Madison Street Bridge

Built: 1923
Thomas Pihlfeldt, engineer
Clarence Rowe, engineer
(rehabbed, 1994)

This may be the busiest bridge downtown, since both Union Station and Ogilvie Station let out onto Madison west of the Chicago River. The bridge houses are almost identical to Wells but the real difference is the bridge structure. What it loses in drama it makes up in unobstructed views to the north and south.

You wouldn't think the narrow sidewalks would accommodate a guy drumming on big plastic buckets every day during rush hour, but you'd be wrong.

LaSalle Street Bridge

Built: 1928
Edward Bennet, architect (confirmed?)
Donald Becker, engineer
Thomas Pihlfeldt, engineer
Clarence Rowe, engineer

This 1928 bridge coincides with the extension of Wacker Drive on the south.  Only two of the bridge houses are (or were) functional.  The other two were just for symmetry. The decorative mansard roofs are lead.

I like including the background buildings for these drawings. Its going to be tricky to keep them from attracting too much attention. This view is to the west, looking slightly northwest towards Merchandise Mart.

Lake Street Bridge

Built: 1916
John Ericcson, engineer
Thomas Pihlfeldt, engineer
Alexander Vonbabo, engineer

I'm very fond of the bridges that also accommodate the el. I didn't want to draw too much attention to it, but I was lucky to have it go past when I was taking reference photos. This drawing is a good reminder of why I seldom choose a format larger than 4 inches. It's too easy to get caught in the tiny gradations of cross-hatched tone. One more bridge at this scale, and the next three will smaller, more simplified. If I need more detail I can always include some close-ups.

On Saturday we leave for our vacation. This will be the first week-long vacation since before Felix was born. We're renting a house on Kelley's Island for a week. For anyone unfamiliar that's in Lake Erie near Sandusky. Nothing to do but swim, read, walk, and draw. And possibly go to restaurants featuring super-sweet Ohio wines. Our house even has a fire pit, which sounds like mixed blessing when combined with a three-year old. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law will be joining us. Even my parents will drop by for a night. This is kind of a new experiment for us, so we'll see how it goes.

Washington Street Bridge

Built: 1930
Edward Bennet, architect
Thomas Pihlfeldt, engineer
Alexander VonBabo, engineer

Bridge house originally clad with copper sheet metal, but there looks to be alot of odd repairs.

This is looking east towards the Loop across the Chicago River. You can see the edge of the Civic Opera on the right. I had this idea to create drawings of every bridge around the Loop and to compile them into a booklet with a little history for each one. Would tourists buy that sort of thing? Could I sell them downtown without getting arrested? Probably not.

Drawing every bridge seemed a lot more achievable before I found that this one took me two weeks of lunch breaks.

Wednesday we leave for another whirlwind trip to Ohio. Felix can see the grandparents and we can forget about work for a while. I hope. Turns out the union rejected the City's offer for furloughs instead of layoffs. As of July 15th 1,500 city workers will be gone. It seems like random luck that I'm not included. This time.

Clark and Lunt- Bird's Eye View

OK, not a true bird's-eye view, since it combines two paraline drawings. But a good way to add additional months to the project. To be honest, I can't imagine doing this for twenty-five more intersections.

So we spent a long weekend in North Carolina about 3 weeks ago. Angela was invited to teach an improv workshop, and Felix and I tagged along. It was like getting an amazing spring preview. We spent alot of time with our friends Dan and Lee, and explored the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill area, which is beautiful. Dan and Angela used to perform together, and it was his theater that had extended the offer for a workshop. Apparently it was a big hit.

I'm amazed at how quickly Felix adapts on these trips. After the first day he said, "I like our new car." We tried to explain that it was a rental. Once we returned to Chicago he kept asking if we were going back to the hotel. As long as we're all together he's home.

Clark and Greenleaf- A&T Grill Signage

OK, still putting together some color graphics for signage on Clark. For anyone who's interested, here's the most recent process:

-Develop outline from reference photograph. In this case I made two versions, one which eliminates the background elements to focus just on the sign.
-Scan both versions to print out at slightly larger size. Decide to use the more cluttered version.

-Develop grey marker tone study.
-Develop color drawing with Prismacolor markers.
-Scan into 300 dpi tiff. Adjust edges. Add graduated background tone.
-Print scan. Create highlights and details with Prismacolor pencils.
-Rescan. Adjust colors. Create reduced size version for blog.

Not sure it was worth the effort, but I want to give a copy to the owners of the A&T Grill. It might make them hesitate if they're considering removing the sign. It's already missing quite a bit of neon.

Clark and Lunt- Currency Exchange

OK, another second tier financial service on Clark. We actually get our city stickers here. Also one of the few corners in Rogers Park where prostitutes are regularly arrested.

