CHICAGO | General Developments

[SolarWind]

February 3, 2017

[Freefall]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

Willis was my grandpa's name. I never called him Willis, I called him Grandpa. Hope this helps.

He'll always be Grandpa Sears to me

[Freefall]

.

[danielschell]

I've learned to embrace "Willis Tower" by telling tourists it was named after Bruce Willis, and it's the building where Die Hard was filmed.

[sentinel]

Originally Posted by danielschell

I've learned to embrace "Willis Tower" by telling tourists it was named after Bruce Willis, and it's the building where Die Hard was filmed.

Btw, fun side fact: I met Chris Pine once a number of years back, backstage after a performance in LA. Really sweet guy, very thoughtful and a great actor

[denizen467]

^^
Doesn't that violate an SSP oath or something?

[the urban politician]

New forumers should be required to take the SSP oath:

"I vow to love skyscrapers, love transit, hate cars, worship density, and loathe NIMBYism until the end of my days..."

[Rocket49]

Originally Posted by danielschell

I've learned to embrace "Willis Tower" by telling tourists it was named after Bruce Willis, and it's the building where Die Hard was filmed.

LOLOL

[denizen467]

I'm guessing BVic and his compadres must have some credo they follow in speaking to tourists. What kind of tall tales (pun not intended) they can tell, what they can spin about Mrs O'Leary's cow, etc. Bits of this might be essential as part of the SSP Oath. What TUP said too. At least the Chicago sub-chapter of the SSP Oath.

[Mr Downtown]

Chicago Tour-Guide Professionals like myself must pass a three-part certification exam. The folks who are out on the boats typically are vetted and trained by their employers, and very few of them sit for the CTG certification. I'm sure BVic could pass it, but I've been on boats with guides who'd have a lot of trouble.

What really frosts my buns are the summer college student guides who just make shit up to entertain themselves and their passengers. That's how bizarre tales get started about 311 South Wacker looking like an engagement ring to honor the architect's dead fiancée, or the chimney on the Hotel Inter-Continental being an airship dock. And don't get me started on the utterly incomprehensible "explanations" I've heard from guides telling how some "loophole" was exploited to let Lake Point Tower be the only building east of Lake Shore Drive.

[Justin_Chicago]

Wood office building planned on Goose Island

Hines Interests wants to build a timber structure on the site of Big Bay Lumber, a lumber yard on Division Street that closed in 2015, according to people familiar with Hines' plans.

Pending zoning approval, the project at 1017 W. Division St. is expected to be similar in size to a 220,000-square-foot office building that Houston-based Hines completed last year in Minneapolis.

That seven-story building, called T3, was the tallest heavy-timber office building constructed in the United States in the modern construction era, when most commercial buildings have been built with concrete and steel. Amazon recently leased space in the building in Minneapolis' North Loop for a technology development office.

Article: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/reale...n-goose-island

[aaron38]

Jefferson Park Mixed-Income Housing Plan To Be Discussed Thursday Night
https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/2017...ald-john-arena

The event is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday at the Branch Community Church, 6125 W. Foster Ave., Arena said. It had been scheduled to take place at the Jefferson Park District police station, 5151 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Attendees will be asked at the door to show proof that they live in the boundaries of the 45th Ward, according to Owen Brugh, Arena's chief of staff.

[Rocket49]

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

Chicago Tour-Guide Professionals like myself must pass a three-part certification exam. The folks who are out on the boats typically are vetted and trained by their employers, and very few of them sit for the CTG certification. I'm sure BVic could pass it, but I've been on boats with guides who'd have a lot of trouble.

I visited the CTGP website and checked out the Study Guide for the certification test. Very interesting.

Are there any particular books or other sources that the CTGP association recommends to acquire the knowledge needed to pass the certification exam?

[Mr Downtown]

I'm not on the education committee, so I don't know exactly what they recommend. I usually tell folks to start with

• Schulze & Harrington Chicago's Famous Buildings
• Mayer & Wade Chicago: Growth of a Metropolis
• Pacyga Chicago: A Biography
• Bach & Gray A Guide to Chicago's Public Sculpture

The test that's most difficult by far for most candidates is the "slide test," where you're shown a picture of a well-known building or monument and must talk for 30 seconds about it. That's as much about extemporaneous speaking ability as it is knowledge, but obviously having the underlying knowledge is what gives you the confidence to speak.

[Rocket49]

^^ Thanks for the info Mr D. I doubt I'll ever take the CTGP exam, but I'd like to learn more about the city since I enjoy history a lot, and act as a tour guide for visiting friends and relatives.

[r18tdi]

Read Pacyga for a college elective on Chicago History. Good stuff.

[emathias]

A Chicago book I really enjoyed was "The Pig and the Skyscraper: Chicago, A History of our Future," by Marco d'Eramo, and Italian who lived for a number of years in Lakeview.

Here's a review in The Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/20...education.news

[danielschell]

Along with the debris from bridge removal, there's caisson equipment under/inside the Circle Interchange. Surprised to see that.

http://wp.me/p7uLxw-2aL

[harryc]

Any info on this ? N/W corner LaSalle and Grand
Jan 17




Jan 19

[emathias]

Originally Posted by harryc

Any info on this ? ...

Gonna be a hotel. That's about all the info we have.