Day 86: Fly Me Away on the CTA (Part 1)

     The Southwest Side of the city has been home to an airport since 1923.  When the State Street Subway was being planned in the 1930s, there were preliminary plans to extend the subway system much further than it ended up going, including the placement of a stop at Midway Airport(in fact, the plans also included laying subway tracks in some of the territory now served by the elevated lines outside of the downtown area)  However, those plans fell through, and the facility was lacking a rail connection to the rest of the city for 70 years after it was first built.  That all changed in 1993 when the Chicago Transit Authority introduced the Orange Line, its first new rail line in 35 years.  The line originated in the Loop, and terminated with a station at Midway International Airport.

     In 1990, the CTA broke ground for the new Midway Station at a ceremony attended by Mayor Daley, amongst others.  The station is connected to the rest of the airport via an enclosed moving walkway that goes from the head house to the airport terminal.  In 1997, the station was involved in the transition to fare cards(as was the Roosevelt station), and there were information kiosks located in the station to aid commuters trying to figure out the ins and outs of the new system. Vending machines were installed as well, and eventually the information kiosks were removed, leaving just the automated machines.

     Five years later, the station was involved in yet another innovation when the RTA installed Active Transit Station Signs in four stations as a test, one of those test stations being Midway.  The idea of the signs was to provide real-time transit information, including traffic updates, transit times, general CTA information, and a countdown to the arrival of the next departing train.  However, the ATSS displays in the airports did not include a countdown to the next train, as each airport served as the terminus for its respective line, therefore a train would almost always be there.  These signs are present on the platforms as well as the actual station house, in order to give commuters ample warning of the next train times.  You can still see elements of that experiment on many platforms throughout the city to this day.

Day 83: A City of Skyscrapers

     While Chicago can be defined by many different things, such as the corruption, the hot dogs, its Polish heritage, or simply turning the River green every year, there is one thing that stands out amongst all others. When you look at the skyline, you see one thing, and ONE thing right away.  Skyscrapers.  The idea of building ultra-high buildings wasn't invented in Chicago(Actually, not even close. In fact, there were residential towers in 12th Century Italy that stood over 300 feet tall)  However, once we exited the days of antiquity, super-tall buildings fell out of vogue.

     In pre-Civil War America, cities were populated with mostly low-rise structures.  A couple of things served to turn this trend around by 1884.  First off, the Civil War came to an end, which brought about an economic boom which sparked innovation.  Also, there were multiple innovations that took place in the field of tall buildings(such as electric lighting, fire-proofing made for taller buildings, and deeper foundations)  The big breakthrough came in 1852 when Elisha Otis invented the safety elevator, which made the construction of multi-floored buildings more realistic.  After that, the path to the skyscraper was quickly embarked upon by Daniel Burnham, who in 1884 completed the Home Insurance Building, generally accepted as the first skyscraper in the world.

     From there, the skyscraper quickly became ensconced in the pantheon of the American way of building cities.  And Chicago wasn't left out of that renaissance.  Today, Chicago is home to more than 1,200 high-rises, 105 of which come out at taller than 500 feet,  Additionally, Chicago has the tallest skyline in the entire nation. One of the newest entrants into the Skyscraper Club is the Trump Tower in the heart of downtown.  Completed in 2009, its structure features an homage to the tubed construction of the Sears Tower.

Day 81: "I'm the Mayor! No you're not!": The story of Thomas Hoyne

     The year is 1875.  Thomas Hoyne has just been elected Mayor by a free and fair vote of the citizens of Chicago.  However, the Circuit Court declares the election null and void and returns power to the incumbent.  This sounds like the set-up to a political thriller.  And in many ways, it is. However, to gain a fuller understanding on the back story of this case, we must go back 3 years prior to this.

