CHICAGO | General Developments

[nomarandlee]

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/5...seum09.article

Pritzker lobbies aldermen on museum site
GRANT PARK | No sign of compromise -- vote may be in Nov.

October 9, 2007
BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter/fspielman@suntimes.com

Jean "Gigi" Pritzker, billionaire board president of the Chicago Children's Museum, has been meeting privately with aldermen individually to persuade them to approve a new children's museum in Grant Park over the objections of Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd).

Aldermen lobbied so far said Pritzker and children's museum Vice President Jim Law, the city's former special events director, plan to forsake compromise and forge ahead with Plan Commission approval as early as next month with Mayor Daley's blessing.

I am curious what exact locations in the South Loop Reilly has in mind. For some reason I think his Museum Campus or Northerly are going to pass the mustard either.

If only they had planned a few years earlier maybe it could have provided a nice low rise streetwall in front of the Grant Park towers.

[wrab]

Just for hilarity's sake, why not put the darn thing in "The Park at Lake Shore East"; doing so would quench Daley's desire to spank the LSE NIMBY contingent and would also draw the public's attention to this nifty new park resource.

[honte]

^ Yeah. Or, the LSE developers could trade some land for the museum in exchange for zoning variance to build a supertall. Wouldn't that be ideal? They could integrate the museum with the school they have planned into a little people's cultural tower, say 8 floors or so.

Now, Pritzker running around the city meeting with Aldermen, that's really something. I wonder why she's so set on this stupid site anyway. Could it be spoiled billionaire syndrome (SBS)?

[jpIllInoIs]

Good Idea! Put it in one of the 'shoulder wings' of the Archetonica.

[wrab]

Lynn Becker (http://arcchicago.blogspot.com/) has posted a hyperlink to an online petition against locating the Children's Museum in Grant Park; you can also find the petition here: http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/...rant-park.html

[Loopy]

I was thinking that the Cacciatore property on the river South of River City could be a workable site for the Childrens Museum. It's between Roosevelt and Taylor, Wells and the river.

If underground parking could be workable so close to the water, this site provides some interesting opportunities:

It could spur the development of the Taylor street bridge project. The Western viaduct for this bridge has already been constructed at Southgate Market across the river.

The bridge would allow vehicle and bus traffic to the museum to be routed directly to the museum from the Downtown Expressway at the Taylor Street exit. No museum traffic would clog surface streets.

The museum development would create another segment of Riverwalk.

[VivaLFuego]

Originally Posted by Loopy

I was thinking that the Cacciatore property on the river South of River City could be a workable site for the Childrens Museum. It's between Roosevelt and Taylor, Wells and the river.

Or maybe for a casino..... {hint?}

[spyguy]

Originally Posted by TheeErin

This morning Robinette Demolition put up their dumpsters in front of the Dunham Building. I talked to a couple of guys on the ground who confirmed the building is coming down. They didn't know what was going in its place.

Chiman on SSC found a piece of info on SOAR's website:

http://soarchicago.org/News_Views/details.cfm?NID=43

Northwestern Memorial Hospital Announces Demolition Schedules

SOAR was alerted this morning regarding the demolition schedule for Northwestern Memorial Hospital's buildings at 400 E. Ontario (at McClurg) and 450 E. Ohio (just west of Lake Shore Drive.) Demolition activities will begin this week, starting with placement of barriers, scaffolding and fencing. This work will continue into next week. Demolition for these two buildings and the Huron Street Bridge is expected to be completed the week of November 19. For information: Bridget Orth at borth@nmh.org or Steven Zalesny at (312)926-2308 or szalesny@nmh.org.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by Loopy

I was thinking that the Cacciatore property on the river South of River City could be a workable site for the Childrens Museum. It's between Roosevelt and Taylor, Wells and the river.

If underground parking could be workable so close to the water, this site provides some interesting opportunities:

Unfortunately, it's really not workable. It's barely workable in Chicago when you're blocks away from the river, let alone right up against it. That's why River North and Streeterville are flooded with parking podiums - the high water table in Chicago (we ARE built on a swamp, remember) makes the cost of underground parking RIDICULOUSLY high. There are ways to fake underground parking, like they did at Illinois Center.

What the Childrens' Museum can do in that location is
a) pay to utilize Roosevelt Collection's garage
b) design a tasteful parking garage on the site of the surface lot south of River City
c) build tasteful surface lots beneath the Roosevelt Road viaduct.

[Marcu]

Originally Posted by VivaLFuego

Or maybe for a casino..... {hint?}

Do you know something we don't?

[kalmia]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Unfortunately, it's really not workable. It's barely workable in Chicago when you're blocks away from the river, let alone right up against it. That's why River North and Streeterville are flooded with parking podiums - the high water table in Chicago (we ARE built on a swamp, remember) makes the cost of underground parking RIDICULOUSLY high. There are ways to fake underground parking, like they did at Illinois Center.

