Chicago Architecture Blog

Columbia's New Building Has A Crunchy Surprise Center

waynelorentz@gmail.com (Editor) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 19:29:00 +0000

Today was the day that Columbia College debuted its new Media Production Center (1600 South State Street) in the South Loop. We weren't there because our repeated requests to be added to Columbia College's press release distribution list have fallen on deaf ears. I guess we're just not good enough for a college that constantly gets confused with a more prestigious institution elsewhere.

Regardless, WBEW blogger Lee Bey was all over it, publishing a piece early this morning with lots of pictures inside and out. The Chicago Tribune's Blair Kamen came along later with his story, heavier on meat, but lighter on potatoes. Kamen uses words like "vibrant" and "inspired" to describe Jeanne Gang's latest production. But then again, I've never read an article by Mr. Kamen involving Ms. Gang that didn't involve a certain amount of gushing. Bey goes with, "a nice piece of work... that doesn’t visually scream across the intersection, yet it will hardly be ignored." I'm going to abstain since I haven't been inside.

My primary interest in this new building isn't the new building -- it's the old building trapped inside. Back when it was still warm in Chicago, I wandered past this construction site and saw the wonderful arch behind glass. At the time I wondered if it was historic or a recreation, and couldn't find anything on the internet about "Famous Players Lasky." Fortunately, Mr. Bey is a better researcher than I. According to his write-up, the arch once stood as part of a building on 13th Street and Michigan Avenue, designed by Rapp & Rapp.

It's a wonderful piece of Chicago history, and if you're not aware of the city's historic leading role in the film industry (Chicago was Hollywood before there even was a Hollywood), take some time to do some research. It's a shame that Chicago is now a studio backwater, but it's fascinating to learn about how the film industry was pretty much born here.

30 Things You Don't Know About Block37

waynelorentz@gmail.com (Editor) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:24:00 +0000

Yesterday there was a meeting to update the public about the status of Block37.

The people from Joseph Freed and Associates did the presentation, and while they made every effort to be forthcoming, there were certain things they refused to talk about.*

Much has been written in the news about the project's legal and financial situation, and to date we've entirely avoided even mentioning those things in this blog because, quite frankly, they're boring and we don't care. Open or closed is all we (and the wider public) care about. We don't want to get bogged down in the minutiae of who appointed what receiver that can't get insurance for blah blah blah blah. Open or closed. That's all we want to know.

In our many explorations of the retail complex, we've come to certain conclusions:

The exterior facade is not great, though it's our understanding that by the time Joseph Freed and Associates gained control of the project it was too late to make any changes.
The multiple-level LED screens are pretty cool, especially when there are sharks swimming in them (See our CrappyCameraPhone™ video).
Block37 has some of the cleanest public restrooms on State Street.
Beard Papa's creampuffs are OK. They're a little bland, but some people consider that a virtue. It's also in keeping with its homeland's fondness for the appreciation of subtle flavors.
WBBM-TV really screwed the public, and should be ashamed of the way it half-assed the screens above its streetfront studio.

On a different note, a lot was said in the meeting that we knew, but there were a number of new nuggets of information presented. Here are 30 things about Block37 that you may or may not already know:

The first time a proposal was floated to demolish the entire block and start again was back in the 1980's.
There was once a plan to open Block 37 as a walkable, low-height suburban-style outdoor mall.
The planned hotel and residential towers haven't been cancelled. They can still be added when the economy improves.
The hotel and residential portions of the building must be built at the same time for structural reasons.
When the hotel and residential towers are completed, a green roof will be planed on top of the retail podium.
The planned green roof will open as a small public park, like the one atop the Pepsico offices in the West Loop.
The planned hotel is expected to have 385 room.
The planned condo/apartment block is expected to have 400 residences.
If you look at the building's columns from the pedway level, you may be able to see that there have been diagonal rows created going southeast to northwest.
The diagonally arranged columns were done that way to accommodate future express train service below the building.
Block37 already has all of the infrastructure in place for the CTA to open an express train station with high-speed service to Midway and O'Hare airports.
The developer of the project was required to bring in a certain amount of stores that were new to the region.
The reason that the Anthropologie and Puma stores are both two levels is because ground floor stores were given reduced rents if they went vertical. The idea is to lure shoppers into going higher in the building to explore the stores on the upper levels.
In 2009, seven million people passed beneath Block 37. Two million going through the CTA Blue Line's Washington Street station, and five million through the CTA Red Line's Lake Street station.
Each day, 25,000 people use the CTA stations at Block 37.
Block37's southeastern ground floor exit was positioned to deliberately give its users a view of the former Marshall Field's building.
Block37's northeastern ground floor exit was positioned to give people a view of the Chicago Theater sign as they leave.
Block37's western ground floor exit was positioned to open up on Daley Plaza.
These three things were done to provide a sense of cohesion with the rest of the Loop, so that Block37 wouldn't feel like yet another isolated island of commerce.
Block37's mission is "A public-private partnership that creates a vibrant and successful mixed use development to strengthen downtown Chicago's reputation as a shop, dine, work, live, and play destination while embracing the community's desire for a central transportation hub."
140,000 people live within two miles of Block37.
65,000 college students go to school near Block37.
"108 North State" was not meant to be the building's final name, it was just a placeholder.
The name "Block37" was chosen because "108 North State" had the potential to alienate retailers in the building who were not positioned on State Street.
The big ugly empty steel spaces that wrap around the corner of Washington and Randolph Streets are where CBS was supposed to put in a huge Times Square-style wraparound video screen. Instead, it went the cheap route and put in a single square screen, leaving the rest of the structure exposed.
Block37 has 280,000 square feet of retail space.
Block37 has 1,000 restaurant seats.
Block37 has 1,630 live and movie theater seats.
Block37 has underground parking for 350 vehicles.
Block37 has 440,000 square feet of office space.

