designslinger: Recent Comments

Comment on Auditorium Building Tower

designslinger — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:39:54 GMT

You're very welcome!!

Comment on Auditorium Building Tower

Wendy Bright — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:25:31 GMT

Succinct and excellent post. Thank you for your stellar writing and photography.

Comment on The Newman Triplets

Maurice Newman — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:23:22 GMT

My G,G Grandfather was Gustav.

Comment on 1366 North Dearborn Parkway

designslinger — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:23:51 GMT

On a city map printed in 1862, Schiller Street runs from Sedgwick to Clark, where it ends, then picks up again on the east side of Dearborn and runs to the Lake along the southern edge of the Catholic Cemetery, where Schiller was called Church Street. Name change or not, the street lines up perfectly from one end to the other, even though it doesn't exist between that skinny stretch between Dearborn and Clark Street.
Actually, there are no east west streets between Clark and Dearborn from Division Street all the way to North Avenue - until a map from 1871. Then two streets cut through that long, skinny stretch of real estate, Burton Place toward the northern end of the parcel, and Schiller, which is kind of in the middle.
What's interesting though, is that if you look closely, the spacing between North Avenue and Burton is the same as between Burton and Schiller. And, there is no Burton Place on the map other than in that skinny band from Division to North whereas several blocks of Schiller were there, plain as day. So can we surmise that whoever surveyed that property, started at North Avenue, put in a city block and created Burton Place, then simply took the same number of feet and plotted in Schiller? This little piece of the new Schiller didn't exactly line-up with the existing portion, but it did fall into place in realtion to Burton and North Avenue.
So that's where Schiller sits today, equally distant from Burton to the north, as Burton is to North Avenue, as though the other portions of the street never even existed.

Comment on 1366 North Dearborn Parkway

JEN — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:30:23 GMT

I was wondering why Schiller Street jogs out around this building? If not for it, the street would be a straight line to Sedgwick from the Lake.

Comment on 1366 North Dearborn Parkway

designslinger — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:41:24 GMT

We posted about the Nickerson Mansion/Driehaus Museum way back in April, 2010 at: Art in a Marble Palace. The Racquet Club is definitely on the "to do" list!

Comment on 1366 North Dearborn Parkway

Carol Bryant — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:48:20 GMT

This led me to wonder about nearby structures such as the Driehaus mansion and the Racquet Club. If you haven't featured these yet, hope you will.

Comment on Assumption Catholic Church, Chicago

designslinger — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:47:12 GMT

It was huge. Proposed by then mayor Martin Kennelly in 1954, the project encompassed 151 acres extending from the main branch of the Chicago to Ontario Street, and the north branch of the river to Rush Street. The plan called for the creation of a new government administration center, 5,000 new units of apartment housing, and the new campus of the Chicago branch of the University of Illinois. What happened to it? Well, perhaps it had something to do with the fact that in 1955 Richard J. Daley beat the incumbent mayor in a bitter, nasty, hard fought Democratic primary. Priorities must have changed because the project just kind of died away. City, county and state government stayed-put around City Hall. A new county courthouse was built in 1965 under Daley, and was even named in his honor after his death. And of course, U of I ended up on the near west side. But apartment housing did blossom in the area, though it took another 30+ years. And the changes didn't occur as part of a wholesale leveling of the neighborhood, but inch by inch, building by building, and it all came with a new name, River North. Invented by the real estate industry, not the city.

Comment on Voltz Hall

designslinger — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 10:20:21 GMT

And it would make a good looking building great looking!!

Comment on Assumption Catholic Church, Chicago

John Lawrence — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:24:02 GMT

What was the ‪$400 million Fort Dearborn development and what came of it?