Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Downtown
Preservation Chicago and others keep beating the drum for preservation of the Union Station steam plant, but it's not clear what could actually be saved. Unlike a powerhouse, it's not a concrete frame in which generators were installed. It's a big boiler around which some catwalks and a brick skin was placed—and that skin would at this point have to be completely replaced. So you spend $millions to take down all those bricks, remove all the useless boiler stuff, construct a new frame with actual floors and stairs and elevators, and then lay all the bricks again. That's not preservation; it's taxidermy.
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Why would all the bricks need to be replaced? From their website, Preservation Chicago was saying there was an interested party who would turn it into a data center.
A train/railroad museum would be cool. Do we have one in Chicago? The 78 Casino proposal talked about incorporating a museum, they are located at the former site of a giant rail yard and their observation tower is inspired by a rail bridge. Seems like it might be a perfect match.