What the Childrens' Museum can do in that location is
a) pay to utilize Roosevelt Collection's garage
b) design a tasteful parking garage on the site of the surface lot south of River City
c) build tasteful surface lots beneath the Roosevelt Road viaduct.

It would be nice if there were more elevated, multilevel streets to allow more below street level parking.

[honte]

Originally Posted by spyguy

Chiman on SSC found a piece of info on SOAR's website:

http://soarchicago.org/News_Views/details.cfm?NID=43

Northwestern Memorial Hospital Announces Demolition Schedules

SOAR was alerted this morning regarding the demolition schedule for Northwestern Memorial Hospital's buildings at 400 E. Ontario (at McClurg) and 450 E. Ohio (just west of Lake Shore Drive.) Demolition activities will begin this week, starting with placement of barriers, scaffolding and fencing. This work will continue into next week. Demolition for these two buildings and the Huron Street Bridge is expected to be completed the week of November 19. For information: Bridget Orth at borth@nmh.org or Steven Zalesny at (312)926-2308 or szalesny@nmh.org.

Well, that really sucks. 400 E. Ontario is my favorite small modern building in Streeterville (ignore the awning addition). Never knew who designed it, if anyone might have that info.

The other property isn't great, but it's right next to the Dunham Building. Mere coincidence? I doubt it. I don't suppose we might be seeing a new sterile NW building there some day, or better yet, perhaps a parking garage?!

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by kalmia

It would be nice if there were more elevated, multilevel streets to allow more below street level parking.

Which is exactly the point of Roosevelt Collection.

Wells might work as a two-level street. It would basically be a long ramp starting at River City and going up to meet Taylor Street, and then extending south to Roosevelt. Unfortunately, Roosevelt Collection plans retail along Wells at grade level, meaning that any street raisings there would block those businesses.

Elevating Wells would also succeed in establishing the semblance of a streetgrid in that area, euphemistically referred to as "LaSalle Park". If done properly, it could also form a safe pedestrian passage from Printers' Row and the Loop to the Roosevelt Corridor.

[denizen467]

Originally Posted by honte

Well, that really sucks. 400 E. Ontario is my favorite small modern building in Streeterville (ignore the awning addition). Never knew who designed it, if anyone might have that info.

The other property isn't great, but it's right next to the Dunham Building. Mere coincidence? I doubt it. I don't suppose we might be seeing a new sterile NW building there some day, or better yet, perhaps a parking garage?!

Honte, 450 E. Ohio in fact is the Dunham Building itself, if I'm not mistaken. You're probably thinking of the one- or two-story building just west of the Dunham Building, but that's NMH's magnetic resonance facility (it has an Ontario Street address -- something like 441 E. Ontario).

So either the SOAR posting means that the Dunham Building is in fact owned by NMH, or the SOAR posting was wrong in saying that 450 E. Ohio is a NMH building, or (least likely) the SOAR posting was wrong in giving NMH's other demolition project as 450 E. Ohio and should have said that 441 E. Ontario is being demolished.

With the CBS studios building likely to be demolished early next year, the landscape in that corner of Streeterville will be looking drastically different - and for a while, but hopefully only a short while, barren.

[honte]

^ OK, got it, thanks. In that case, I would expect that NW did buy the Dunham building, and they will combine it with the resonance building later for something large.

Man, these guys seem like they are out to demolish every old building in Streeterville. Don't forget they are talking about the giant old VA hospital too. I guess an 80-story hospital isn't workable, but what about, say, a 35-story one? Multi-use, renovatable instead of landfill material in 30 years? It seems like their planning lasts for about 30 minutes, with little consideration for the rest of the neighborhood.

[the urban politician]

^ That's why I'm glad that Reilly injected a bit of reality into their faces regarding the Lakeshore Athletic Club

[BWChicago]

I dug up the 1925 tribune article announcing the Dunham project: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bwchicago/1542201965/ . Apparently it was a DH Burnham Co. design.

[VivaLFuego]

Originally Posted by BWChicago

I dug up the 1925 tribune article announcing the Dunham project: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bwchicago/1542201965/ . Apparently it was a DH Burnham Co. design.

Great find, and all the more alarming that a Burnham is getting torn down. This really flew under the radar, were there even any suspicions before the scaffolding went up?

[steel]

North Avenue Bridge reconstruction with new cable stay span - Web cam

http://www.astekcams.com/webcam_live.asp?camid=6

[honte]

Originally Posted by VivaLFuego

Great find, and all the more alarming that a Burnham is getting torn down. This really flew under the radar, were there even any suspicions before the scaffolding went up?

I've been asking around, and from what I can tell, this was a surprise to everyone.