This 'Hoods got split into 2 pieces. On our first visit there was, you guys, a tornado. No shit. The sirens went off while we were in the car. So we raced it back to the north side, mid-'Hoods. That was in November of 2013. So Bill and I went back in December of 2013 to finish her off. And, honestly, we went back again in 2015 during Open House Chicago to get INTO a few buildings that had been closed. The moral is that Bill and I can't get enough of South Shore. We've done the crap outta South Shore. We're pretty intimate with South Shore. At least the version that was available in 2013. Not sure what's changed in the interim.
Bill prepped this 'Hoods
Participants: Round 1 was Bill, Kelly and Kate. Round 2 was just Kelly and Bill
Highlights:
-South Shore Cultural Center (where the
Obamas got married. As did our friends John
and Christine!). Remember when we took
the elevator upstairs and just wandered around
the kitchen area? And that little art gallery dedicated
to Dr. Margaret Burroughs?
-the Francis Kenna apartments with those art deco
panels on em
-the Jackson Park Highlands Historic District.
cool houses. Remember that older couple that
was gardening and really got into what we were
doing? Bill gave em a packet.
-72nd street is where all the action is
-the Jeffrey-Cyril historic district had the big, old
high(er) rises.
-the St. Philip Neri Catholic Church. Closed cause
some bishop had died? Then closed again on our
2nd visit? The rare hard-to-get-into Catholic church.
That's usually reserved for the Lutherans.
-the Allen Miller house. designed by Bergen, a FLW
associate. Bill and I GOT to get some Prairie in.
-the Windsor Beach apartments....
-and then a tornado.
so...round 2 in December
-Mosque Maryam. Didn't get in, but walked around.
-south shore college prep high school
-a coupla more architecturally notable houses
-the New Regal theater, which we manage to get into
in 2015 during Open House Chicago. Gorgeous. Being renovated?
-South Shore historic Bungalow District. We love these.
-we then walked Rainbow Beach in the midst of snow
and ice. Had it all to ourselves, for sure. Very pretty in
a winter wonderland kind of way. Cold! Great views
of the skyline.
-we went in the South Shore public library, and the folks
there seemed super confused by our presence and lingering.
-St Luke Missionary Baptist, originally the 18th Church of
Christ. Couldn't get in here, either.
-Also couldn't access St. Margaret's Episcopal church.
I don't think St Luke's or St. Margaret's were on the original
itinerary. Now we were just riffing.
-found another random church! The Ministry Nehemiah
Urban Baptist Church. Formerly the South Side
Hebrew Congregation. We were hitting all the denominations!
-we tried DESPERATELY to find a place to eat that was
open, and landed at Yah's vegan. It was...fine. Pretty 'rustic.'
Closed down now.
my flickr album for both the Nov and Dec 2013 visits to South Shore
Bill's South Shore 'Hoods packet
Impressions: So much history and so many beautiful and architecturally significant buildings! Lovely beach! South Shore has seen better times. Economically depressed. Which makes options for dining and entertainment limited. A lot of trash and derelict buildings among the treasures. Loitering. But SOME of the neighborhood is well tended, and well loved. We went in the winter, which means that there wasn't a lot of action on the streets. But there were hints of vibrancy. It was certainly an interesting neighborhood with lots to see.
In Oct 2015 we visited more South Shore during Open House Chicago. With William we saw the inside of the New Regal Theater. Breathtaking. And we saw the recently renovated Stony Island Arts Bank. Here's an excerpt about it from the Open House Chicago web site (cause it's not in the packet):
"The temple-like former Stony Island Trust and Savings Bank is one of the last remnants of what was once a dense commercial strip along Stony Island Avenue. The gray terra cotta structure, originally the Stony Island Savings and Trust, was built in 1923 with a dramatic vaulted banking lobby. Its architect, William Gibbons Uffendell, also designed a number of other local bank buildings. It served a succession of financial institutions, but lost its tenants in the late seventies and remained vacant for many years. The building was saved from demolition at the last minute by artist Theaster Gates. Now, this landmark has been restored and reopened as the Stony Island Arts Bank, a hub for free arts and cultural programming for Gates' Rebuild Foundation. The building houses items from the library of Ebony and Jet magazine's founding publisher John H. Johnson; the record collection of seminal house DJ Frankie Knuckles; and several other notable artistic collections."
my Open House Chicago 2015 flickr album
here's my flickr photo set from John and Christine's wedding, held at the South Shore Cultural Center in 2014
Wednesday, December 21, 2016
'Hoods #31: Historic Pullman Oct 13 2013
This one was a little less than a regular 'hoods.
It was Historic Pullman's annual open house, so we didn't make a packet. Pullman makes plenty of its own literature.
And we didn't visit the greater Pullman neighborhood. The modern one. We'll have to do that another time!
