Author: lbchicago1@hotmail.com

I recently visited the Chicago Architecture Center (CAC) at its’ new location along the Chicago River at 111 E. Wacker Drive. It was previously known as the Chicago Architecture Foundation (CAF) and was located at 224 S. Michigan Avenue in the Railway Exchange Building. It is fitting that the new location is by the Chicago River, since the CAC gives River cruises.

The Chicago Architecture Center  is a non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring people to discover why design matters. The CAC includes two levels of gallery exhibitions.

Level 1 is the Concourse Level and houses the Chicago Gallery, John and Kathleen Buck Atrium, CAC Store and Orientation. Explore this level and you will learn about the architects who shaped Chicago and gave the city its distinctive style and skyline, making it the “City of Architecture.” You’ll also learn about Chicago’s building blocks such as geographical and architectural elements that make Chicago unique. You’ll be exploring five historic Chicago neighborhoods and learn how their buildings and houses have been preserved. You’ll be able to look at common housing types in Chicago and view how Chicago is mapped by viewing a video describing the Chicago City Model (which includes 4,200 buildings). You can also view information about current architectural projects happening in the city currently or in the near future.

Level 2 is the Plaza Level and contains the Usher Lambe Rotating Gallery, Drake Skyscraper Gallery, Arcelormittal Design Studio, and Joan and Gary Gand Lecture Hall. There is a display on Imagining the City of Chicago in 2050, and the Drake Skyscraper Gallery contains large scale models of tall skyscrapers from around the world. You’ll learn about the world’s tallest building, The Burj Khalifa. You’ll also explore technological innovations that enable architects to keep building higher and higher! You’ll learn more about the world’s tallest buildings and Urban Habitat Award Winners. You will also learn about the architects that shaped Chicago architecture and last but certainly not least, if you look out the  windows on the 2nd level of the CAC you’ll see inpiring. views of the buildings along the Chicago River and what is arguably one of the most beautiful spots in Chicago!

The Minnekirken Church is located in Logan Square at 2614 N. Kedzie Avenue, right next to the CTA Blue Line stop. I saw it for the first time on Saturday when I attended the Logan Square 2018 Historic Boulevard House Walk hosted by Logan Square Preservation.  It was built between 1908 and 1912 and was designed by architects Charles F. Sorensen and Mason S.N. Nelson in a Protestant adaptation of Gothic Revival style.

The congregation had actually started in a private home in 1900 before the church was built. The first Pastor was Johan B. Meyer and services were conducted in accordance with traditional services of the Church of Norway. During The Depression the congregation lost the church because it couldn’t pay the mortgage, but they were able to raise enough money and reaquire the church in 1934. It was renamed Den Norske LutherskeMinnekirke, which translates to Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church. It is the only Lutheran Church in Chicago whose primary language is Norwegian and only one of two in the entire U.S. The other is in Minneapolis. In addition to church services, the church hosts activities such as Norwegian cooking classes, concerts and an annual Christmas bazaar and the annual Logan SquareHistoric Boulevard House Walk.

• Note – The exterior photos are mine. The interior are from Wikipedia.

 

100 years ago on September 4, 1918 a bomb blast ocurred in Chicago’s Loop at the old federal building on Adams and Dearborn. The blast ocurred at about 3 p.m. on a Wednesday afternoon. The bomb went off in the lobby of the federal building and killed four people. It was a powerful blast that even shattered windows at the Marquette building across the street. The person/s who threw the bomb were never caught.

Authorities believe it was an act of terrorism that had to do with the end of World War I or the labor movement. Police rounded up and took into custody large numbers of people that they believed had any links to these movements. The main suspect group was the Industrial Workers of the World radical labor group. This group denied any involvement.

The people killed were postal workers Edwin Kolkow and William Wheeler and sailor Joseph Ladd, as well as Ella Miehlke.

Walt Disney was a postal worker in the building at the time and just barely escaped the bombing. He said he was in the lobby when it ocurred.

