look.  I wasn't in Chicago at the time of the big 2001-2002 rebuilding of East and West Wacker Drives, but people who have been here longer than I say it was an awful time to get around downtown.

Drivers, and especially commuters, should expect much of the same this time around since at the same time North and South Wacker are being reconstructed, CDOT is also renovating Congress Parkway, and IDOT is rehabbing the Congress Parkway Bridge (Eisenhower Expressway/I-290), and repaving the Ike around the Circle Interchange.

But these things must be done.  It's been 55 years since this portion of Wacker was built.  Time and 60,000 vehicles a day haven't been kind to it.

Work begins April 1, and is expected to last until the end of 2012.  For most of the road, construction will be limited to utility work at first.  But April 1, 2010 is also the date of the first big shock of the project -- the closure of the Congress Parkway interchange ramps.

The way Congress Parkway connects to Franklin Street changes dramatically.  Coming into the Loop and taking the right exit for northbound Franklin Street will now loop you under D'Angelo Park and land you on the left side of Franklin, instead of the current surface merge into the right side of the street.  Click the map to see the new configuration in detail.

Getting back onto I-290 will only be possible from Congress Parkway, Wells Street, and southbound Lower Wacker Drive.  You will no longer be able to do half a cloverleaf and use Franklin as a turn-around to get out of the city as quickly as you came.

This also means that the tour buses that like to use the city-designated tour bus holding zone (with their engines illegally idling all day) on Franklin will have to find a new place to belch.

CDOT published a helpful guide a couple of weeks ago, and here are the highlights and a useful map we created:

• Phase One: Starts January 1, 2011 between Randolph Street and not quite Madison Street.  The ramp to Lower Wacker will be removed and replaced with a landscaped median.
• Phase Two: Roughly between Madison Street and Monroe Street.  Construction will take place during 2011.  The existing ramp to Lower Wacker will be replaced by a one-way ramp leading downward.
• Phase Three: Roughly between Monroe Street and Jackson Street.  Construction expected during 2012.  The Lower Wacker ramp in front of the Willis Tower (233 South Wacker Drive) will be removed and replaced with a landscaped median.
• Phase Four: Construction between Jackson Street and Van Buren Street in 2012.
• The Mystery Phase: This will be a redevelopment of Oscar O. D'Angelo Park.  It should be quite nice when done, with lots of new trees and public areas.  But we've labeled it the Mystery Phase because it doesn't appear on the CDOT timeline, but based on other things we've read it could start in April, 2010.  When we find out for sure, we'll let you know.

But all of the work won't be on the surface.  Below ground, Lower North and South Wacker Drives will receive a number of structural improvements, including an increase in the clearance height for trucks by over a foot.

More notably, however, are thick walls and barriers separating lanes of through traffic from local delivery traffic.  It is also possible that some of these barriers are intended to protect the local skyscrapers from subterranean truck bombs, like the nearly four-foot-thick wall planned to run in front of the base of the iconic Willis Tower.

A few other things caught our eyes while inspecting the CDOT documents:  Two references to "Abandoned Garage" beneath 311 South Wacker Drive.  This may not mean there's an actual abandoned garage beneath the skyscraper, but may just be obsolete entrances to the existing garage.

There was also and a note that the park just south of 300 South Wacker Drive will be walled off from the public on the lower level.  Hopefully there will be some way to get to it from above.

Fight the Winter Blues for Free

If you feel the winter blues closing in on you, beat feet to one of the two free flower shows going on right now in Chicago.  One is at the Lincoln Park Conservatory (2391 North Stockton Drive) the other at the Garfield Park Conservatory (300 North Central Park Avenue).  I spent a couple of hours at the Lincoln Park event, and it really improved my mood.  But this is the last weekend of the Holiday Flower Shows.

Slice of Life: A Worse Job Than Yours

Be happy for your job is, chances are it's not worse than this.  Unless your profession can be showcased on the Dirty Jobs television show, these guys digging a ditch in the snow outside the John Hancock Center (875 North Michigan Avenue) have it worse than you.

Of course, none of this applies if you're one of the 10.3% (official) to 22% (unofficial) of people in Chicago who can't find a job.  Believe me, I know.  I spent September and October trying to find a job in Chicago.  I finally gave up after about the 30th time I was told I'm "overqualified."  What is that supposed to mean?  Because I have a college degree and a strong work ethic I'm not able to stack crates of granola at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods?