     On April 10, 1872, the Illinois General Assembly adopted the Cities and Villages act, which served to provide a blueprint for towns to incorporate without requiring special legislation to be passed each and every time.  On April 25, 1875, the city of Chicago voted to operate under the Cities and Villages Act, and changed mayoral elections from November to April(yes, there was an election that year; yes, the elections were moved to April at the end of the month; and yes, this was COMPLETELY an act of political hucksterism on the part of the City Council[a la this, as well as this]).  At the time of the Act's adoption, Mayor Harvey Doolittle Colvin was in office.  His attorneys informed him that according to their interpretations, the Act cancelled the April elections and extended his term for another year.

     However, the Act left a fairly large loophole in place, because it didn't implicitly include OR exclude the office of Mayor from the changes in election dates.  Because of this, a Mayoral election was held in November 1875 anyway.  Neither the Republicans or the Democrats fielded a candidate. Thomas Hoyne captured 33,000 of the 40,000 votes cast, and was summarily declared Mayor of Chicago.  Mayor Colvin wasn't too pleased with this, and refused to give up his office.  He was supported in this quest by the city's comptroller.  Eventually, the Circuit Court ruled Hoyne's election null and void, which allowed Colvin to continue his term unimpeded.  Finally, a special election was held on July 12, 1876; one that Colvin lost.  Thomas Hoyne later died in 1883 in New York as a result of a railroad accident, but his name lives on as the name of a street on the North Side of Chicago.

Day 82: "I invented a Chicago Classic and all I got was this street named after me!": The story of Drexler Way.

     If there's one thing that we've seen by now, it's that Chicago loves it's natives, and it love its food.  And when the two of them combine, then all the better!  Abe Drexler was born in 1910 on the near South Side, right about where the campus of UIC is now located.  When Drexler was in school, he was subjected to a hazing ritual in which he was roped around the neck and dragged up a set of stairs.  An onlooker remarked that the fact that he survived that seemed pretty Fluky--hence the nickname, which he carried with him for the rest of his life.  Eventually, Fluky started selling hot dogs out of a stand on Maxwell Street.  Then, the Great Depression hit.

     At that same time, Abe Drexler was hit by an idea.  During a time where people at times lacked a pot to pee in, what if he could whip up a hot dog, load it up with veggies, drag it through the garden, and make a bargain meal out of a single hot dog?  Drexler put this idea into practice, and the Chicago Style Hot Dog was born.  The dog was sold for the meager sum of 5 cents, although kids could buy the delicacy for as little as 2 cents if ol' Fluky was feeling generous.  Drexler continued to sell hot dogs well into his golden years before finally passing away in 1986.  But that's not where his legacy ends.  The City Council later pronounced the portion of North Western Avenue where Drexler first sold hot dogs as Abe "Fluky" Drexler Way.

Day 79: Books, Buses, and Bars. What more do you need?

     Say you've put in a long day studying at the Harold Washington Library and you want to get home.  Or you've been taking in the sights of Pritzker Park(with a little reminiscing about that old giant eye) and decide to hop on the El.  Or maybe you're on the Red Line and you need to transfer to the elevated.  You can do all of those things-and more-from the State/Van Buren Elevated station.

     There have actually been two different stations at State/Van Buren, one of which was constructed in 1897 and closed in 1973, and one that opened in 1997 and remains open to this day.  In 1895, all sides of the Loop were connected to the system--except for the stretch on Van Buren Street.  That was changed with the construction of the stations along Van Buren, and as a consequence, the entire Loop became fully traversable via train car on October 3, 1897.  Throughout the years, the station underwent the usual amount of renovations, service changes, etc...  In 1965, the station became the first CTA Station to provide a direct connection into an adjacent building. Since then this pattern has been duplicated many times(Just two examples, the Clark/Lake Station connecting into the Thompson Center, and the Lake station going into Marshall Fields)  Another historical point to note is the fact that the station was just the second station in the system to get escalators at the station(the first being State/Lake)  By the 1970s, the CTA was going though a period of cost-cutting and restructuring, and the State/Van Buren station was eased out of the picture, and was closed in 1973.  For the next 24 years, there was no train service to that location.