Money Transfers and Check Cashing on Clark

I had never seen these businesses before I moved to Chicago. Cash transfers are everywhere in Rogers Park. They're probably as common as the payday loan stores.

These businesses aren't regulated like banks, and they may charge rates that take advantage of workers who don't have many other options, like bank accounts or credit cards... 

Not sure anyone can fit more signage on this building.

Clark and Schreiber, northwest corner

Do you remember the "literals" craze in the 1980s? Bags labeled "Brown Bag" and mugs labeled "Mug"? Did you know they did the same thing with buildings? The Rogers Park police station is living proof. In huge lowercase letters it reads, "police" on the wall nearest Clark. As if that could make up for the aggressively unattractive design. Maybe worse of all, it creates a huge windswept plaza along the most auto-dominated stretch of Clark. Optimistically there's a single bench. And what kind of trees were chosen for the plaza? Locust trees, whose most admirable quality is resistance to pollution.

Clark and Farwell, northeast corner

The Rogers Park Library is one of the few new buildings in the neighborhood that I really admire. Designed by Antunovich and Associates, it was built in 1999 and is aging comfortably. This is apparently the new model for Chicago libraries, and similar versions can be found in Bucktown and Edgebrook. Thankfully they stopped building those awful blue cinder block libraries. If you're in the neighborhood go up to the second floor and admire the hanging sculpture. Public buildings of this quality make me glad to live in Chicago.

Clark and Pratt, southwest corner

So McDonald's has started to replace their old 1980s mansard-style outlets with something a little more sensitive to the street Sure, they'll still surrounded by parking lots and driveways, but they're faced with brick, they're typically built with one wall right on the street, they have decent storefronts, and the interiors are better designed and more comfortable. Say what you will about McDonald's, but I'm impressed that they periodically reinvent themselves.

We took Felix to the Museum of Science and Industry on Saturday. If we hadn't felt a crazy need to see everything we would have just stared at the amazing model train exhibit for hours. They basically created the Loop, complete with working CTA trains. Wow.

On Sunday we took Felix to get his hair cut. At the end of the haircut the woman said, "Oops, I nicked his ear. Free haircut." Sure enough, there was a tiny cut on the top of his ear which Felix barely noticed. We were left conferring on what to do. Should we just leave? Should we give a tip anyway, since we already saved $20? Should you tip someone who just cut you son's ear? We grabbed a lollipop and shuffled out awkwardly.

43rd and Cottage Grove

OK, I've ventured out of Rogers Park for this drawing. This is kind of on the edge of Bronzeville on the south side. Had it been a bit warmer it would've been a great area to explore better. There's a historic district (Oakland) near the east terminus of 43rd, and I was intent on making a site visit without a car. One advantage is that you can meander a bit on the way back to the El. This sign is still in front of a furniture store, although probably not the original tenant that put it up.

Clark and Lunt, northeast corner- 1890s through 2008

Our corner is on the far right. At this point (1890s) it was a post office.

Who doesn't love an old timey bus? Here's the first Philip's Bank. c. 1915?

Here's the upgrade of Philip's Bank in the 1920s.

And here's the triumphant replacement. I believe it was built in 1997, two years after I moved to Chicago.

Clark and Devon, northeast corner- 1910 and 2009

Apartments and Retail, c.1910

Devon-Clark Hardware, 2009

I'm fairly certain that this demolished apartment building explains the strangely shaped parking lot west of Devon-Clark Hardware. Still trying to figure out the map chronology, which is somewhat vague for this area.

Clark and Touhy, northeast corner

7201 N. Clark
Built: 1955 (this is probably a rebuild)

This gas station was out of business when I started this project. But here it is, triumphant in its reopening.

The past few weeks we've lived through some of the coldest Chicago weather I've ever experienced. We're all getting over various stages of colds, but otherwise fine. Last weekend we went to Winterfest at Warren Park, where Felix bounced on an inflatable trampoline for an hour, had a spider painted on his hand, and took home a tiger balloon animal. We attended the grand opening of a new firehouse on Clark (Mayor Daley gave a speech, but at least there were donuts). And we've pioneered the sport of toddler sledding as a practical form of neighborhood transport.

Columbia and Clark, northwest corner

6733-37 N. Clark
Built: 1927
Architect: C.B. Kohn
Contractor: H.C. Wolf & Son
Cost: $17,000


This is a nice little liquor store that won some sort of award for its new storefront and awning. Maybe it participated in the facade rebate program before it ran out of money...

Anyway, its cold out. Not yet Chicago cold, but darn cold. As usual, when it gets cold we head out to the Botanic Gardens for some reason. We ran around the gardens and walked through numerous greenhouses. Not bad for a Sunday.