TweetEcho: December 17, 2009-January 3, 2010

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

1. For the record -- Raccoons are not afraid of the El (with video): http://ow.ly/QTb47:35 AM Dec 30th, 2009 from HootSuite
2. Tuesday Trivia: What we were before there was a Chicagoland:http://ow.ly/QTap2:24 PM Dec 29th, 2009 from HootSuite
3. Sur la Table on Walton Street is now closed. There's a sign stating that it's looking for a new location nearby.6:59 AM Dec 29th, 2009 from HootSuite
4. @aThousandFeetUp Absolutely. It was one of the better sunsets we've had in a while. And the sun sets two minutes later where you are!4:48 PM Dec 28th, 2009 from HootSuite in reply to aThousandFeetUp
5. Ever wonder what Facebook's headquarters looks like? Well, here ya' go! http://ow.ly/QyGN4:08 PM Dec 28th, 2009 from HootSuite
6. Chicago's Aqua skyscraper is now a trivia question (#30):http://ow.ly/QpJT7:21 AM Dec 28th, 2009 from HootSuite
7. Britain's "Sun" newspaper compares Chicago with New York: "just as fabulous after dark - and a whole lot less frenzied."http://ow.ly/QpGB6:49 AM Dec 28th, 2009 from HootSuite
8. My kind of town: New flight sim pack brings back Meigs Field, adds the Chicago Spire: http://ow.ly/QpCK6:46 AM Dec 28th, 2009 from HootSuite
9. Anthropologie opens at Chicago's Block 37 on January 22.3:26 PM Dec 23rd, 2009 from HootSuite
10. Unfollowing @chiarchitecture because of the poor signal to noise ratio. Will re-follow if the content improves.1:39 PM Dec 22nd, 2009 from HootSuite
11. There's finally a store to replace L'Artisan at the 900 Shops. LTJ Arthur looks like some kind of socks and pajamas store.1:37 PM Dec 22nd, 2009 from HootSuite
12. Fifth Chicago skyscraper fire in a month. Latest one in the basement of 210 East Pearson. Pix of the building:http://ow.ly/Ovws12:52 AM Dec 22nd, 2009 from HootSuite
13. Midwest Guest shows us Chicago's Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows: http://ow.ly/NZgT11:45 AM Dec 21st, 2009 from HootSuite
14. An artifact of Chicago's railroad history runs through River North: http://ow.ly/NGGV8:02 AM Dec 21st, 2009 from HootSuite
15. A sad slice of Chicago life: http://ow.ly/OfZ3 Especially for cat lovers.7:29 AM Dec 21st, 2009 from HootSuite
16. A Toronto newspaper looks at Chicago's Fulton Market district: http://ow.ly/Odlr5:22 AM Dec 21st, 2009 from HootSuite
17. Chicago mayor Richard J. Daley on a 1956 edition of the game show What's My Line? http://ow.ly/NW9y7:02 AM Dec 20th, 2009 from HootSuite
18. Au Bon Pain is now open at Block 37.7:15 AM Dec 19th, 2009 from HootSuite
19. The guy who designs the Apple Stores has been honored by the American Institute of Architects: http://ow.ly/NyCJ3:37 PM Dec 18th, 2009 from HootSuite
20. WBBM reports the fire was actually in a stairwell in Nordstrom and is out.7:07 AM Dec 18th, 2009 from HootSuite
21. Michigan Ave tied up because of a small fire at 540 North (The Marriott). More on the building: http://ow.ly/NnkA6:59 AM Dec 18th, 2009 from HootSuite
22. Epic sunset. Thanks, God.2:26 PM Dec 17th, 2009 from HootSuite
23. Chicago Art Magazine explains why you shouldn't feel bad if you get lost in the Art Institute's new wing:http://ow.ly/NbdO2:09 PM Dec 17th, 2009 from HootSuite
24. Cranky Canuck Frank Gehry drops the F-bomb and takes swipes at other starchitects: http://ow.ly/N7gs10:48 AM Dec 17th, 2009 from HootSuite
25. Celtic Fest Chicago is moving from the Fall to the Spring (May 8-9) and will be squeezed (downsized?) into Millennium Park.10:43 AM Dec 17th, 2009 from HootSuite
26. The feds are checking north side restaurants for illegal meat! (Rick Bayless' Frontera Grill is clean) http://ow.ly/MO9a12:48 PM Dec 16th, 2009 from HootSuite
27. The Hermes logos are up at the new Hermes location on Oak Street: http://ow.ly/MO6X12:44 PM Dec 16th, 2009 from HootSuite
28. Chicago's cheapest architecture tour: No club to join, tour fees, or docents to tip: http://ow.ly/MImI8:22 AM Dec 16th, 2009 from HootSuite

More Details About the New Roosevelt University Skyscraper

A meeting was held today to provide the public with more information about the new skyscraper that Roosevelt University is building in the Loop (421 South Wabash Street).  You can read more about the new Roosevelt University "vertical campus" building here.