     Then the Harold Washington Library opened up in 1991, and there were changes planned to that.  Finally, in 1997, the new station opened up.  The new station was designed to architecturally match up with the Library, which meant a lot of red brick and green steel.  The station also includes a transfer point to the Jackson stop(as well as several CTA buses on State Street).  Not only all that, but there's also a rooftop bar located just across Pritzker Park from the station(it's actually visible from the platform).  So next time you feel like reading, resting, or just tying one off with the friends, Harold Washington Library State/Van Buren is the stop for you.

Day 80: Food Diaries: The Chicago Dog

     Thanks to a little-known city ordinance, it is actually illegal to possess or sell ketchup within the city of Chicago.  Not really, but sometimes it sure seems that way; and here's 4 words to tell you why:

                                                        Chicago. Style. Hot. Dog.

     The origins of the Chicago Dog come from (where else) the 1893 World's Fair.  Two Jewish brothers set up a cart outside of the fairgrounds(perhaps in Washington, Jackson, or Midway Parks), where they sold kosher-style sausages(all beef, served in a natural casing).  The success of this venture led the brothers to open up a butcher shop, which went on to become known as the Vienna Beef Company, which is the leading hot-dog producer in the city.  However, the Chicago Dog as we know it today would not have come about without the help of the Great Depression.  During the Depression, the idea of making a dog "dragged through the garden" was born.  This involves topping the dog with onions, relish, a sport pepper, a pickle, a tomato slice, celery salt, and MOST importantly, MUSTARD.

     Nowadays, Chicago Dogs are prepared much the same way that they were during the days of the depression, though some shops opt to serve the Dog with French Fries, and Portillo's offers a dog with cheese sauce.  One final note about Hot Dogs.   Chicago has more hot dog stores than it has McDonald's, Wendy's, and Burger King franchises COMBINED.  And when I say that our dogs are served with MUSTARD, I'm not joking.  In fact, some hot-dog stores in the city don't even offer Ketchup as one of their available condiments.  So if you're craving a Chicago Dog, I highly recommend that you have an appetite for Mustard.

Day 78: The Corruptibles: "Hinky Dink" and "Bathhouse" John

     If you've EVER paid attention to Chicago politics(or even read this blog), you'll know that this city has had its share of questionable political figures. From Big Bill Thompson  openly flaunting his alliance with Capone, to Daley Sr. reminding us that the Police are there to "preserve disorder", even to Daley Jr. submitting his audition tape for Extreme Makeover: Meigs Field Edition, Chicago has had some pretty shifty politicians.  It's time to add two more names to the rogue's gallery.

     The first name is that of Michael Kenna.  In 1868, the 10-year-old Kenna figured he had better things to do than go to school, so he dropped out and did the only sensical thing left, started selling newspapers.  Two years later, he had accumulated enough business to borrow $50 from a barkeeper to open his own newsstand. This turned out to be an excellent idea, as Kenna had enough income to repay the loan within a month. Now while he may have been big on business savvy, he was small in stature. So small, in fact, that it was during this time period in which the publisher of the Chicago Tribune gave him his nickname: "Hinky Dink".

     By 1897, he had traded the newsstand for the life of a politician, and was elected alderman in that year. While in office, Kenna ran a saloon on Clark Street, where he would even give free meals to the poor. What a nice guy! Actually, not so fast with the praise, as he gave away the meals in exchange for--wait for it--votes(I say it again, does ANY of this surprise you anymore?) In 1923, Kenna stepped aside to let his partner in crime take over as Alderman(more on this in a second), and became First Ward Committeeman. Kenna enjoyed a VERY cushy existence until dying at the age of 89 in 1946. Kenna died a very rich man, and left his heirs an inheritance in excess of $1 Million, as well as another $33,000 to erect a mausoleum. His heirs had other ideas though, and so in perhaps the best memorial to his lifetime of graft, they pocketed ALL of the money, and buried Kenna with an $85 tombstone.