* To be perfectly clear here, the Freed people stated that they couldn't talk about certain things for "legal reasons." While they are very likely acting on the advice of their lawyers not to talk about stuff, there is nothing in the law which actually prohibits them from doing so, which is why we used the phrase above "refused to talk" instead of the more common and journalistically lazy "could not talk." It is a choice made by people at the company, not an actual restriction imposed by law. Anytime you see a company say "we cannot comment on pending litigation" or "we cannot speak for legal reasons" it's not that they cannot speak. It's that their lawyers advise them not to and they choose to follow that advice. For the time being we still have the right to free speech in the United States. With this in mind, you'll notice a pattern develop over time -- that companies with strong leadership and policies of public openness will talk to the media; while companies with weak leadership, a culture that stifles employee thought, and a "circle the wagons" mentality will go with "no comment."

Three Lectures Upcoming in the Prairie Avenue District

waynelorentz@gmail.com (Editor) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:30:00 +0000

Got this e-mail today from the people down at the Glessner House (1800 South Prairie Avenue). It's a list of their upcoming lectures. Looks like good stuff.

Winter and Spring Lectures

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The Autobiography of Irving K. Pond

Lecture by David Swan

Wednesday February 24, 2010 at 7:00pm

Irving K. Pond was a distinguished Chicago architect, author, gifted storyteller, and national president of the American Institute of Architects. His richly anecdotal autobiography, published for the first time in 2009, gives us an irreverent account of Chicago architecture and its architects at the turn of the last century. It should be read alongside the autobiographies of Sullivan and Wright to remind us that seminal developments in architecture, like those of the Italian Renaissance, emerge from a collaborative environment, and are not the product of an individual genius working alone. The lecture is presented by Chicago architect David Swan, who along with Terry Tatum (Supervising Historian and Director of Research for the Landmarks Division, City of Chicago) edited the text of the autobiography and gathered several hundred photos and line drawings that accompany it. Copies of the book will be available for sale following the lecture.

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Edgar Miller and the Handmade Home

Lecture by Richard Cahan and Michael Williams

Wednesday March 24, 2010 at 7:00pm

Edgar Miller was a Chicago artist who used recycled material to turn old homes into works of art. He called it a "social adventure." His four apartment complexes in the Gold Coast have changed over the decades, but much of Miller's work and the spirit he brought to each home remains. They offer lessons about beauty, creativity and honesty. Now, for the first time, Miller's life and the homes that he built are documented in a 400-page book by architectural historians Richard Cahan and Michael Williams, with stunning photography by Alexander Vertikoff. The book carefully details the forces that shaped an artist who was called "the blond boy Michaelangelo" in the 1920s, "a new luminary" in the 1930s, and "one of the most versatile artists in America" in the 1940s. The illustrated lecture will shed light on "Chicago's forgotten Renaissance man" who is a legend in the Chicago architectural community. Copies of the book will be available for sale following the lecture.

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White House Interiors, 1865 - 1902

Lecture by Robert Furhoff

Tuesday May 11, 2010 at 7:00pm

Robert Furhoff, a nationally recognized expert on historic interiors will guide us through the constantly changing interior of the White House during the last half of the nineteenth century. Using his extensive personal collection of stereoview images, Furhoff will discuss how the interior continued to evolve through various administrations, and how these changes reflected and influenced popular taste at the time. The lecture begins with the post-Lincoln era, the first time the interior of the White House was extensively photographed, and concludes with the McKim, Mead and White remodeling in 1902, during the administration of Theodore Roosevelt. A fascinating journey for anyone with an interest in 19th century interior design.

.

Lectures are $10 per person, $8 for members of the museum. All lectures will be held in the East Gallery, please use the front entrance on Prairie Avenue. For reservations or further information, please call 312.326.1480.