Also? I want to go to the Pullman Porter Museum sometime. It's not far from Historic Pullman, and I still haven't been.
Since we've been, Pullman has been made (by Obama) a national monument. We actually signed the petition for it while there. Yay!
What is Historic Pullman? From wikipedia: "The Pullman National Monument, also known as The Pullman District and Pullman Historic District, is located in Chicago and was the first model, planned industrial community in the United States. The district is significant for its historical origins in the Pullman Company, one of the most famous company towns in the United States, and scene of the violent 1894 Pullman strike. It was built for George Pullman as a place to produce the famous Pullman sleeping cars."
Participants: Bill, William and Kelly
Highlights:
-the stables
-the greenstone church
-the market area
-we were granted access to 6 private residences
that day, because it was open house
-what remains of the factory
-random antique car show
-the public school
-garage sale!
-Bill bought Pullman honey
-neighborhood garden
-that funky little band that was playing the car show
The Florence hotel is never open. I wanna get in there.
You can visit Pullman's grave at Graceland cemetery (yet to be 'hoods-ed).
my flickr album for Oct 13 visit to Historic Pullman
pics from another, earlier visit in August of 2008
Impressions: Gorgeous. You can feel the weight of history. I loved, especially, getting to roll around in the old factory. A lot of hurt in those places, too. But so nice to see people living there and loving it and tending to the old spaces. It's hard, cause modern Pullman is not the cutest or safest of spaces. Not a lot of money down there. So historic Pullman is a little oasis in the middle of a neighborhood hit with some hard times. But maybe the designation as national monument will bring more tourists, more money, more options for the neighborhood. Like, there really aren't that many restaurants in Pullman. No real entertainment. I think there's a brewery down there now. Not sure if it has a tap room. But if we WERE to 'Hoods modern Pullman, not sure what we'd go to visit. You know? Except that Pullman Porter Museum. I gotta get on that!
It was Historic Pullman's annual open house, so we didn't make a packet. Pullman makes plenty of its own literature.
And we didn't visit the greater Pullman neighborhood. The modern one. We'll have to do that another time!
Also? I want to go to the Pullman Porter Museum sometime. It's not far from Historic Pullman, and I still haven't been.
Since we've been, Pullman has been made (by Obama) a national monument. We actually signed the petition for it while there. Yay!
What is Historic Pullman? From wikipedia: "The Pullman National Monument, also known as The Pullman District and Pullman Historic District, is located in Chicago and was the first model, planned industrial community in the United States. The district is significant for its historical origins in the Pullman Company, one of the most famous company towns in the United States, and scene of the violent 1894 Pullman strike. It was built for George Pullman as a place to produce the famous Pullman sleeping cars."
Participants: Bill, William and Kelly
Highlights:
-the stables
-the greenstone church
-the market area
-we were granted access to 6 private residences
that day, because it was open house
-what remains of the factory
-random antique car show
-the public school
-garage sale!
-Bill bought Pullman honey
-neighborhood garden
-that funky little band that was playing the car show
The Florence hotel is never open. I wanna get in there.
You can visit Pullman's grave at Graceland cemetery (yet to be 'hoods-ed).
my flickr album for Oct 13 visit to Historic Pullman
pics from another, earlier visit in August of 2008
Impressions: Gorgeous. You can feel the weight of history. I loved, especially, getting to roll around in the old factory. A lot of hurt in those places, too. But so nice to see people living there and loving it and tending to the old spaces. It's hard, cause modern Pullman is not the cutest or safest of spaces. Not a lot of money down there. So historic Pullman is a little oasis in the middle of a neighborhood hit with some hard times. But maybe the designation as national monument will bring more tourists, more money, more options for the neighborhood. Like, there really aren't that many restaurants in Pullman. No real entertainment. I think there's a brewery down there now. Not sure if it has a tap room. But if we WERE to 'Hoods modern Pullman, not sure what we'd go to visit. You know? Except that Pullman Porter Museum. I gotta get on that!
Saturday, December 17, 2016
'Hoods #30: River North, Sept 7 2013
I designed the River North 'Hoods.
It was one of mine and Bill's "date" hoods. Just the two of us!
Highlights: We visited a little bit of all 5
subsections of River North: the gallery district,
the theme restaurant district, the Cathedral district,
a design district, and Kingsbury Park. (see the packet
for more specifics!)
-we started by waiting 100 years for donuts at
the donut vault. worth it! chestnut glazed, y'all.
-then the Merchandise Mart, where they were
having some sort of canned food stacking art
competition. a delight.
-Assumption Catholic Church. Mother Cabrini!
-Montgomery Ward Park, with that giant ring
sculpture!
-and then the old Montgomery Ward offices
-the Chicago Ave Bridge, looking all run down
-Cabrini Green public housing remains, next door
to the lamborghini service station. Really?