     Now as for that partner in crime I mentioned earlier, here we go.  John Coughlin was born in 1860, and came up through the bathhouse business, hence his nickname. Coughlin had already had plenty of experience both running and working in bathhouses by the time he became Alderman in 1893. He didn't stumble out of the gates either, being appointed by Mayor Carter Harrison Sr. to organize the entertainment for the World's Fair. (Looking back, Harrison might have been better served with a security detail rather than a kick-ass party planner.) If the name Bathhouse John sounds familiar to you, that's cause it should. Coughlin, along with Hinky Dink, was the man behind the operation of the Levee District.

     In addition to the Levee, the two aldermen also threw an annual shindig known as the First Ward Ball.  The ball attracted all kinds of filth, scum, and corruption to it's doors.  They also invited gangsters, safecrackers, and prostitutes.  Mayor Fred Busse eventually put a stop to this tradition in 1909, but in its final years, it got to be so extravagant that it had to be held at the Chicago Coliseum(i.e. the first home of the Auto Show).  A bit more on Coughlin's political career: Up until 1923, two aldermen were elected from each ward of the city.  However, in that year the rules were changed so that only 1 alderman could serve from each ward.  The dynamic duo of Kenna/Coughlin was in danger.  To solve this problem, Kenna stepped down and became the 1st Ward Committeeman.  Later in his life, a newspaper published an expose on Coughlin.  He did contest the report, but only as to the charge that he was born in Waukegan.

Day 76: We don't paint the town Red, We turn the river Green.

     While we've already covered the fact that the most well represented ethnicity in the city of Chicago is unquestionably Polish, there are certainly other ethnicities represented in the city.  One of the more well-known ethnicities(if not for size, then certainly for stature) is that of the Irish-Americans.  In the early years of the 20th Century, the Chicago Cubs were known to have many players of Irish heritage on their rosters.  Additionally, the predominant religion amongst Irish migrants to Chicago was Catholicism.  In fact, the First Archbishop of Chicago, the person who rededicated the new Holy Name Cathedral, was an Irish American.  And in a more well-known recent turn of events, the most recent father-son duo to be mayor(the Daleys), were both Irish Catholics.(One notable exception to the trend: the Harrisons, who were NOT of Irish heritage.)

     However, this entry isn't just about Irish Heritage, it's about St. Patty's Day.  And if the saying is that everyone is Irish on St. Pat's Day, just imagine how Irish things get when you're dealing with a city like Chicago.  I'll just get the most well-known tradition out of the way right here.  The dyeing of the Chicago River.  The whole thing started when some plumbers were trying to detect illegal pollution in the River.  In the course of using a chemical to do so, they inadvertently turned that section of the River green.  Instead of panicking, they got an idea.  They decided to intentionally do this again on St. Patrick's Day, and they've been doing it for over 50 years.  And to this day, the dyeing is sponsored by the local plumber's union.  The tradition even found its way to Washington DC in 2009 when Michelle Obama requested that the fountains outside of the White House be turned green in deference to her hometown.

     You may think we're done here, but no account of St. Patrick's Day in Chicago would be complete without mention of the South Side Irish parade.  The parade has its roots in an affair called the Southtown Parade, which started in the early 1950s.  After Richard J. Daley was elected Mayor, he took the Southtown Parade, moved it downtown, and re-branded it the St. Patrick's Day Parade.  This went on until the 70s, when two residents of the South Side wanted to bring back the family friendly affair that they remembered as kids.  Therefore, on March 17, 1979, the first running of what would come to be known as the South Side Irish Parade occurred.  As the years went on, the parade got more and more popular, until the parade hit its 30th Anniversary year, which was a mighty celebration.  The 2009 parade saw much craziness, and therefore the organizers halted the parade for the next two years.  In 2012, the parade came back as much more family friendly, and the tradition continued in 2013.  Just remember, we're all Irish on St. Patty's Day!

Day 75: White City? More like Red-Light City...

     The year is 1893.  The location: Chicago.  This is the White City.  But guess what?  When you're running a World's Fair that attracts hundreds of thousands of people every single day, you're going to run across people who have needs that simply cannot be satisfied by riding on the first Ferris Wheel ever displayed.  And that is where red-light districts come in handy.

