Navy Pier Flyover Almost Reaches Lake Shore Drive Bridge
It’s been a lot of years that cyclists, rollerbladers, walkers, people pushing prams, and just anyone who enjoys walking along Chicago’s lakefront have been waiting for the Navy Pier Flyover to be completed. While northern sections have been done and open to the public for some time, the key bottleneck in the whole lakefront parade — the Lake Shore Drive Bridge — is still a work in progress. Loop Spy Joel sent in these...
Navy Pier Flyover Now Flying Over DuSable Park
If you went downtown for the greening of the river last weekend, you may have wondered what’s the skinny on the Navy Pier Flyover. Well, dear shamrock shaker, things are moving along. Navy Pier Flyover under construction (Courtesy of Streeterville Spy Joel) Streeterville Spy Joel sent in the photograph above showing construction of the multi-purpose path’s spine going over DuSable Park. This is work on phase two of three...
Status Update: Navy Pier Flyover Flying Along
Work on the Navy Pier Flyover continues in the Streeterville neighborhood, as the Chicago Department of Transportation’s project to ease congestion on the Lakefront Trail moves forward. This summer’s work has been marked not only by the changing infrastructure along the trail, but also by intermittent street closures on Grand, Illinois, and Lake Shore Drive. The $60 million project got underway last spring, and completion...
Slice of Life: Throwing Oak Street a Curve
What’s a day at the beach without a fisheye lens, a panorama-enabled camera, and the HDR cranked up to 11? Loop Spy Eric sent in this slice of life which combines all those things, giving us a unique view of the notorious Oak Street S-Curve. Location: Lake Shore Drive, Gold Coast This article is the result of photos sent in by someone just like you. If you see something interesting in your neighborhood, e-mail your phone...
Baby Steps Toward The Spire
The daring, beautiful, controversial, despised, exuberant, loved, hated Chicago Spire took another baby step toward reality in a bankruptcy courtroom yesterday. Crain’s Chicago Business reports that the main parties involved in a three-way tug-of-war over the project have some to an agreement about the site’s short-term future. But the long-term vision is still a little hazy. Garrett Kelleher, the Spire’s most recent...
What Reviving the Chicago Spire Would Mean to the City of Chicago
It was an hour before the announcement on Feb. 6 that the Chicago Spire project was back on. Chicago Architecture Foundation President and CEO Lynn Osmond’s phone rang. It was Spire developer Garrett Kelleher calling to give her the good news. “He said, ‘I just wanted you to know because I know how excited you’ve been about this building.’ He said, ‘I’ve got the bank financing, I’ve got the partner, and we truly believe the market has...
Back to the Future: Chicago Spire’s Marketing Video Making the Rounds Six Years Later
We’re still firmly in the “we’ll believe it when we see it” camp when it comes to all the recent news about the Chicago Spire (400 North Lake Shore Drive). But that’s not keeping our Twitter and Facebook fans from giddily passing around the Spire’s 2008 marketing video as if it was new. For those of you who aren’t following us on social media (we don’t bite, really!) here’s the...
Many Happy Words, But is There Really Hope for the Chicago Spire?
Years after even the most wistful skyscraper nerd gave up hope on the Chicago Spire, there is suddenly a “bleep” on the patient’s EKG machine. It started with Friday’s report in the Chicago Tribune that the current developer of the project, Shelbourne North Water Street, asked a court to bring in a local partner, and that partner’s $135 million. The partner is Atlas Apartment Holdings in Northbrook. The...
Slice of Life: Tripping on LSD
It is perhaps Chicago’s most iconic thoroughfare—Lake Shore Drive, commonly known as L.S.D. In this photo we see morning commuters streaming into The Loop from the north. The first stretch of Lake Shore Drive, from Belmont to Foster, opened in 1933. When the downtown section opened in 1937 it ran along Leif Ericson Drive and Field Boulevard. It was named Lake Shore Drive in the 1940’s. The road has undergone a number...
Lake Shore Condo Tower’s Roof Deck Goes from Tragic to Epic
Middle age isn’t easy. It’s hard to keep the snow off the roof. The plumbing makes a lot of strange noises. And there are cracks and wrinkles where there never were before. It’s hell on buildings, too. A few years ago, the condominium tower at 3900 North Lake Shore Drive got to the point where it was time to replace the roof again. The roof doubled as a common area where people could gather and appreciate wonderful...
