^Why would there be neighborhood opposition to that? Was it maybe Astroturf testimony arranged by the owner? I can't find any reference to opposition, only weird speculation by Lynn Becker that "resistance" (from whom? the owner? Landmarks staff? the mayor's office?) was the reason North Federal hadn't previously been landmarked.
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Interior demolition of the parking/pool structure has begun.
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Rahm E. Is breaking ground ceremony this morning on the Essex site. Nbc 5##
Not sure what ground they will break? The roof of the parking garage? Haha |
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Excited to see this tower get off the ground! |
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mayor's office calling it 57 stories, so I guess that's right
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Can we change the title of the thread to 'Essex on the Park'?
That's the name mentioned in the Trib article. |
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January 24, 2017
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I hope they save, restore and somehow incorporate that old vertical Essex sign from the old garage into the new building. If not I hope someone picks them up and puts them into storage or somewhere they wont go to waste.
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Lots of demo activity today... heard they were delayed by some asbestos and just started back today.
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The South Loop Symposium was pretty good last night. During Q&A someone asked how the developer felt about what Landmarks did to change the design. John Rutledge and Jim Plunkard were very diplomatic in their responses and said they were able to achieve additional height as part of the trade off for taking out the cross braces and enclosing the winter garden. I still think the original design was better!
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So, there were a few interesting things about th Essex mentioned at the CAF lecture.
Again, it was landmarks and the city who caused the design change. I find it almost hilarious even though it's sad and pathetic that officials in the city renowned for its architecture help with the dumbing down of designs because of fear that the new towers would overshadow and or be too out of scale. With the removal of the X-bracing, the amount of concrete needed would go up by about 25% according to the architect. I believe he said it was roughly a $10,000,000 cost. The verticals we see on the north and south facades are actually structural buttresses that thin out (from 5' at the base and then 3', 2', 1' and they disappear at the top) as the tower rises and they will be clad with metal. https://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a...D720/ry%3D480/ I'm sure you remember hearing that when the Wabash/Madison stop was disassembled, some of those facade pieces were saved. Well guess who has them... the developer, and it seems like they want to install/encase these pieces within the winter garden area. https://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a...D720/ry%3D480/ https://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a...D720/ry%3D480/ And demo pics from 02/10/17 https://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a...D720/ry%3D480/ https://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a...D720/ry%3D480/ Oh...! BTW, we may have to bump this back to 620'. The architect said this number several times and when I mentioned I'd seen 607', he said with all the screening it's 620'. Hopefully I'll see more drawings in the future. |
Wow, great update BV. So the buttresses actually perform a vital function. Does that mean it's now more "honest"?
Really neat that they are reusing classic L station elements in the Winter Garden. Not sure if I will ever see it in person, but it's still good to know |
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