Although the explosion did much damage to the federal building, it didn’t affect it’s foundation, so the building was repaired. It wasn’t torn down until 1965. No one was ever convicted for the bombing.

• Photos are from Wikipedia and are public domain

With so many big department stores going out of business or shutting stores today, such as Carson’s and Sears – I thought it was important to remember another big Chicago department store that went out of business long ago.

I very fondly remember Goldblatt’s Department Store in Chicago. We lived near the one on Kimball, Milwaukee and Diversey, but we also visited Goldblatt’s stores at Lincoln, Belmont and Ashland and Belmont and Central. I remember the bargain basement and the smell of food from the deli and snack shop, but I especially remember shopping with my mother and helping her with the “green stamps” books so we could get the discounts. Those childhood shopping trips with my mother were the most special times in my life.

Goldblatt’s was founded in 1914 by brothers Nate and Maurice Goldblatt. They were Polish immigrants that previously ran a grocery store on the West side of Chicago. The first Goldblatt’s store was located at the corner of Ashland and Chicago Avenue. In 1928 they incorporated. Goldblatt’s performed well, even during the Great Depression in the 1930s and purchased several smaller department stores.

Goldblatt’s opened their flagship store on State and Van Buren in 1936 and they started carrying more upscale products, appliances, a deli and snack shops. After it closed, the building was sold to DePaul University.

By the 1950s business started to slow down and the 1960s  saw fierce competition from newer discount retailers, such as Kmart, Woolco, Zayre and Sears. The company filed for bakruptcy in 1981, but reopened in 1982 with six stores that would sell primarily to lower income shoppers. They remained in business until 2003, when the Goldblatt’s stores were closed for good and liquidated.

• Note: The second photo is mine. The rest are from Wikipedia.

The Chicago Water Tower was built in 1869 and is located at 806 N. Michigan Avenue in the Jane M. Byrne Plaza. It is the second oldest water tower in the U.S. The oldest water tower is in Louisville, KY. The Chicago Water Tower was added to the National Resgister of Historic Places on April 23, 1975.

It was built by architect William W. Boyington. The Water Tower worked in conjunction with the Chicago Avenue Pumping Station to fight fires and control water surges for Chicago’s municipal water system. The pumping station drew clean water from Lake Michigan. The Chicago Water Tower was one of the few structures that survived the Great Chicago Fire in that area (and the only public building in the area) to survive the fire. As such, it has become symbolic of old Chicago and the city’s recovery after the fire.

The Chicago Water Tower now houses the Chicago Office of Tourism art gallery known as the “City Gallery in the Historic Water Tower.” It showcases photos and artwork by local photographers, artists and filmmakers.

I was fortunate to be able to visit Philadelphia last week. It was my first time in Philly and I absolutely loved it! It is an incredible city…………………………an amazing mix of old and new. I hope you enjoy these photos as much as I enjoyed the city!

 

In Chicago during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s there was only one playground in the city, and approximately 12,000 children lived in the city. The population of children in the city was high due to the influx of immigrants during the Industrial Revolution. Today, Chicago has approximately 570 parks, which includes about 90 playgrounds.

The Chicago Commons playground size was only 20 x 160 feet. It was open every afternoon and all day on Sundays. These were largely immigrant children of factory workers and attendance varied from 50 to 175 children at one time. The playground was supervised by adults. It was located on the Near West side of Chicago, and was built by the Chicago Commons settlement house.

The Chicago Commons Association is a social service organization and former settlement house in Chicago. The Chicago Commons was founded in 1894 by Graham Taylor.

Chances are, if you’re a Chicagoan, you’ve visited Lincoln Park Zoo. The zoo is located at 2001 N. Clark St. in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. The zoo was founded in 1868 and marks it’s 150th anniversary this year! It is one of the oldest zoos in the U.S. and one of the free admission zoos. It comprises 35 acres of land and houses approximately 1,100 animals.