TweetEcho: January 11-31, 2010

waynelorentz@gmail.com (Editor) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:38:00 +0000

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

Interesting clouds this afternoon. We could be in for a good sunset.about 19 hours ago from HootSuite
The renovated Kate Spade store on Oak Street reopens tomorrow (Saturday, January 30).1:15 PM Jan 29th from HootSuite
@goldendragon35 Didn't get the message till just now. I'll update the blog. Thanks!6:48 AM Jan 29th from HootSuite in reply to goldendragon35
We now have a shorter, easier to remember web address for our Facebook page. Bookmarkhttp://www.facebook.com/ChicagoArchitectureInfo6:47 AM Jan 29th from HootSuite
Old Saint Mary's is getting a new school building:http://ow.ly/11wgd1:00 PM Jan 28th from HootSuite
Small progress made on Chicago's newest chocolate shop:http://ow.ly/11kJ39:30 AM Jan 28th from HootSuite
Loyola University's new TV studio looks ready to go:http://ow.ly/11kIG8:30 AM Jan 28th from HootSuite
Pat Quinn announces the Wacker Drive reconstruction we told you about weeks ago: http://ow.ly/11kHD Our detailed report: http://ow.ly/11kIa7:30 AM Jan 28th from HootSuite
Illinois getting $1.2B for high-speed rail: http://ow.ly/11kFKAlso see our series about where it's going:http://ow.ly/11kGm5:17 AM Jan 28th from HootSuite
Sorry about the site being slow. There's a network issue. A tech is working on it right now.7:44 AM Jan 27th from HootSuite
Kennedy King College to be demolished and turned into a park: http://ow.ly/10OvN7:22 PM Jan 26th from HootSuite
Water Tower Place architect dies: http://ow.ly/10DsD9:22 AM Jan 26th from HootSuite
The Yves Saint Laurent boutique on Oak Street is closed for the next few months: http://ow.ly/10fUO10:14 AM Jan 25th from HootSuite
Coincidence? Illinois unemployment up to 11.1% while CTA says ridership is down (fewer people going to work?)http://ow.ly/ZzEt5:54 PM Jan 22nd from HootSuite
Blommer Chocolate chief Joe Blommer has died | Crain's Chicago Business http://ow.ly/ZzE65:53 PM Jan 22nd from HootSuite
Michigan Avenue retail shakeup: Fratelli Rossetti out. Omega (watches) in: http://ow.ly/ZyUo4:38 PM Jan 22nd from HootSuite
Yet another store closes on Oak Street: http://ow.ly/ZyTR4:37 PM Jan 22nd from HootSuite
On this gloomy Thursday, another reason to hope for better weather ahead: http://ow.ly/Z3dh9:56 AM Jan 21st from HootSuite
How the Midwest high-speed rail network will affect Chicago:http://ow.ly/Z39W9:54 AM Jan 21st from HootSuite
We have an answer to the mystery of Chicago's new "Heritage Center" building designation: http://ow.ly/YyiQ12:55 PM Jan 20th from HootSuite
Part 3 of our series on the Midwest high speed rail plan: How Fast is Fast? http://ow.ly/Yyg310:55 AM Jan 20th from HootSuite
There's a super-useful animated map in part two of our Midwest High Speed Rail series: Who Gets It First?http://ow.ly/Yyei7:30 AM Jan 20th from HootSuite
Hiding in a Chicago neighborhood: Snacks on Wheelshttp://ow.ly/YycO5:50 AM Jan 20th from HootSuite
Can you live off the land in Chicago? Some people try:http://ow.ly/XK1I9:15 AM Jan 18th from HootSuite
Kate Spade's Oak Street boutique is closed for renovations:http://ow.ly/XJXH8:15 AM Jan 18th from HootSuite
Wondering if we'll ever see high-speed rail in the midwest? Looks like "yes!" http://ow.ly/XJSq7:01 AM Jan 18th from HootSuite
Will Target open a new store in the Loop? In the old Carson Pirie Scott building? http://ow.ly/Xtwt4:14 PM Jan 17th from HootSuite
Yet another plan floated for rehabbing Wrigley Field:http://ow.ly/Xo0410:02 AM Jan 17th from HootSuite
Oak Park is closer to getting a new 20-story skyscraper:http://ow.ly/WQje7:57 AM Jan 15th from HootSuite
Months later, the International Olympic Committee tries to sell Chicago a bridge in Brooklyn: http://ow.ly/WC2U3:10 PM Jan 14th from HootSuite
New book about historic Chicago architect Irving K. Pond:http://ow.ly/WqrK11:10 AM Jan 14th from HootSuite
Filming A Lincoln in Lincoln Park: http://ow.ly/Wqr310:10 AM Jan 14th from HootSuite
@frostyplum Glad you liked it.9:10 AM Jan 14th from HootSuite in reply to frostyplum
One of Chicago's best public restrooms just got better:http://ow.ly/WqpI9:10 AM Jan 14th from HootSuite
Pix: Cable news network shooting on the Magnificent Mile:http://ow.ly/WqoA8:10 AM Jan 14th from HootSuite
This is why we endure Chicago winters: http://ow.ly/Wqtc7:30 AM Jan 14th from HootSuite
Loop food court closes: http://ow.ly/WqnS6:58 AM Jan 14th from HootSuite
Both of Chicago's Olympic logos have been named among the best logos of the decade: http://ow.ly/Wq0S6:47 AM Jan 14th from HootSuite
Ultimo boutique closing after 40 years of fashion on Oak Street | Crain's Chicago Business http://ow.ly/Whfs7:09 PM Jan 13th from HootSuite
Trib: Demolition underway at 830 S. Michigan Avenue:http://ow.ly/W1Tr7:12 AM Jan 13th from HootSuite
Mentioned this last year, now it looks official - Art of Shaving coming to Michigan Avenue: http://ow.ly/W1JJ7:06 AM Jan 13th from HootSuite
AllSaints to take the space that was formerly the front entrance of the Chicago Place mall: http://ow.ly/W1Gv7:05 AM Jan 13th from HootSuite
One of the worst jobs in Chicago: http://ow.ly/UO8k8:45 AM Jan 11th from HootSuite
Commute into Chicago on I-290, or work in the west Loop? April 1 is the date your life becomes hell: http://ow.ly/UPIO4:50 AM Jan 11th from HootSuite

