CHICAGO l Eco-Bridge and observation tower.

[a chicago bearcat]

the whole uninterrupted view point is kind of bogus. Has anyone noticed how much the marina takes away from the uninterrupted water feel from grant park in the summer. It's kind of intimidating.

I always go out to the tips of the points up and down the lakefront if I want to get out of the city and along the actual physical lake.



From this view, the actual wind turbine heads would line up with the current breakwater you see to her right (our left) and the tower would about rise just over her shoulder on the side she has her head cocked away from.

I'm not saying that it won't block a lot of the lake, but this is the about the 25th floor of a modernist building and all you are getting blocked is the breakwater that is manmade and underwhelming, and barely does justice of defining this harbor.

I know this won't happen, but if it did, we would be surprising the world again.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ I highly, highly doubt this thing would obstruct anyone's views, esp being that far out from any buildings

Maybe "obstruct" was the wrong word, as it wouldn't be like blotting the sun from the sky kind of obstruction, but it would definitely alter the viewscape. Instead of watching the water meet the sky, you'd see water and then a thin strip of "land" with a bunch of man-made machines poking out from it and then you'd see the sky. That's totally unlike what you have now, with a very low-profile, uniform breakwater.

[richb]

Surprised people aren't talking about the appearance of the wind turbines more. They would be really ugly even if they aren't that high. I don't see this going anywhere with the turbines. The rest could be interesting, the added boat slips would be popular. But I don't see any use for it in the winter. Nobody will go out there when the cold wind is blowing in.

[nomarandlee]

Originally Posted by Haworthia

My favorite line from the Tribune articles is:
Quoting Smith, "The biggest hang-up is probably the money."
From: http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune....and-gills.html

HILARIOUS. This sucker will cost more than a billion. I can't prove it, but I have a good intuition for the costs of projects. I bet this fellow is in the $4+ billion dollar range at the least. I guess I'm saying I think money might be a problem too. No clue who would pay for this.

There's no way this fellow would be done in time for the Olympics, either.

But it's a big plan and would bring in some serious tourism. That would be good for the city. There are probably more cost effective ways to bring in tourism, but walking the entire length of the eco-bridge could be one of those 100 things to do before you die type activities.

I say we just build an eco-island off the the shore and put some wind turbines around the perimter with a Mackinac Island pedestrian only village only with typical Chicago style houses and making it denser (Monaco type maybe ? ). I was thinking about Northerly Island for this but I don't I want a continous green along our lakeshore. The only possiably problamatic issue I could see would be waste collection and disposal.

[Aleks]

I like the park and the wind turbines. And maybe a few underwater turbines would be nice too. I don't like the tower. I'd rather see a hollow metal globe with the US highlighted in a different color or a building in the shape of the earth with the US shaded in red, white and blue glass.

And having more marina space could probably mean that renters will pay more or it could also mean they will pay less because there will be more space. Therefor more people get more boats and more people use the marina.

[America 117]

i dont like this at all it will destroy chicago.
i hope it never gets built it most likely wont.

[Eventually...Chicago]

Originally Posted by America 117

i dont like this at all it will destroy chicago.
i hope it never gets built it most likely wont.

Destroy Chicago? jeez...

[a chicago bearcat]

yep green energy, a public works project and a lakefront park

that just goes against everything chicago has stood for in the past decade
...
please

millenium park cost a ton, and proved that chicago was still serious about culture and art

this would be the millenium park of sustainability, because this area of the coast is not the most brimming with life. Which would be it's first hurdle after finances.

[Dr. Taco]

assuming these are all a healthy 2MW wind turbines, they would generate a combined 1.35 billion kWh of electricity annually. With how much this would cost, methinks the wind farm would be more a "nice gesture" thing than a "practical" thing. And chicago is a practical city. It could look cool if done right... but I don't know if I would want to take that risk when what we already have (including an abundance of electricity) is so beautiful and right

[Haworthia]

Originally Posted by jstush04

assuming these are all a healthy 2MW wind turbines, they would generate a combined 1.35 billion kWh of electricity annually. With how much this would cost, methinks the wind farm would be more a "nice gesture" thing than a "practical" thing. And chicago is a practical city. It could look cool if done right... but I don't know if I would want to take that risk when what we already have (including an abundance of electricity) is so beautiful and right

I have to agree. I'm not sure how much money these turbines would bring in for this location, but I have to imagine this is not the optimum spot for them. Looking at the picture, it looks like there are about 100 turbines. Turbines cost millions of dollars each. So why would private industry back a project that costs hundreds of millions of dollars in a spot that would probably not give the highest return? Private investors would only put them there if they were heavily subsidized at which point they are not helping fund the project.