     One of the most extensive ones in Chicago history was called The Levee, which was located at the corner of Cermak and Michigan.  The Levee was opened up in 1893, covered more than 20 square blocks, and included cocaine parlors, 15 gambling halls, 56 pool rooms, 500 saloons, and of course, 500 whorehouses.  And the main man in charge of The Levee?  Why that was none other than the Honorable Michael Kenna, 1st Ward Alderman.  (Come on guys, this is Chicago.  Does any of this really surprise you anymore?)

     Of the hundreds upon hundreds of whorehouses in The Levee, the most famous one had to be The Everleigh Club, which opened in February of 1900.  The establishment, which was run by two sisters, was pretty much a turn of the century version of The Playboy Club, except in this case the pretty girls sold sex instead of cigarettes.  The atmosphere was very suave, debonair, and classy.  If you wanted to buy a meal there, it was gonna set you back Fifty bucks.  That's not too bad, until you realize that this is 1900 money we're dealing in.  Take that same deal in 2013 dollars, and we're talking approximately $1,300.  Still hungry?
    
     All expenses aside, the club did have its share of infamous moments, like the time in 1902 when Prussia's Prince Henry came by the club.  The owners pulled out all the stops to please him, and during a show one of their girls lost a shoe, which flew over to where the Prince's entourage was sitting and knocked over a glass of champagne.  When somebody drank the champagne, the tradition of drinking champagne from the shoe of a woman was born.  Over 3 years later, the son of Marshall Field patronized the club, and was rewarded with a fatal gunshot--which was rumored to be delivered by none other than by one of the working girls at the club.

     In 1910, there was a report put together that noted there were over 600 brothels in the city.  In response to this, Mayor Carter Harrison Jr. ordered the club to be closed.  This edict was carried out on October 24, 1911.  But don't feel too bad for the proprietors.  The two sisters who owned the joint walked away with $1 Million(which is actually over $24 Million in 2013 Money), toured Europe, and then resettled in New York City.  As for the District as a whole, the place held on for a few more years, but ultimately that too closed by 1930. 

Day 72: The Heart of the City

     Many of the stops in the Loop are integrated with and accessible from each other(Clark/Lake, Jackson, and the El stop at the Library to name a few), so it only makes sense that today's entry talks about another connected station.  In the northern section of the Loop lies the State/Lake elevated stop, which is connected via a free transfer to the Lake stop on the Red Line.

     Even though the first elevated service in Chicago originated with the Roosevelt station in 1892, it was implemented in a piecemeal fashion, with various companies opening different stations at various times. On September 22, 1895, the Union Elevated Railroad was inaugurated, which included a stop at State/Lake(as well as Clark/Lake).  There were a number of different architectural motifs for each of the different Loop stations, varying from Classical Revival elements, to even some Asian influences.  However, many of the stations were renovated in 1913.  Even though many of the waiting rooms were replaced, most of the canopies and other pieces were preserved.  Over the next few decades, things remained the same, up until the late 50s when the CTA revised their transfer policies in anticipation of new service patterns. The 1960s saw the installation of the first escalator to come to the CTA, being put in at State/Lake in 1966.  The '90s saw the station participating in the changeover to an automated fare card system.  Unlike the Quincy station, State/Lake has undergone many changes over the years, therefore only certain parts of the State/Lake station feature the vintage architecture of its original intent.  What it is left with are its historic railings and canopies, which is ironic given its location near the historic Chicago Theater.

     The other half of the equation is of course, the Lake St. Red Line station.  This station opened on October 17, 1943 along with the rest of the State St. Subway.  All of the amenities(concrete floors, glass-walled fare booths, art-deco touches, and even soundproof phone booths), that were in the other stations also found their way into Lake.  The State Street Subway also featured the longest subway platform in the world, stretching 3,500 feet.  The Lake station's mezzanine area has always been an ideal location for transfers in the CTA system, but there weren't any physical connections between the subway and the elevated.  So, the CTA came up with the idea of "walking transfers", where passengers would disembark one train, acquire a paper transfer ticket, and present that at the second station so as to get in without paying another fare.  Not only have transit cards rendered this system obsolete, but now there are unified subway and elevated stations(i.e. Roosevelt and Clark/Lake).