Last Night's Sunset in Time-Lapse

waynelorentz@gmail.com (Editor) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:57:00 +0000

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!

Status Update: Deconstructing The Deconstructed

waynelorentz@gmail.com (Editor) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 07:09:00 +0000

Work continues on the Thompson Center (100 West Washington Street) where the granite panels were found to be deteriorating and in danger of falling off of their posts.

The panels are arranged around the perimeter of the block, outlining where the building might have gone if it were square and not a series of balconies surrounding a curved glass atrium. The granite panels get smaller and more deconstructed as they get father from the main body of the building. Now demolition crews are deconstructing the deconstruction so people don't get bonked on the head by Helmut Jahn's creative expressions.

Although it hasn't been called the "State of Illinois Building" in a decade, certain media organizations (*cough*WGN-TV*cough*) continue to use the outdated name which has since been assigned to another building across the street.

Video and pics: Helicopter Lift at Water Tower Place

waynelorentz@gmail.com (Editor) — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 17:38:00 +0000

Several streets in the Gold Coast were shut down this morning so that new HVAC units could be lifted to the roof of Water Tower Place (845 North Michigan Avenue).

The sky crane picked up the HVAC units one at a time from the ball field at nearby Lake Shore Park, ferried them down Chicago Avenue, and then up to the top of the skyscraper. Getting them over that lip is quite a feat, as it is 1,059 feet high.

The original lift was scheduled for January 23, 2010 but had to be postponed a week because of bad weather.

Helicopter lifts are much like baseball games -- simultaneously boring and fascinating. I made a video of a portion of the lift to give you an idea what it looks like. I didn't bother shooting the transport of all six giant silver boxes.

More pictures follow the video. Click on them to enlarge.

Slice of Life: The Definition of Lonely

waynelorentz@gmail.com (Editor) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 08:04:00 +0000

Every time you brush your teeth, clean your pits, flush the toilet, give the dog a drink, or otherwise use water in Chicago, you have some of the loneliest people on earth to thank.

While most Chicagoans know that their supply of fresh water comes from a network of cribs located miles off shore, like the one pictured above, or Four Mile Crib, they don't realize that there are people there 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. People who monitor, maintain, and otherwise ensure that you have water. It's my understanding that they stay on the crib in shifts of a week or longer, and eagerly anticipate the arrival of the next supply ship.

Status Update: Loyola Television Studio

waynelorentz@gmail.com (Editor) — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 07:49:00 +0000

The Fall, 2009 timeframe came and went, but Loyola University's streetfront studio inside The Clare at Water Tower (55 East Pearson) looks like it's finally ready to go.

We first told you about the $400,000 project back in November as part of an article about Chicago's Seven Storefront Studios.

The Loyola setup seems like a nice little studio. The cameras are a bit small, so I don't think they're professional grade. More like "prosumer." And the orange-and-gray color scheme reminds me of the studios of KHOU television in Houston where I worked back in the 1990's. And the monitor wall is, of course, just for show for visitors and people walking by. They're too far away to be used as preview or program monitors for the people on the set.

There also appears to be a little area off to the side to do radio interviews and chat shows. It would be nice if Loyola would start its own radio station. So many of the city's college radio stations are so low power that they're worthless where I live. In fact, the only one I can receive reliably is WDCB out of Glen Ellyn.

If there are any forward-thinking people at Loyola reading this, here's a tip for you -- Start your college station on an HD subchannel of full-power FM station. That way you get full market coverage without the expense and responsibilities of launching a full radio station, and the host station can write off the expense of carrying your signal as a charitable donation. Just a thought.

Update: January 29, 2010:

Just got a Twitter message from one of our readers letting me know that Loyola already has a radio station. WLUW is on 88.7, and comes in pretty good here on top of the John Hancock Center. Here's a helpful diagram to see if you can get WLUW where you are:

Still, it would be nice to hear Loyola student radio on a full-power station. Something like this:

Even though WLUW is only 100 watts, it still has a much better signal than the scatter-and-splatter 200-watt directional mess that was my college radio station:

Status Update: Leonidas is Still Coming

waynelorentz@gmail.com (Editor) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:42:00 +0000

It was back in November that we first mentioned the new Leonidas store coming to the former Bank of America location at 59 East Chicago Avenue. Since then, little has changed with the storefront. In spite of the "coming soon" promise, it didn't manage to open in time for the Christmas shopping season. But there are signs that things are still progressing.

