The New Kid on the Block in Wrigleyville
If you ever get to go to a Cubs game again, you’ll find that the tradition of staggering from the bleachers to the Taco Bell across the street is over. The Taco Bell is gone. In its place a new four-story commercial building is rising on the corner of Addison and the space that used to be the Chicago and Evanston Railroad. 1111 West Addison Under Construction (July 2020, Courtesy of Wrigleyville Spy Joel) Wrigleyville Spy Joel...
Wayback Wednesday: Greetings from Glencoe’s Past
If you haven’t traveled much lately — and you shouldn’t be traveling at all these days — you may not have noticed that postcards are becoming harder and harder to find. I’m one of those people who still sends postcards. They’re like Instagram in slow motion. Except with professional pictures, more privacy, and you can stick them to a refrigerator. Something currently not possible with an...
Underdog Buildings in Chicago’s Ukrainian Village May Get Landmark Protection
The Ukrainian Village Neighborhood Association is trying to get more properties added to the neighborhood’s landmark district. Recently, a worker’s cottage at 2047 West Augusta Boulevard was saved from demolition as the demand for housing and pressure for increased density intensifies in some Chicago neighborhoods. A number of worker cottages remain in Ukrainian Village, including 2047 West Augusta. the fourth...
Loop Skyscraper Inching Toward Landmark Status
Do you like skyscrapers? Do you like railroads? Do you like history? If you answered “no” to any of those questions, then what the heck are you doing reading this article, ya silly rabbit? If you like skyscrapers, railroads, and history, then your pulse will pound harder than a middle-age bridge jumper nailing a trifecta at Arlington Park when we tell you that 226 West Jackson has been recommended for landmark status. ...
Wayback Wednesday: Pedal-Powered Public Puppet Performances
Today’s Wayback Wednesday brings us to ten years ago today: January 22, 2010. That was the day we took this photograph of a puppet bike. A puppet bike on the corner of Randolph and Michigan on January 22, 2010. (File) A puppet bike is a large tricycle with a puppet theater grafted onto the back of it. They would be seen intermittently in the busier areas of downtown Chicago, entertaining tourists and being largely ignored by the...
Wayback Wednesday: Winter Comes for Chicago’s Newspapers
This was the scene on January 15, 2010 — ten years ago today. One of Chicago’s multi-holed newspaper racks braving the cold on the corner of Michigan and Chicago Avenues. The corner of Chicago and Michigan January 10, 2010. Newspaper stands, and the racks that replace them, have a long history in Chicago. They proliferated in the early 20th century, in part because of new regulations on street vending in the...
Century-Old Bronzeville Church Likely to be Landmarked
In an era when so many of Chicago’s holy places are being abandoned, repurposed, or even demolished, it’s good to see a building that has been a cornerstone of its community on the road to preservation. The Chicago Landmarks Commission has approved landmark designation for the building that is now Mount Pisgah Missionary Baptist Church. Mount Pisgah Missionary Baptist church (via Apple Maps) The building opened in March...
Odd Chicago Zoning Rule Says No to Skyscraper, Yes to Typewriter Repair Shop
The history of Chicago is written in its zoning rules. Leafing through the pages you get a sense of how successive generations used the letter of the law to shape the ways in which the city would grow and change. Since both history and urban planning are messy affairs, it’s not surprising to find grains of sand in these oysters of wisdom. One of them surfaced recently at 401 North State Street, where the parking garage is...
By a Thousand Cuts: Another Tiny Slice of Gold Coast History to be Chopped
If you walk down the Oak Street Retail Corridor your eye may be caught by fancy brand names, people with impossibly polished skin, and the place where Governor Blagojevich used to get his famous hair famously cut before now getting clipped at a federal pokey in Colorado. But if you look beyond what is commonly seen to what is not commonly seen, you will see two things: architecture and history. 113 East Oak Street (July 2007) The...
Restoration of the Village Theater Facade in Old Town Looks Pretty Spiffy
It’s been a very long time since Old Town’s Village Theater stopped entertaining people and became a hulking presence lurking a Starbucks’ throw from the lovely and historic Germania Club next door. Now we’re getting a look at the results of a project to restore that facade to its former splendor. September 2019 construction of Fifteen Fifty on the Park (provided) In the photograph above you can see that...
