Optima Plan is the Most Murray Thing To Happen to Wilmette Since Bill
The north shore village that was the home of both definitive Moses, Charlton Heston; and Assistant-to-the-General-Manager, Dwight Schrute, will soon be the home of a new apartment building. November 2020 rendering of 1210 Central Avenue (Courtesy of Optima) Up-lake neighbor, Optima has been given permission to put up 109 new homes over 8,000 square feet of ground floor retail at 1210 Central Avenue. The residences will be in one-,...
Evanston’s Newest Apartment Building Open For Business
Evanston is the latest Chicago suburb to sport a new apartment building. LINK Evanston recently had its official grand opening, complete with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 811 Emerson Street, on the northern edge of the city’s downtown. The LINK Evanston (Courtesy of CA Ventures) LINK (shout when you say that) brings the neighborhood 241 new apartments in a nine-story building. Apartments in the bKL-designed building range from...
The Parts Have Arrived to Finish a North Side Recreation Trail
Gaps may work for David Letterman’s teeth or buying blue jeans, but they are terrible for bicycle paths. That’s why people from Ravenswood to Evanston are excited about the giant hulks of steel sitting on the east bank of the Chicago River’s north branch. Lincoln Village Pedestrian Bridge under construction in October 2019 (Courtesy of West Rogers Park Spy Joel) West Rogers Park Spy Joel spotted the two halves of the...
Chicago Bears’ Lair Doubles In Size
The den that the Monsters of the Midway call home is now twice the size it was just two years ago. The Chicago Bears have officially opened a 162,000-square-foot expansion of Halas Hall. Halas Hall locker room (Courtesy of Chicago Bears) The complex up in far north suburban Lake Forest was built in 1997, replacing the original Halas Hall that is now part of Lake Forest College. In addition to the addition, 30,000...
Team Retreat Available for Architects, Designers, Artists
Sometimes we all need a break from the workplace while still working. For Olympic skiers, it’s a new mountain. For cops, it can be a different beat. For day traders it’s the Starbucks on Rush Street. The Ragdale gate (Courtesy of the Ragdale Foundation) If you have a team at your firm that needs to get out of the architecture studio and into a different studio to recharge, Ragdale may be just the working retreat you need....
Here’s Your Excuse to Visit Joliet
The coolest piece of architecture in Joliet is no longer the old Correctional Center. It’s the new courthouse. The West Loop’s Wight and Company has been given a big fat architecture award for the Will County Courthouse Specifically, it’s a citation from the American Institute of Architects’ Academy of Architecture for Justice. That’s the AIAAAJ for short. Its friends call it “Buddy.”...
Illinois’ Most Endangered Buildings: 2018 Edition
Architecture and history advocacy group Landmarks Illinois is out with its annual list of the most endangered buildings and places in Illinois. The group has been putting out the lists for a while now and seems to be earning a bigger and bigger voice in the public discourse about what gets praised and what gets razed in the land of Lincoln. In honor of Illinois’ bicentennial, this year’s list includes several items that...
E2 Makes Downtown Evanston More Colorful
The E2 apartment building made a splash when it opened in Evanston in 2015, and now it’s adding a splash of color to the suburb’s downtown. E2 developer Fifield Realty has unveiled an expansive new piece of art on the side of the building by Albany Park muralist Thomas Melvin. The painting is called “Eee-tu” (What Redwing called to Drake) 1890 Maple Evanston, Illinois, and is an abstract depiction of its home...
The Main Building on Main Street
If you’ve ever wanted to live in Evanston, but don’t enjoy the bustle of its quaint downtown, plus you enjoy having multiple redundant methods of commuting into the city, then what’s going up at 847 Main Street is right up your alley. The Main (formerly Chicago+Main) is a nine-story building with 112 apartments that’s nearly complete near the south end of town. Among its big selling points are that it is pretty...
Neighbor News: Will County to get Wight & Co. Designed Justice Center
The long-awaited new Will County Justice Center is getting closer to becoming a reality, and we’re learning more about it from the company responsible for the design. Wight & Company is the architecture firm hired to design the 11-story building which will include courtrooms, offices, a law library, and a good chunk of raw space for later use. The new building will replace the dead First Midwest Bank building at the corner of...