Clark and Arthur, northwest corner

6501 N. Clark
Built: 1925
Architect: Standard Oil
Contractor: Wm. Socom Bldg Co.
Cost: $2,500

If this isn't the same building it's at least constructed on the same footprint as the original gas station.

I keep finding myself more interested in the exposed side of the apartment building next to this auto repair business. But I have to give it credit for nearly landscaping itself out of existence.

Felix's birthday party went really well, and the auditorium room at Indian Boundary Park was great. We played Pin the Tail on the Monster (monster poster courtesy of Angela) and everyone ate cupcakes and drank cider. Best of all the weather held, and afterwards everyone went outside to the playground. My parents were in town, which was a nice bonus.

Felix went trick-or-treating last week as the cutest little red devil you could imagine. It'll be my new profile photo, if I ever get around to it.

Clark and Lunt, northwest corner

7000-16 N. Clark
Built: c.1900
 
It's been a while since I've posted. What's happened lately?

-I went to the Traditional Building Conference over at Navy Pier last month.
-My old high school friend was in town briefly and came up to Rogers Park to visit.
-My great aunt Marion had her 90th birthday party.
-Chicago is laying off employees right and left.

Last weekend we drove to the Indiana Dunes where we saw the modern homes relocated there (via lake barge) after the 1933 World's Fair. We also visited a historic homestead and farm within the Dunes State Park. We stayed overnight at a very nice hotel, and went apple picking Monday morning. Felix enjoyed it, and we ended up with 10 lbs of apples and plenty of mosquito bites. Not a bad Columbus Day. I suppose now it's okay if it becomes rainy and cold.

The biggest news is that today is Felix's third birthday. Angela made a special snack for his class, and we're going to have a small party next weekend. Hard to believe it's been 3 years since he came to complicate and enrich our lives. Some of the time I feel like we invented him entirely, and he only exists as a part of ourselves. Other times I feel like he's the most unique and unpredictable being on the planet. Sometimes when I'm away from him I feel this strange ache, and I suddenly know why parents fill their offices with photographs and keepsakes. I suppose everyone has to invent parenthood for themselves, even if it seems trite and sentimental. It's okay to be trite and sentimental now and again, right?

Clark and Touhy, southwest corner

7136 N. Clark
Built:1928

This building is in the process of converting from a used car lot to a fast food chicken restaurant. It's only natural. Originally this was a Standard Oil gas and service station. To the left is the old section, made out of common brick and clay tile. 

On Saturday we drove out to Marseilles, Illinois (Mar-sales, in the midwest lingo) to visit a farm. Once a week we pick up a box of vegetables and split it with our friends Carrie and Euan. Much of it comes from this farm, and everyone who subscribes was invited to come out for a tour/festival. We figured this was a good excuse to get out of Chicago for a couple days and show Felix his first farm. He seemed to like it. He kept waving a stick and yelling, "Go 'way, chickens!" We picked raspberries and saw some amazingly huge yellow and black spiders. Orb spiders, apparently. We even met up with Angela's friend, who moved to Marseilles with her family last year.

After a night at a hotel in Ottawa with an awesome (overheated) pool we went hiking at Starved Rock Park Sunday morning and were back in Chicago by 12:30. Not a bad weekend.

Clark and Pratt, northwest corner detail

6800 N. Clark
Car repair

Well, we had a nice holiday weekend, with just a few setbacks.


On Saturday we went to Lunt Avenue beach and splashed around for a while. We made a discovery a few weekends ago- if we take Felix to the beach, let him run around like a crazy toddler for an hour or so, stuff him with snacks and plop him in the stroller he'll usually fall asleep for an hour or two. Then we can go out for a leisurely, adult-style lunch while he dozes peacefully next to the table. So on Saturday we decided to go to Carmen's near Loyola, which has a great lunchtime pizza deal. After 45 minutes our waitress came to our table and said, "Can I get you any dessert, or just the check?" Um....how about our pizza? After an hour she admitted that the order was never put into the kitchen and offers to give us one of our lunches for free. Not enough, bad waitress. Meanwhile, Felix begins to stir. So we left, without our pizza. It wasn't like the place was crowded, either. Carmen's sucks. They still owe me for a piece of cheesecake that I paid for but never arrived in our delivery order.

So later that night Felix develops a fever and we spend Sunday watching cartoon movies and feeling very claustrophobic. In the evening we met our friends at the only taqueria in Rogers Park that has an outdoor patio, La Cazuela, just across the street from the library. Too bad it took us 8 years to find this place.

On Monday we took Felix to a super cool water park near Armitage and Clybourn (Adams Park). Highly recommended. Later that night, the fever returned, so everyone was up at 2 a.m. Just in time for the return of the work week.

But still, not a bad weekend. An inconvenience or two does not equal a trip to the emergency room.