Lincoln Park zoo is home to many types and species of animals, such as tigers, cougars, bears, polar bears, penguins and other birds, gorillas and other monkeys and reptiles. The zoo also contains a burr oak tree that dates back to 1830 (before the City of Chicago was founded in 1833). The first animals to live at the zoo in 1868 were four swans that were a gift from New York City. Many other animals soon followed.

Some of the zoo’s major exhibits are: Farm-in-the-Zoo, Kovler Sea Lion Pool, Kovler Lion House, Helen Brach Primate House, McCormick Bird House, Nature Boardwalk, Pritzker Family Children’s Zoo, Regenstein African Journey, Regenstein Center for African Apes and Regenstein Small Mammal Reptile House.

Lincoln Park Zoo also has a beautiful flower conservatory and nature center and you can also rent paddle boats to use on the Lincoln Park Lagoon. There also plenty of restaurants/cafes for refreshments. I always enjoy visiting Lincoln Park Zoo and know you will too. No Summer is complete without a visit to the zoo!

For more information on Lincoln Park Zoo visit their website at:

www.lpzoo.org

• Please Note – All photos (with the exception of the last one) are from Wikipedia. The last photo is of my Mom and myself in front of the flower conservatory. It was taken by my Dad.

 

 

 

The Eastland Disaster happened in Chicago on July 24, 1915. So, next Tuesday will mark 103 years since the disaster occurred. The Eastland was a passenger tour boat. On the day of the accident, the ship was headed to Michigan City Indiana transporting about 2,500 passengers/employees from Western Electric Company’s Hawthorne Works in Cicero IL to a picnic. The employees were very excited about the trip, because they didn’t get vacations. Many of them were Czech immigrants. The ship was filled to capacity.

Unfortunately the Eastland never made it to the picnic area. In fact, it never left the port in Chicago. The Eastland overturned in the port at the bank of the Chicago river between Clark and LaSalle Streets. It’s believed it was due to the weight of the passengers and the fact that many of them suddenly shifted to one area on the upper deck of the ship. 844 passengers and 4 crew members died in this tragedy, many of whom were trapped inside the lower decks and crushed by heavy furniture. The Eastland Disaster ranks as one of the worst maritime disasters in American history.

Thalia Hall is a live music venue located in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago at 1807 S. Allport Street (at the corner of Allport and 18th Street). It is a legendary landmark built/commissioned in 1892 by saloonkeeper John Dusek and designed by architects Faber and Pagels. It hosts live performance events such as concerts and shows, as well as community activities. The building also houses retail and restaurant space.

It was built in the Romanesque Revival style and was designated a Chicago Landmark on October 25, 1989. The building was named for Thalia (Greek muse of comedy and poetry). The building was modeled after the Old Opera House in Prague, Czechoslovakia (where most of the Czech population in Pilsen had emigrated from). It was completed and opened to the public around the time of the opening of the World’s Columbian Exhibition. It is a very large commercial building. It cost $145,000 to build. That was alot for the 1800s (when most such buildings cost $50,000).

Thalia Hall became both a community gathering place and center for the arts. Community Centers (or Halls as they were called) were an important fixture in immigrant communities. It was a way for them to connect with people of their own nationalities in a big city that could be quite unfriendly at times. The residents had mostly manual labor jobs in factories, but enjoyed the arts, such as music and theater on the weekends and after work as recreation. Halls were also a place where labor union organizers often gathered to fight for labor issues such as an 8 hour workday, Sundays off and for saloons to be open on Sundays. Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak was once a saloonkeeper at Thalia Hall!

I was able to see Thalia Hall in person during a bus tour of Pilsen. When I saw it a wave of emotion came over me, because I was able to see this beautiful and historically significant building preserved so accurately and beautifully. It was a place I only read about in history, but since it has been preserved so well, I can see it as it looked in 1892 (when it was built)! ……………..Amazing, and the same is true of Pilsen itself!

*Note – The first two photos are my own. The rest are from Google.