-the Green Door Tavern. Had a little pre-lunch Green
Door Ale (two brothers)
-Mr Beef, adored (apparently) by Jay Leno. to us?
no Al's
-the gallery art district
-Ed Debevic's, popular with high school students
everywhere. Last time I'd been, for sure.
-the anti-cruelty society where Jeremy and I
met a 7 year old bull mastiff we really wanted
but couldn't fit in our apartment
-the Ohio House Motel
-the Rock N Roll McDonald's the saddest of all
McDonalds
-Castle, formerly Excaliber, formerly the Chicago
Historical Society, where we we spoken to through
a PA and told we couldn't get it
-that big ol YMCA
-Holy Name Cathedral
-that below ground level Coffee Shoppe on Superior
that I like that's in an old house. Still regret not getting
that cronut.
-couldn't get into the Episcopal Cathedral of St. James
-those mansions right there, and including, the Driehaus
museum
-the Hotel Cass
-Bloomingdale's home store, formerly the Medina Temple.
Bill told a story of William buying a piano from there
as it shifted ownership.
-the Lambert Tree Studios. Still wanna get in there.
Supposedly a nice courtyard in the middle?
-the place where the Boy Scouts of America were
started
-Courthouse Place. Very Richardsonian Romanesque.
-Harry Caray's weird architecture
-Marina City
-One IBM Plaza
-Trump Tower (holds a different connotation now)
-billion dollar drink on the Terrace on Trump. excellent
views. Including that naked dude reading his newspaper
on his bed in his apt, in full view of the Terrace.
packet for River North Hoods
my pics of River North on flickr
Impressions: Super pretty. Super interesting. Lots of great and different architecture. Lots of history. If you can get past the douchbaggery and the tourists, there's a lot to do and see. Museums. Art. Food. Dranks. Church. Mother Cabrini. Incredibly walkable. It was a lovely date day for Bill and I :)
Here's that time I visited the Driehaus museum with Kelly and Jeff
and here's that time Bill and Josh's choir sang inside the Episcopal Cathedral of St. James
It was one of mine and Bill's "date" hoods. Just the two of us!
Highlights: We visited a little bit of all 5
subsections of River North: the gallery district,
the theme restaurant district, the Cathedral district,
a design district, and Kingsbury Park. (see the packet
for more specifics!)
-we started by waiting 100 years for donuts at
the donut vault. worth it! chestnut glazed, y'all.
-then the Merchandise Mart, where they were
having some sort of canned food stacking art
competition. a delight.
-Assumption Catholic Church. Mother Cabrini!
-Montgomery Ward Park, with that giant ring
sculpture!
-and then the old Montgomery Ward offices
-the Chicago Ave Bridge, looking all run down
-Cabrini Green public housing remains, next door
to the lamborghini service station. Really?
-the Green Door Tavern. Had a little pre-lunch Green
Door Ale (two brothers)
-Mr Beef, adored (apparently) by Jay Leno. to us?
no Al's
-the gallery art district
-Ed Debevic's, popular with high school students
everywhere. Last time I'd been, for sure.
-the anti-cruelty society where Jeremy and I
met a 7 year old bull mastiff we really wanted
but couldn't fit in our apartment
-the Ohio House Motel
-the Rock N Roll McDonald's the saddest of all
McDonalds
-Castle, formerly Excaliber, formerly the Chicago
Historical Society, where we we spoken to through
a PA and told we couldn't get it
-that big ol YMCA
-Holy Name Cathedral
-that below ground level Coffee Shoppe on Superior
that I like that's in an old house. Still regret not getting
that cronut.
-couldn't get into the Episcopal Cathedral of St. James
-those mansions right there, and including, the Driehaus
museum
-the Hotel Cass
-Bloomingdale's home store, formerly the Medina Temple.
Bill told a story of William buying a piano from there
as it shifted ownership.
-the Lambert Tree Studios. Still wanna get in there.
Supposedly a nice courtyard in the middle?
-the place where the Boy Scouts of America were
started
-Courthouse Place. Very Richardsonian Romanesque.
-Harry Caray's weird architecture
-Marina City
-One IBM Plaza
-Trump Tower (holds a different connotation now)
-billion dollar drink on the Terrace on Trump. excellent
views. Including that naked dude reading his newspaper
on his bed in his apt, in full view of the Terrace.
packet for River North Hoods
my pics of River North on flickr
Impressions: Super pretty. Super interesting. Lots of great and different architecture. Lots of history. If you can get past the douchbaggery and the tourists, there's a lot to do and see. Museums. Art. Food. Dranks. Church. Mother Cabrini. Incredibly walkable. It was a lovely date day for Bill and I :)
Here's that time I visited the Driehaus museum with Kelly and Jeff
and here's that time Bill and Josh's choir sang inside the Episcopal Cathedral of St. James
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