SE Corner of Lunt and Clark

Built: 1926
Converted and altered: 1944

I think I must have drawn this corner more than any other in Rogers Park. To me, it's the perfect representation of change in the neighborhood. On the Lunt side, it's still a limestone and granite bank, complete with columns. On the Clark side it's a terra cotta storefront from the 40s. In the background the bell towers of St. Jerome's watch over everything.  I've been looking for a photo of this building prior to the alterations, but all I've found is blurry microfilm scan in the Chicago Tribune archives.

We went to the Newberry Library book sale on Saturday. One of us would play with Felix in Washington Square Park while the other browsed the selection. The Bughouse Square Debates were going on too, but they're never as much fun as the book sale.

Oddly, there were about 5 or 6 people in the park painting with big portable easels. And most of them were painting trees. I would think that if you're painting in Chicago you could find something a bit more interesting than trees...

Civic Opera Entrance Detail

I walk past the Civic Opera Building twice a day. Once in the morning, when the sun is blasting in my eyes down Washington from the east, and once in the evening, when the sun is blasting in my eyes down Washington from the west. Don't they build grids on a diagonal anywhere?  Maybe Washington D.C.  Anyway, this is a detail from one of the cast iron door surrounds on Wacker Drive.  Nice stuff.

City Hall Grill Detail

I don't know why I bother to promptly scan and upload these into Photobucket when it takes me months to post them to this blog.


Anyway, this is from the ground floor of City Hall (bounded by LaSalle, Washington, Clark, and Randolph). Although I don't work in City Hall I'm over there several times a week to pick up or return rolls of permit drawings for landmarked buildings. We use a big plastic garbage can to transport everything from one building to the other. Although it never happened to me, people will sometimes toss bits of trash into the bucket. So much for dignity.

Clark and Touhy

Built: 1924

Here's something rare on Clark Street. The corner building and those to either side were all built at the same time with the same brick and terra cotta details. One is mixed use, one retail only, and one residential only. It makes a nice composition.

The central building houses the only combination Taqueria/Pizzeria I've seen. Maybe they're more common in other neighborhoods?

Clark and Estes

Built: 1922

Architect: Lowenburg

The beer sign really makes this image. But a nice corner building here. Our local AA chapter meets in one of the storefronts. I always see them smoking like crazy out front.

Clark and Columbia

Built: 1926

Architect: Loewenberg
Cost: $75,000


This is a pretty nice building at the northeast corner of Clark and Columbia. For the longest time it was the last video arcade in the neighborhood, "Dennis' Place for Games." Their symbol was a young blonde guy wearing a military uniform. I always wondered why that was appropriate for a video arcade. When Dennis' place went under they took out the plylwood that had been in the windows for decades and built new storefronts. Then it became a liquor store that couldn't get a liquor license. It's remained shuttered ever since. Someone should have explained the difficulty of getting a liquor license within 3 blocks of a high school and a grammar school. 

(Note:  This business finally did get its liquor license)

Howard and Rogers (but mostly Larry, home sick)

Well, I'm home sick. I don't know exactly how it happened. I woke up this morning feeling kind of disassociated and cranky, but that normally goes away after a cup of coffee. Going into the second hour of our Monday staff meeting my face felt really hot and I left the meeting to take an aspirin. I mentioned to my supervisor that I wasn't feeling so good and might take some sick hours if the aspirin doesn't kick in. She had strong feelings about the matter, and suddenly I found myself with a free afternoon.

Honestly, I really didn't want to go home. Felix and Angela are in Ohio, and the cat is still mad at me for painfully combing out half a pound of snarled fur. I knew if I went home I would lie around feeling depressed. So I went to Starbucks and drank iced tea. About 20 minutes later I felt my fever drain away. What now? I needed groceries for sandwiches. Maybe I could get them downtown?

You might think that the Loop would have a grocery store. It doesn't. The nearest grocery is a Dominick's on Madison just west of the expressway. Luckily it's just a few blocks from Ogilvie Station. I bought salami, cheddar, bagels, and about half a gallon of half and half (the only size that was left).

I walked back to Ogilvie Station, where I had about 50 minutes to kill until my train was ready.

The best view at Ogilvie is from the Caribou Coffee looking out on Riverside Plaza. Never get stuck in their food court. It's just too depressing. I had the best cup of coffee I'd ever had at Caribou. Which is to say, I didn't feel like spitting it out. And for the first time I wasn't angry about their fake stone fireplace.

Forty-five minutes later I walked over to the depot and got on the northbound line. It was packed. Who goes home at 2:30 p.m.?

So here I am. The cat resents my presence, and I can't stop thinking about the things I needed to do at work. Maybe I should have some vodka. Is that good for a cold? Probably not.