Recently a permit was posted showing the Leonidas is still moving forward with the project. It was issued January 7, 2010. Also, there is a promotional placard for a Red House, a company that specializes in renovations.

Presumably, Red House is doing the interior design. But we'd be more impressed if it let us see the work being done inside, or at least posted renderings of what the finished product should look like. The Leonidas project isn't even mentioned on the company's web site.

Status Update: The Sullivan Center

waynelorentz@gmail.com (Editor) — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 16:42:00 +0000

Last Wednesday (January 20, 2010) I was standing at a Loop bus stop waiting for any CTA vehicle beginning with a "1" to come by and take me home when a thought struck me. "Aren't I supposed to be under a scaffold right now?"

I turned around and discovered that the scaffolding surrounding the State Street facade of the Sullivan Center (33 South State Street) was gone. Years after Carson Pirie Scott abandoned the heart and soul of its home town, the building that made it famous is emerging from its construction cocoon.

If you haven't been by in a while, you should make a trip. The exterior is magnificent. Hopefully something good happens to the interior, too. There have been a few small shops that opened on the Wabash Street side, but the bulk of the retail space remains unclaimed. A hoped-for grocery store fell through, and the latest out of Crain's Chicago Business is that Target might be interested in opening there -- probably the final nail in the coffin of the flagship Sears store across the way.

Would The Last Boutique on Oak Street Please Turn Off The Lights?

waynelorentz@gmail.com (Editor) — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:13:00 +0000

Another Oak Street boutique is taking advantage of the crummy economy to re-tool.

The Yves Saint Laurent store at 51 East Oak Street closed last Friday (January 23, 2010). Word is that the interior is being completely renovated. The new design is based on plans from Paris and is intended to upgrade the Chicago location to flagship status.

When will that be? At this time it's anyone's guess. Estimates are running two to three months.

Also closed to renovation is the Kate Spade store across the street at 56 East Oak. It is expected to reopen by the end of the month.

For those of you keeping score at home, the following spaces are closed on Oak Street:

25 East Oak Street (Formerly Barneys, soon to be Hermes)
51 East Oak Street (YSL, reopening in a few months)
56 East Oak Street (Kate Space, reopening sooner)
58 East Oak Street (The dead Esquire Theater)
68 East Oak Street (Formerly Citibank)
72 East Oak Street (Formerly G'Bani)
112 East Oak Street (Soon to be Marilyn Miglin)

A block over, 52 East Walton Street is now empty. It was Sur La Table, and there was word that some kind of bakery or cupcake shop or something was looking at the space, but the signs on the windows state the space is still available, so it doesn't look like that's going to happen.

The good news is that 102 East Oak Street is no longer shuttered. It's now the home of Colletti. It used to be Atlas Galleries.

How can shops like YSL and Spade afford to shutter their doors when consumer spending is down? The logic is that it's better to close when spending is down than when spending is high.

Anyone who follows the retail press knows that high-end shoppers are mostly sticking to New York, London, Dubai (yes, still Dubai), and the major Asian markets these days.

We keep hearing from people who work in Chicago's retail sector that the few tourists who choose to make Chicago their destination continue to balk at the city's high sales tax. By one estimate, half of the high-end north side shoppers who inquire about the sales tax end up walking out without buying anything.

It's not that they can't afford 10.25%, it's just that no one likes getting gouged. And those who can afford it wonder why they should pay an extra 10.25% at Chicago boutiques when they can get the same item in other cities for less.

And the math doesn't just work for the well-to-do. I know ordinary people in Chicago who fly to Minneapolis to do their back-to-school shopping at the Mall of America. With zero sales tax on clothing, and a much lower sales tax than Chicago on everything else, they end up saving enough money to more than pay for the plane ticket.

Gotta get me some kids.

Slice of Life: Slice of Chicago

waynelorentz@gmail.com (Editor) — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 08:40:00 +0000

Two photographs of Chicago taken from the same location in Lincoln Park two months apart. The frame on the right shows where we are. The frame on the left shows what we have to look forward to.

Of course, if I was smart I would have arranged them in chronological order, but I'm not.

Midwest High Speed Rail: Part 4: What it Means to Chicago

waynelorentz@gmail.com (Editor) — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 07:50:00 +0000

This is the final part of a four-part series of articles about the plans for high speed rail in the Midwest.

Chicago is at the epicenter of this rail revolution. It is the body of the spider whose legs stretch across the corn, hay, and soybean fields of the region. But it is not the only hub in the network.

Milwaukee, Cleveland, and Cincinnati are also seen as minor hubs in this project. Each is expected to handle thousands of passengers a day pretty early on, and many more once the endeavor is completed.