[brian_b]

Originally Posted by a chicago bearcat

The revenue generator would probably be viewed in 3 ways and justified in another 2

Revenue:
1. More Boat slips accessible near downtown, these are slips that can charge a higher rate than other marinas if I remember correctly. This gets park and rec involved in initial fund raising.

1) Those would be mooring balls, not boat slips. And they're the least expensive in the Chicago Harbor System (shared with the Jackson outer harbor - http://www.chicagoharbors.info/rates.html). They're so cheap because you need to take a dingy out to your boat. It's inconvenient and takes a long time. This proposal would make it even worse.

[CGII]

Originally Posted by America 117

i dont like this at all it will destroy chicago.
i hope it never gets built it most likely wont.

I agree! It's worse than Cabrini Green and Robert Taylor Homes combined.


Anyway, has anyone noticed how the obersvation tower is really just a huge replica of the sculpture 'Bird In Space?'


zbrushcentral.com

[Dr. Taco]

^ AWESOME observation, CGII. its as if he was trying to copy the sculpture exactly

[CGII]

I figured that since the whole concept is merely that, a concept, that Bird In Space was used merely as a placeholder to give a basic impression of what could go there.

[simcityaustin]

I don't dislike thedesign, but for $1b, you would think better uses for $$$ could be found....such as infrastructure, education, etc.

[cbotnyse]

Originally Posted by simcityaustin

I don't dislike thedesign, but for $1b, you would think better uses for $$$ could be found....such as infrastructure, education, etc.

but this would be privately funded.

[cbotnyse]

Originally Posted by Haworthia

I have to agree. I'm not sure how much money these turbines would bring in for this location, but I have to imagine this is the optimum spot for them. Looking at the picture, it looks like there are about 100 turbines. Turbines cost millions of dollars each. So why would private industry back a project that costs hundreds of millions of dollars in a spot that would probably not give the highest return? Private investors would only put them there if they were heavily subsidized at which point they are not helping fund the project.

maybe ComEd steps up to develop it and market themselves as an eco-friendly energy company?

[Alliance]

There are better uses. If Com Ed wan'ts to be environmentally friendly, perhps spending $1bn on an ultra-efficient Circle line would be much more beneficial to the city.

[Chicago Shawn]

Originally Posted by richb

Surprised people aren't talking about the appearance of the wind turbines more. They would be really ugly even if they aren't that high. I don't see this going anywhere with the turbines. The rest could be interesting, the added boat slips would be popular. But I don't see any use for it in the winter. Nobody will go out there when the cold wind is blowing in.

Not really, because wind turbines can take many forms. The AeroTurbine developed by UIC Proffessor Bill Becker for example is about the size of an oil drum, and can be mounted right onto a building with a low profile. See Jahn's new SRO at Clybourn and Divsion which has them placed atop the building.


I am 100% in favor of this concept should there ever be a push to make it a reality. Marinas are a huge revenue generator for the park district and could fund some of the bonds used to pay for the eco bridge. Afterwords, there would be years of revenue for the park district, which would be funneled into parks city wide as the marinas provide for currently. It would also make the lake more accessable to boaters, as there is a long waiting list for slips; and we could even dedicate some of it for transiet boaters comming from say Toronto to spend a week in our city. Plus the new land would really offer a get away point for dwellers of downtown for peacful respite, right now Northerly Island serves that function, but this would be better, and still closer to everything. The bridge would also provide an oportunity for those who can't afford a boat to get out into the lake and enjoy the view.

[Dr. Taco]

^ I think it would be quite an incredible experience if the windmills really made their presence known with long, swooping, graceful white blades. Imagine sitting on a bench amongst them, looking up with either the skyline or the horizon in the background and blue sky, and water everywhere. It'd be amazing. But again, I already think what we have is pretty amazing, and I don't like the idea of doing anything close to what Dubai is doing, even though we WERE sort of dubai a hundred years ago, haha