Day 125: A Cultured Building

     A couple of days ago, I wrote about the Harold Washington Library, and how it was erected in 1991 as the current anchor of the Chicago Public Library system.  But  before that, there was another main library of the system.  This one was located across the street from what is now Millennium Park.  The building itself was built in 1897, and served as the city's main library building for 94 years, until the Harold Washington Library was opened.  After that, there was discussion about what should be done with the building.  Finally, the decision was reached to turn it into what it is today: the Chicago Cultural Center.

     The purpose of the Cultural Center is to act as a place for the citizens of the city to view cultural activities for free.  But another purpose of it was to serve as an official welcome center for the city.  Right inside of the front entrance is the official Choose Chicago office, where guests can come in and learn about the city from docents who are on staff, as well as pick up all kinds of literature.  The walls are adorned with pictures and different images of the city.  Moving up out of the welcome center, we find ourselves going up a stairway in the back of the building, which has some windows looking out onto a small garden in back.  As you go up the stairs, you come to the next level up, and then you see two giant rooms in front of you.  The first is the Grand Army of the Republic room.  The next one, which is through the GAR room, is another large area with views out onto the downtown area that the building is situated at.

     After that, you go up another level and you go into a special exhibit gallery.  The exhibit that was going on at that time was called Industry of the Ordinary.  But in reality, it was anything BUT ordinary.  When you walk in the door, the first thing you see to your left is sitting in a refrigeration unit.  It is a bust of President Obama--made entirely out of butter(on a semi-related note, this is the second time that Obama has popped up in this blog, the first being the very first place we looked at) Anyway, it merely gets weirder from here, as we then go to another room, where there are many things, but one of note: on a pedestal, there are several dozen LEGO minifigures all with shirts that say "I WANT TO BE ORDINARY" (once again, not ordinary) on our way out, we see several over-sized dollar bills.  But wait a second, those aren't actually dollar bills, they just look to be in the shape of them. What they actually are are various texts (such as a bible, the 9/11 report, and a history of the Roman Empire) that have been pulped and reshaped to resemble a $1, $10, and $100, respectively(call me crazy, but I just don't get avant garde art).  Anyway, after that I went back down to the entrance and went on my merry way. 

     Conclusion: the Cultural Center can be a pretty odd place, but it does do a good job at preserving the beauty of the city's original library building for generations to come.