Carson Pirie Scott Building, detail

Louis Sullivan's Carson Pirie Scott Building is pretty awesome. Even through it's lost detail and ornament over the years, it's still a jewel on State Street. It's easy to be overwhelmed by the by the explosion of cast iron. Imagine my surprise to find that the detail above is based on a simple cluster of cherries.

In his later, sadder years, Sullivan published a book about his system of ornamentation. He would start with a simple geometric shape and add layer after layer of complexity. It may have been meant to be instructive, but no one could beat Sullivan at his own game. Which I'm sure he knew.

After a hundred years Carson's is leaving the space. Odd. Sad. But expect the building to live on, better than ever. It may not look it, but it needs a major overhaul to guarantee all that ornament doesn't smash to the ground. And it'll get it. Like many of the great buildings of Chicago, it's identity has mingled with that of the city. Lucky for all of us.

One North LaSalle

This is a detail from a great building. It was designed by Vitzhum

& Burns, and built in 1930. There must have been a number of these buildings that secured financing prior to the Crash and continued construction as the rest of the world slipped into depression.

When you're done looking at the polished brass entrance, go inside the lobby and admire the weird geometric ducks and elaborate deco lighting standards. Unfortunately there's scaffolding on this building that's probably been there for years. But take a look at the low relief panels visible from Madison. They're supposed to commemorate the explorations of Robert Cavalier, Sieur de La Salle, who supposedly camped on the site. (Thanks AIA Guide to Chicago!)

So, I'm on my own until next Wednesday. Angela and Felix are in Ohio visiting the grandfolks. Since I don't have vacation hours until next year, I opted to stay in Chicago. I thought it might be fun, but I find myself feeling depressed and lonely. Maybe this weekend I'll do all the things I say I miss about being single, like going to movies, drinking too much coffee, doing the used bookstore circuit. Adventurous, right?

But when I got home tonight I really missed them. Felix has this new thing where he tries to put his finger right through my belly button. It's extremely funny, but also kinda painful. I missed that. Well, it's just a few days. Maybe tomorrow I'll start enjoying my solitude like I used to. Or not.

On another note, MySpace sucks when you use a Mac. I don't get the simple editing tools, and it seems slower. But I still get messages from 19 year olds inviting me to subscribe to their web cam.

Elevator door at 33. N. LaSalle

The lobby of the building where I work is really restrained, but if you turn to the right or left you'll see banks of elevators with some incredible detail. One of my tour books says that the design is intended to be the Tree of Life. Sounds reasonable.

But if you really want to see an incredible Art Deco lobby, go one building south to One N. LaSalle. More on that building in the next entry.

On another note, Felix is standing! Well, not all the time. And usually when he realizes that he's standing he'll plop to the ground immediately. He also has about 4 teeth coming in, and a minor cold. Tough month for Felix.

Five Weeks Downtown

Well, I've been working in the Loop for over a month. I have to say, it's pretty great. Easy commute, meaningful work, and an architectural bonanza ever time I step off the train. I'm visiting historic districts I didn't know existed, and dealing with design and construction issues every day. In the evening I walk onto LaSalle and just feel lucky to be here.

I've renewed a fascination with the geometric Art Deco ornaments downtown. The drawing above is from a decorative metal grate at 2 N. Riverside Plaza. If you exit from Ogilvie Station onto Madison you can't miss them. The summer before I started graduate school I was required to take a drafting class prior to admission. I remember standing in front of these things, sketching. Strange to think that 7 years later, I'm back.

Taqueria Hernandez

This is a 1940s terracotta addition to an old bank at the southeast corner of Lunt and Clark. You can see all of the classical columns and granite base on the Lunt side of the building, but from Clark this is all you see. I imagine the stairs that led up to bank were ripped out to make way for this. I think there are apartments on the second floor, and I've always wondered if there are any interior remnants. Probably not.

When the article about Ultra Local Geography was published by the Chicago Tribune last June this building was visible in the photograph that accompanied the story. A woman called me up because she recognized the corner from her childhood. It was where her policeman father was shot and killed by a bank robber in 1945. It's easy to forget that every walk down the street connects you with the lives and deaths of thousands of people. And not just the ones in the past, but in the future, too.

This will be my last post from Highland Park. Next week it's on to Chicago!

Dollop Coffee on Clarendon

I finally get to post Rob and Jen's wedding picture! Of course I completely ruined the surprise by sending a copy to Dollop before it was ready. Dollop then posted it on their MySpace.

But I think it turned out well, and they liked it. Dollop liked it too. Serves me right for sending it out.

Flower shop on Clark

More is more. Here's another confused drawing of a confused storefront. This is your one-stop-shop for stuffed animals, mylar balloons, cut flowers, chess sets, phone cards, and plastic toys.


I love the lettering in the windows. Certain letters have peeled off and been replaced with different colors. The overall effect is nice, and may be intentional. Or maybe those were the only colors available.