It is predicted that if the midwest high speed rail network becomes a reality, there will be ten daily trains from Chicago to Detroit. Right now, Amtrak offers just three.

The same story is true between Chicago and Cleveland -- 10 trains a day are predicted each way. Again, there are only three plying the route right now.

And as more passengers use the service, the tickets become cheaper. Right now that trip from Chicago to Detroit runs $70. The Cleveland run can be as high as $61. But with trains in common use, the anticipated price of a ticket is $18 to $50, depending on the time of day.

But more than money, there is a reality about transportation in Chicago -- there will never be another highway built in the city. You can build ring roads and bypasses to your hearts content in the collar counties. But unless you're prepared to move a few skyscrapers or kick tens of thousands of people out of their homes, you simply cannot build another freeway in the city. The rail lines are already here -- they just need to be upgraded to handle increased flow. Something that can't be done with existing highways.

Even if you were to double-stack the highways like I-35 in Austin, Texas you couldn't get I-290 through the Post Office. And one rail line can handle the same number of people as ten lanes of new highway.

The result of a real regional passenger rail network like the one proposed is that you end up with a miniature Midway airport right in the heart of downtown Chicago. But without the jet noise or the congestion.

The City of Chicago wants the new high speed rail station to run beneath Canal Street, connecting with the CTA, Metra, and water taxi lines. There are even visions of having baggage check-in at the high speed rail station so people coming in from laces like Joliet, Normal, Lafayette, and the Quad Cities can transfer directly to Chicago's airports.

A conservative estimate of the impact the midwest high speed rail program would have is 15,260 construction jobs and 57,000 permanent jobs. And if there's one thing the midwest needs right now, it's new jobs.

Slice of Life: Snacks on Wheels

waynelorentz@gmail.com (Editor) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 08:28:00 +0000

You may or may not remember a series of television commercials that ran a couple of months ago for Little Debbie snack cakes. They showed a small fleet of three tiny cars decorated like cupcakes driving across America spreading happiness and joy the way only baked goods can.

If you kept your eyes open, you might have actually seen those cars in Chicago. I managed to catch two of them in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. There weren't any cupcake personnel stationed by the cars which were stashed away on a quiet side street. Perhaps they'd piled into the third car and gone for some coffee.

Midwest High Speed Rail: Part 3: How Fast is Fast?

waynelorentz@gmail.com (Editor) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 07:48:00 +0000

This is part three of a four-part series of articles about the plans for high speed rail in the Midwest.

In some countries high speed trains shuttle thousands of people each day between cities at 200 MPH or more. High speed rail is coming to the Midwest (see parts one and two of this series). But when it pulls into the station here, the maximum speed will be a comparatively paltry 110 MPH.

To be brutally honest, it's because Midwesterners, for the most part, aren't ready for 200 MPH trains yet. Sure, there are any number of futurists and hard core city dwellers and Tokyo fanbois who think that in a place of such wide open spaces there is no reason to compromise. But they are vastly outnumbered by those who see trains as a waste of time and money. Who think getting around in a shared space is stupid. And who will give up sitting in freeway gridlock only when you pry the Christmas tree air freshener out of their cold, dead hands.

Geographically speaking, the Midwest and Texas are the locations in America best suited for the fastest trains. But there isn't the political leadership or the public support to make it happen. And without those, the money hose trickles, rather than flows.

In order to reach the kind of speeds achieved in places like Korea and Belgium the rail lines have to be electrified. Installing an overhead electrical system along the thousands of miles of track envisioned in the Midwestern high speed rail plan is massively expensive. So instead, the high speed trains that will plow through the plains will run on plain old diesel. The idea is for America to learn how to walk before we run.

Also, keep in mind that the 110 MPH figure is a maximum speed, not an average speed. You won't get from Cincinnati to Cleveland in an hour and a half.

But for anyone who's traveled by rail knows, door-to-door rail is faster than air travel at midwest distances. And high-speed rail is expected to beat cars in the same measurement.

That's an important factor when it comes to travel and speed. While it would be great to have trains going 300 MPH, 110 MPH is enough to beat cars on most trips in the midwest. And once trains become better than cars for traveling between cities, it doesn't matter how much you beat them by -- people will start using the train. So there's no need to invest all the extra money into pushing the trains up to 200 or 300 MPH. 110 is the sweet spot; the compromise between speed and cost.

So, if rail travel is so great, how come it hasn't worked before? Well, a big part of that has to do with how rail travel is regulated.

For the most part, passenger rail and freight trains share the same tracks. Lots of people have experienced what happens when a lumbering freight train clogs up the works. I, personally, spent an hour sitting on a siding in New Westminster, British Columbia waiting for a Canadian National freight train to clear a track so the Amtrak Cascades train I was on could get into Pacific Station in Vancouver. I know lots of people who have been stuck behind freight trains while trying to get into Saint Louis, before the new passenger station was built.

Under federal law, freight trains are supposed to get out of the way of passenger trains. In practice, they don't. The freight train companies see their cargo as the priority and don't care if they inconvenience a few hundred people on a passenger train. The problem is there has been no way to enforce the right-of-way law until now.

