City Issues Logan Square Dual-Tower Permits
Exactly one month after issuing foundation permits, the City of Chicago has issued permits to begin erecting the controversial dual-tower project in Logan Square. ERECT 12 STORY RESIDENTIAL BUILDING ON PREVIOUSLY APPROVED FOUNDATION PERMIT #100606075. THESE PLANS ALSO INCLUDE 100615401 FOR 2210 N. WASHTENAW. ERECT 11 STORY RESIDENTIAL BUILDING ON PREVIOUSLY APPROVED FOUNDATION PERMIT#100606076. PLANS FOR THIS APPLICATION ARE UNDER...
The 606 Getting Ready for Hippies, Sunbeams, and Scientists
Looking for a place to celebrate the next celestial event, but can’t afford to splash out $900 for an economy-class ticket to London, $80 for the train to Salisbury, and $30 for the cab ride to Stonehenge? Grab your crystals and your patchuli-soaked poncho and head to the west end of The 606 That’s where, starting today, crews will be adding the celestial markers to the trail head feature known as The Observatory. From...
The 606 on 6/06
The elevated urban park formerly known as the Bloomingdale Trail opened over the weekend. Now known as The 606, it’s Chicago’s answer to New York’s celebrated High Line and Seoul’s Cheonggyecheon — a dirty, disused ribbons of urban blight reborn as badly needed greenspace. While some publications wring their hands and try to find something wrong with the new park (ZOMG safety! Gentification!), we’d...
At Long Last, Logan Square Will Get its Towers After All
The protracted and angry ballet over the Logan Square Dual Towers is finally over, with the Chicago Plan Commission giving its stamp of approval to the project at 2255 North Milwaukee Avenue. As it stands now, the development by Rob Buono, designed by Wheeler Kearns Architects, will consist of two “towers,” one 11 stories tall and one 12 stories tall, with a maximum of 220 residences. They are joined at the base by a...
Logan Square Still Riled Up Over Dual Towers [updated]
At the end of October of last year, we reported on the community meeting in Logan Square for a Dual Tower residential complex proposed by developer Rob Buono. Round Two of the public input process was held Monday night at Haas Park, with 1st Ward Alderman Proco “Joe” Moreno once again presiding. The Alderman began this meeting, as he did the first, asking those in attendance for polite, orderly discourse, without bullying...
A Last Look at the Congress Theater Before its Rebirth
If you’re a Logan Square resident saddened by the lack of screaming, brawling crowds in front of the Congress Theater, the time to rejoice is now. The Congress is making a comeback. Saturday, 1st Ward Alderman Proco Joe Moreno hosted an open house tour of the historic venue, closed since April 2013 and in desperate need of repair, to show off plans for just that very thing: an extensive renovation. The 4,500-seat...
Plan for Two New Towers in Logan Square Met With Overwhelming Hostility
“Are you for or against?” I was asked as soon as I took a seat inside Logan Square’s Candela Restaurant. I didn’t know it at the time, but “Neither, yet. I’m here to learn about the proposal before I form an opinion,” was nothing if not a safe response. That man soon left the seat next to me, to be replaced by two young women, one of them assuring me most of the crowd would be against the Dual...
Cattails And Cobras Battle For Supremacy In Logan Square
Cattails And Cobras Battle For Supremacy In Logan Square First off, I’m not referring to a Logan Square community theater remake of “West Side Story.” It’s about streetlights. The Cattail Streetlight Project is one component of a master plan to balance asthetics, green technology and historic preservation in Logan Square. It was also the subject of an AIA Chicago-sponsored presentation at the Logan Square Comfort Station Tuesday...
Walkin’ The 606
Last week, when he wasn’t busy crushing beloved Pilsen school buildings, hizzoner Rahm showed up at a photo op to mark the groundbreaking of the Bloomingdale Trail. The Trail—now officially known as The 606—is a 2.7-mile stretch of elevated, unused Canadian Pacific Railway tracks. About a year from now, after $46 million or so in construction costs, the trail will emerge as a beautiful butterfly. Right now, it’s a homely...