This may be the last storefront on Clark that I post, although I want to stick with night images for a while.

Hair salon on Clark

I'm amazed at how many stores my neighborhood can support. And I can't claim there's enourmous variety, either. In the three block stretch of Clark between Greenleaf and Farwell there must be 8 taquerias, 4 bakeries, 10 dollar stores, and 4 hair salons. How do they differentiate themselves from each other? Not through design or signage. What makes one dollar store successful, while another closes within a month? I don't know. There are probably ties in my neighborhood that I never see.

But I realize that we've fallen into our own pattern of patronage. Is there any reason we go to Taqueria Uptown instead of the one two storefronts over? Is there any reason we always go to the corner store at the southwest corner of Lunt and Clark instead of the larger one just east of Clark? Maybe there's enough density in my neighborhood that it's able to support hundreds of these patterns and habits. Maybe that's what makes small businesses successful in the city. I have to admit- the ones that stick around are there for a good long time.

Busy week!

I'm still alive, although it's been a while since I've posted. Above is a detail from a larger image that I can't post just yet. I think it's an interesting study of street furniture. If I was really motivated I would have a separate notebook for stuff like this. 

I went back to The School of the Art Institute to give two brief lectures on neighborhood research. It was two sections of the same freshman studio, but it was fun. I don't kid myself into thinking that I do that sort of thing very well, but it was a great change of pace. And maybe I would get better if I did it more often. Or not. I found myself focusing on kids who were really interested and kids who were really bored.

I forgot about the crummy classrooms at the Champlain Building on Wabash and Monroe. Last night the odor of garlic permeated an entire floor. I assumed it was a performance art thing.

With 15 minutes until the 6:35 train I hopped on the Madison bus, got to Ogilvie in 10 minutes, had time to buy a ticket at the reduced price, and got a window seat with 2 minutes to spare. All while it was pouring rain. Who doesn't love public transit?

Our Ohio vacation, last one

I asked Angela to take a few snapshots on our way out of Lorain, and this drawing is adapted from the best one. Although to be fair, it just barely edged out the Wonder Hostess Bakery Outlet further down the road.


Falbo Construction is one of the few remaining industrial businesses I remember from when I was a kid. I think they sponsored a baseball team, or a soccer team. Or maybe both. Much of the docks, mills, and plants along the Black River have since been abandoned or replaced with new development.

When I was a kid I used to risk death to jump on the slow moving trains down the embankment east of Broadway. Now most of the tracks have been pulled up and replaced with gazebos for river-front festivals. Maybe someday there'll even be a fast and easy commuter connection with Cleveland.

For 20 years Lorain has been trying to make the leap from depressed steel, ship, and auto manufacturing into a kind of recreational suburb for empty nesters and the boating set. But it feels forced to me. It feels counter to the character and history of the city. This was a tough city, where you could make a good living if you were willing to work hard. Maybe that's why I was glad to see Falbo Construction. Not pretty, but tough.

Our Ohio vacation, day 8, part 2

This is Angela (with Felix in his sling) and Mom walking towards the Ohio Edison Plant in Lorain. For some reason I'm always surprised to see this huge electrical plant looming on the lakefront. When I was a kid it was so much a part of the landscape that I never thought about it.


The plant would vent its waste water at a nearby pier, which we creatively called, "Hot Waters." In the winter all the fish would gather at Hot Waters, which would never freeze. The place would be alive with these huge carp and sheephead. We would engage in a particularly unsportsmanlike type of fishing known as "snagging". You didn't need any bait, just a big treble hook and a strong line.

If you think it's hard to remove a hook from a fish's mouth, try removing one from their spine. And these were junk fish. You couldn't even eat them. OK, it was a loathesome activity. Welcome to Ohio.

Clark and Albion, stripmalls in the city

I'm finding myself interested in strip malls in my neighborhood. There's a real potential for a strip mall to become a plaza within the dense urban environment. It rarely happens because such little thought goes into the design of these places. Or the nearby buildings are torn down for similar malls and there's no longer the necessary sense of enclosure.It' doesn't help that corner lots lend themselves to this type of development.

Our Ohio vacation, day 8

K-Cream Korner was one of the institutions that defined my summers from ages 8 to 12. Before becoming a take-out ice cream shop it had been a vacant gas station. Before that I suppose it was an occupied gas station... Anyway, the owners hung a loud orange sign and never looked back.


I walked past this place every day in junior high. It may even explain my astonishing number of cavities. They sold packaged sugar in so many forms- Lemonheads, Redhots, Boston Beans. Nice to know some things never change.

K-Cream Korner is just far enough from my parent's house that it seems like you can walk off the calories on the way back. In reality, you would probably need a few more miles. This is my mom and Angela waiting for their soft-serve to be ready.