Nothing earth-shattering came out of the information session, but there was one thing that came up that we failed to notice before -- the building is only shiny happy glass on three sides.

The north side of the building is mostly a concrete-clad service core.  It's similar to the design of 30 West Monroe, the building that architects continue to refer to as the Inland Steel building.

In the main publicity rendering distributed about Roosevelt University's still unnamed building, the service core is not visible.  But it is visible in a couple of the supplemental computer drawings, especially this one:

The facade is dark granite to match the base of the Auditorium Building (430 South Michigan Avenue) next door.  It runs the entire height of the north side of the building for two reasons.

1. To consolidate mechanical services in one place so that the rest of the floorspace can be made a more open space.
2. The university doesn't own the plot of land next door, so it is assumed that eventually a building will go up there that will be tall enough to block the view to the north anyway.

Naturally, the new skyscraper, described as a "vertical campus," is going for LEED certification.  It replaces the old Herman Crown Center, which opened in 1971 with 364 beds.  New city safety codes made the Crown building obsolete, so it is being torn down right now.  The new building will be able to house 40% more students. 

Other information that came out today:

• Cost: $118 million
• Scheduled opening: January, 2012
• Site size: 17,000 square feet
• Will be the second-tallest university building in the United States.
• Will be the sixth-tallest university building in the world.
• Inspired by Chicago's Inland Steel Building.
• Inspired by Constantin Brâncuşi's Endless Column
• Designed to look good from the El
• Facade will be made of various shades of tinted glass

Slice of Life: Snowstorm - January 7, 2010

Walking around town in the snow today with my CrappyCameraPhone™.  It's very quiet in Chicago.  For a time, I was the only person at Caribou Coffee across from Millennium Park.  Normally, getting a seat here is impossible during daylight hours, let alone at lunchtime.

Could This Be Chicago's Nerdiest Starbucks?

In Los Angeles there are certain restaurants where one goes in order to meet the right people to do a movie deal.

In Chicago there are certain functions one must attend in order to do a high-level political deal.

In Seattle there are certain Starbucks one must visit in order to do a big dot-com deal.

Combining the last two items in that list -- it is quite likely that the Starbucks at 430 North Clark Street could be the nerdiest Starbucks in Chicago.

It's not because of the number of laptops in evidence on an average weekday.  There are far more at the one on Rush Street.  No, it's because it's the closest Starbucks to Google's Chicago office.

Google has the seventh, eighth, and ninth floors of 20 West Kinzie Street -- the same building that houses the Amalfi Hotel, and is across the street from Harry Caray's.  And while Google undoubtedly has top-notch coffee available in its Playskool-colored offices, there's something about Starbucks that makes it irresistible to hard core nerds.  And working for Google is the very definition of hard core nerd.


This is more than a theory.  On an average afternoon, various people can be heard discussing various computer-related topics far more often and loudly than is normal for a midwestern coffee shop.  If these be Googlers, they give it away by their discussion of such things as Feedburner, which was a Chicago-grown tech company that Google ate and is now part of the mini Googleplex at 20 West Kinzie.

Does this mean that your local blog will get "discovered" and you'll be able to do a big high-tech deal by schmoozing the regulars at the Clark and Hubbard Starbucks store?  I'm not promising anything; but save me one of the squishy chairs by the big bay window.

The Google sign outside 20 West Kinzie

It Snot What It Looks Like

It's interesting the way a city shows its age.  Take for example, these stalactites dripping through a crack in a part of the CTA's rail system.  You've probably seen these all over town.  There used to be some epic ones at the Randolph & Wabash station and in the transfer tunnel between the red and blue lines.  I bet there's still some in the Blue Line station at Grand.

While stalactites take hundreds of years to form in caves, the CTA seems to be able to grow them in a matter of just decades.

You can make your own at home in a matter of days.  This web page has instructions.