A new law has been passed which actually fines the freight companies if they block passenger trains. Since it was enacted, the on-time performance of passenger trains has increased nationwide. With additional passing sidings and better signaling systems, passenger travel is already getting faster and easier in America.

Some cities are already getting ready for the passenger train revolution. As mentioned above, Saint Louis built a new intermodal station that links Amtrak trains with city buses, city light rail, and inter-city bus service. I've used it, and it works really well.

In 2005 Milwaukee built a new Amtrak station at its airport. In 2007 it built a new one downtown. As much as the naysayers like to say nay, the rail revolution is becoming a reality.

Slice of Life: Windows Strikes Again

waynelorentz@gmail.com (Editor) — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 09:21:00 +0000

What's interesting isn't the fact that I keep seeing signs around the world that have crashed because of Microsoft Windows. What's interesting to me is how many signs around the world run on Windows. This sign was spotted in the Loop.

What's In A Name Part Two: Chicago's Heritage (Updated)

waynelorentz@gmail.com (Editor) — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 08:19:00 +0000

Last spring we wrote about how Bank of America can't decide what to call its pile at 135 South LaSalle Street. Some signs read "Bank of America Center" while others read "Bank of America Building." Now there seems to be more confusion on the other side of the Loop.

The building where Mayor Daley famously was going to buy a home until someone pointed out that it would make him a north sider opened as the Heritage at Millennium Park (130 North Garland Court). But recently, signs have gone up around and underneath the building referring to it as the "Heritage Center." A check of the condominium board's web site still shows "The Heritage at Millennium Park" in the graphic, though the page text reads simply "The Heritage."

I shot the condo board an e-mail asking for clarification. If anyone has any information about this, post it in the comments section of this page, or to discuss it further do so in our forum.

UPDATE

I got a response from the people at the Heritage. So here's the skinny:

The Heritage at Millennium Park is the correct name for the building.

The Heritage Center is the name of the collection of shops and restaurants at the base.

Why they need a separate name is beyond me. It's not like there's enough stores there to reach the critical mass of a mall. A more descriptive name would be "The Shops In The Section Of Pedway That Doesn't Smell Like Urine." Or "The Shops In The Part Of The Pedway Where You're Not Afraid Anymore."

However, neither of those suggestions fit easily on a sign.

Midwest High Speed Rail: Part 2: Who Gets It First?

waynelorentz@gmail.com (Editor) — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 07:39:00 +0000

This is part two of a four-part series of articles about the plans for high speed rail in the Midwest.

One of the miracles that came out of recent meetings between midwestern governors was an agreement about who gets rail first.

Not surprisingly, Chicago is one of the places that will see fast trains first. But interestingly, Chicago is actually the hub of what is essentially a massive hub-and-spoke rail system, supplemented by a few minor hubs in places like Milwaukee, Cleveland, and Cincinnati.

In phase one of the plan, the following high speed rail routes will be established:

Chicago - Fort Wayne - Toledo - Cleveland
Chicago - Normal - Springfield - Saint Louis
Chicago - Milwaukee- Madison - LaCrosse - Saint Paul
Chicago - Lafayette - Indianapolis - Cincinnati
Chicago - Kalamazoo - Detroit

These will be supplemented by regional high speed rail rotes:

Cincinnati - Columbus - Cleveland
Milwaukee - Green Bay

In phase two of the plan, secondary routes are opened up:

Chicago - Quad Cities - Iowa City - Des Moines - Kansas City
Saint Paul - Duluth

And then later, the tertiary routes come online:

Chicago - Joliet - Champaign - Carbondale
Chicago - Quincy
Chicago - Kansas City
Detroit - Port Huron
Saint Louis - Jefferson City - Kansas City

All of this seems rather ambitious, and a lot of people, myself included, would be happy to see just the first part completed. But linking the bigger cities isn't possible without also promising to expand to the smaller cities. That's how politics works. And having dozens of smaller cities, states, and regional organizations backing the Midwest rail plan makes it more likely to win federal funding. And there are even visions of expanding the network all the way to the Dakotas.

Of course, the big question is will it work? Shaking the magic 8-ball yields a blue triangle reading "All signs point to 'yes.'" It is estimated that increasing the frequency of the trains and moving the speed up from the current 70 MPH maximum to 110 MPH will increase ridership anywhere from double to quadruple its current levels.

Another sign of this comes from France, one of the pioneering high speed rail countries. SNCF, the company that runs the trains in France has indicated it is willing to run the Midwest high speed rail system. It believes that it an make a profit on the routes.

Of course, there are a couple of catches. First, it wants the federal and state governments to build the network; it doesn't want to shoulder any of that burden or debt. And second, SNCF wants the trains to go 200 MPH, not just 110.

With trains in the Northeast already going 100MPH and trains in Europe and Asia passing 200, why is the Midwest setting its goal at 110? That is answered in the next part of this series: How Fast is Fast?

