Chicago Bike Ride / Plus Imminent Doom

Yesterday I took a bike ride down to Hyde Park to visit Becky. I rode south from my apartment on the edge of Humboldt Park/Ukranian Village through UIC, Pilsen, China Town, II and then down Martin Luther King Boulevard - one of "The Boulevards". It was good to get out and see some of the city, and get some exercise. I've decided I need to get a digital camera - lots of cool things along the way - the remains of an old stone church where the nave had been made into a sunken garden, old crumbly mansions lining the grand streets through the projects, iron bridges and factories. I saw Becky's new apartment and love it - a lot more than the last one. Had some really good Korean food at Seoul Corea. Went swimming off the rocks at Promintory Point ("The Prominent Nub"). Some of the granite rocks had carvinsg etched into them - one with two faces and the shallow inprint of a shield. Another "Here Lies Adolf. As Usual". I walked arond Hyde Park with Becky a bit. I always love it down there - it's so town-like. Easy going, full of trees and restaurants and parks. I didn't head back on my bike until after dark, so I took the Lake Shore Bike path up. It was beautiful driving towards the lit up skyline of the city - a different skyline than I usually see from the west side of the city.
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Tomorrow Katrina is supposed to hit New Orleans. A category 4 or 5, it's supposed to be a whopper. All highway lanes into New Orleans are now only out bound and evacuation is mandatory. They are expecting the worst, and I'm going to be nervous until tomorrow or later when the storm has passed. There are expecting a lot of flooding since the city is below sea level and thje storm surge may breach the levees. Here's hoping for the best. I hope all the voodoo prayers in Congo Square do their duty.
I'm going down there in mid-October, hope everything will be fine....

Chicago Landmarks | Page Brothers Building

A bit of a mystery....a friend is in town and was reading her guide book about the Berghoff restaurant having one of only two remaining cast iron facades in Chicago. Fun Architecture fact. While we were strolling around the Loop a few days later we came to a historic placard on the Chicago Theater (Page Brother's Building), which of course I had to read. The plaque claimed that the Page Brother's Building had the only remaining cast-iron facade in Chicago - interesting contradiction. Here's what I found on google:

http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Landmarks/P/PageBrothers.html

States: "Page Brothers Building

Year Built: 1872; west facade remodeled 1902
Architect: John M. Van Osdel; west facade remodeling, Hill and Woltersdorf
Date Designated a Chicago Landmark:
January 28, 1983

Lake Street Facade This building north facade, facing Lake Street, features the city's last remaining cast-iron front, a construction technique that was common practice in pre-Fire of 1871 Chicago. Built when Lake Street was the city's main retail street, the building's west facade (State Street) was remodeled and another floor added in 1902, reflecting the reorientation of commercial activity from Lake to State Street."

While: http://www.greaterstatestreet.com/Directory/Architecture/SSCultural%20Walk.asp
claims:
2. Page Brothers Building, 177-191 North State Street, John M. Van Osdel, 1872; Hill & Woltersdorf (State Street facade), 1902.

The cast iron Lake Street facade of the Page Brothers Building designed in 1872 by John Mills Van Osdel, Chicago's first professional architect, serves as the lone reminder that Lake Street was Chicago's earliest major commercial street. In the 19th century, cast iron was traditionally used for bridges and the internal structure of buildings, but because of its flexibility and light weight, it was also applied to the fronts of buildings, imitating stone. Rows of cast iron front buildings, designed in the Italianate style, lined Lake Street from 1856 through the early 1870s, yet this is one of only two remaining cast iron front buildings in Chicago. Its State Street facade was modernized in 1902, as State Street was becoming more fashionable.

Also, I was able to find regarding the Berghoff building that the cast iron front was designed in 1872 by C.M. Palmer (who, it seems, also worked on the Palmer House Hotel).

Wonder which is true.

[ EHDD Architecture ]

This looks like a really cool firm. I like all of their projects, which is pretty rare. Sort of reminds me a little of Perkins&Will in Chicago, but more humanistic. Somday.....

chscdnpullmanhouseprairieavenue.jpg (JPEG Image, 467x382 pixels)

chscdnpullmanhouseprairieavenue.jpg (JPEG Image, 467x382 pixels)

This is a photo of the old Pullman mansion in the Prarie Avenue Historic District in Chicago, Illinois. The house was torn down in 1922 after George Pullman's widow died, as she requested in her will. I guess she didn't want anybody to use it when she was done.