Slice of Life: Living Off The Land

waynelorentz@gmail.com (Editor) — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 09:10:00 +0000

A group of people sift through the leaves underneath a tree in a Chicago public park. There are probably lots of things you can eat in the city's parks. In New York, the city actually had tours that show you all the edible things in Central Park. I don't know if there's a similar tour available in Chicago.

I also don't know what kind of nuts or fruits or berries they were gathering. They didn't speak any English. Here's a picture of the tree's fruit. If you know what it is, post it in the comments section of this page, or in our Chicago discussion forum.

Slice of Life: The Boiling Seas

waynelorentz@gmail.com (Editor) — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 07:59:00 +0000

When you were a kid did you have that fantasy about a vein of volcanic magma opening up underneath Lake Michigan and the water boils and makes the world's largest pot of spaghetti? Yeah, me too.

Here we see the comparatively waters of Lake Michigan boiling into the frigid air on a winter's morn with Navy Pier (600 East Grand Avenue) silhouetted in the foreground.

Another (temporary) Closure On Oak Street

waynelorentz@gmail.com (Editor) — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 03:55:00 +0000

The Kate Spade boutique (56 East Oak Street) is the latest shop on Oak Street to close it's doors. Fortunately, this one is temporary. The store will reopen at the end of the month after an interior renovation.

Shopgirls were seen packing up the inventory tonight, leaving the mannequins you see here rather naked on a frosty winter's night.

Still, walking down Oak Street at night, especially in front of the old Esquire Theater, is kind of creepy. With all of the shuttered storefronts if you didn't know that you were on one of the city's snootiest shopping blocks you might feel unsafe.

Midwest High Speed Rail: Part 1: Overview

waynelorentz@gmail.com (Editor) — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 16:37:00 +0000

This is part one of a four-part series of articles about the plans for high speed rail in the Midwest.

Recently a meeting was held to explain the status and possibilities of high speed rail in the Midwest.

I've been on high-speed trains from Korea to Japan to Belgium to Italy, and even the Eurostar underneath the Channel Tunnel. I like rail transport in general, and high speed rail specifically. But I've never had much hope for it in the United States.

That may be because I've been exposed to so many doubters and naysayers that I've actually started to believe that it's not possible. At the meeting in the Loop it was made abundantly clear -- High speed rail is coming to the United States. It's just a matter of which states will get it.

According to Kevin Brubaker, deputy director of the Environmental Law and Policy Center, $1.3 billion in federal stimulus funds have already been set aside for Amtrak to make upgrades. Another eight billion dollars is being made available for the states to implement high speed rail. And the House of Representatives is considering adding another $50 billion in high speed rail funding over the course of five years.

But it's that eight billion dollar figure that's the key. The various states are competing for slices of that pie. Already $50 billion in proposals have been made by the states, and there are a lot of people who think that the Midwestern states have a good chance of getting some of it.

That's because the governors of the Midwestern states have actually managed to come together and decide how to spend it. Which cities get rail first, second, and third. Also on board are various mayors of cities large and small, their chambers of commerce, universities, and whatever other clout the flyover states can muster to turn high speed rail into a reality.

Although there are a number of other networks that will share the funding pool, the main competition comes from cities on the west coast. Rail service is already pretty frequent there compared to most of the rest of the country, and based on my observations riding it, there is plenty of demand.

In the Midwest, people are still very much tied to their cars. That makes sense since the distances between most of the cities are too small for efficient door-to-door plane travel, but far enough that regular trains don't get it done. But there are signs that is changing.

Just as Chicagoland is dense enough to support both CTA and Metra service between cities, other smaller towns are realizing that they can shrink the gaps between them and the big city by enhancing train service.

For example, in 2006 the state of Illinois coughed up the dough for Amtrak to double its passenger rail service in the state.The result wasn't merely a doubling of the number of passengers. It surpassed that. And today the trains are fuller than before the 2006 funding.

Anyone who's lived in a small Midwestern town (I did five years in three different small towns) knows that they've been struggling for decades. Adding enhanced rail service between themselves and Chicago is a way to improve their towns and open their local businesses up to new opportunities. They'd rather be Lake Forest than Oshkosh. "Bedroom community" is no longer a dirty word.

So, where does it all start? That question is answered in part two of this series: Who Gets It First?

The Bricks of Brickhouse

waynelorentz@gmail.com (Editor) — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 08:58:00 +0000

The Jack Brickhouse monument at Pioneer Court in front of 401 North Michigan Avenue was removed, but the bricks that surrounded it remained.

The monument was taken away November 5, 2009 for restoration, and returned a little more than a month later. Restoring the nine-year-old monument cost $12,000 according to a ChicagoBreakingNewsCenterDontCallUsTheTribune article.

Slice of Life: Icy Anticipation

waynelorentz@gmail.com (Editor) — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 07:50:00 +0000

The skating rink at Midway Plaisance Park awaits the first skaters of the season. This picture was taken about an hour before it opened for the season, which was long before snow fell on Chicago. On the left is a young priest discussing skating techniques with a city worker.