     In 1982, the Mayor announced an extensive renovation of all the stations on the State Street Subway, at which point the turnstiles, lighting system, flooring, and columns were to be replaced.  Additionally, new signs and maps were to have been added. Unfortunately, this renovation was only completed at the Washington station. In 2004, the Lake station was renovated, with the focal point of the work being the expansion of the station's mezzanine by 1,500 feet, which allowed for the installation of more turnstiles. Other additions included another exit stairway and a new escalator. Work on the platform included replacement of the floors, signs, and acoustic panels, as well as decorative tile work depicting the letter "L" on the walls(much like what was done with the Jackson platform). While the station remained open during the renovation, but only one entrance was available from August of 2004 through September of 2005.  The Lake station is connected via the mezzanine to the Chicago Pedway, but also to two of the city's premier shopping destinations. Block 37 on one side, and Marshall Field's on the other.  Combine that with its location near the Chicago and Oriental Theaters, as well as its proximity to the State/Randolph Walgreens, and the State/Lake complex is certainly in the heart of the city.

Day 71: The Holiest Name of All

     It is often said that you can get a good glimpse into a community if you look at its houses of worship.  Chicago is no exception.  And while there are dozens of houses of worship in the city, THE big one for the Catholic archdiocese is Holy Name Cathedral.  The roots of the church go back to September 30, 1843, when the Diocese of Chicago was formed.

     In 1852, the Diocese found its first home in the Church of the Holy Name.  However, when 1871 rolled around, the Great Chicago Fire came through town and destroyed everything in its wake.  The Church was doomed to the same fate as the first Marshall Fields store, the original station for the Chicago & Milwaukee Railroad, as well as hundreds of other buildings: destruction.  The church's pastor immediately started touring the country to raise money for the rebuilding.  For the next 4 years, the parishioners worshiped in a boarded-up home on Cass St. known as the Shanty Cathedral.  Finally, the church reopened on November 21, 1875.

     Just over a decade and a half later, the church was found to be sinking into its foundations, so another renovation project was undertaken.  By 1915, all was well and the church was doing great.  9 years later, Archbishop George Mundelein was elevated to the rank of Cardinal, and upon his return from Rome was greeted by more than 80,000 Catholic well-wishers.  Mundelein died in his sleep in October 1939, and the anticipated crowds were expected to be so great that the city had to hurry up and pave over State Street(where the subway was being constructed at the time) so that the road could handle the flood of mourners.

     Of course, that wasn't the only funeral held at Holy Name over the years.  Roger Ebert, Harry Caray, and Ron Santo have all been memorialized in services held at Holy Name.  In more recent history, the Cathedral survived a massive fire on February 4, 2009.  Normally a fire of that magnitude would've completely destroyed the building, but the Chicago Fire Department saved the building with their tenacity and courage, so that it can continue to inspire Chicagoans fro decades to come.

Day 70: Chugging across the Cheddar Curtain

     Let's say that you live up in the Northern Suburbs of Chicago, and driving is getting to be a giant pain in the rear end.  You know what you need to do?  You need to get on the train!  And to do that, you need to make your way onto the Metra Union Pacific North Line, which travels between Chicago and Kenosha, and serves all communities in between, primarily those right along the lake.

     The roots of the line go all the way back to 1851, when the Illinois General Assembly authorized the laying of tracks north from Chicago to the Wisconsin border. Shortly thereafter, the Wisconsin legislature also authorized the laying of tracks south from Milwaukee to the Illinois border.  By 1854, the Illinois line had reached Waukegan, and the two lines met each other the following year, upon which a "last spike" ceremony was held in Kenosha.  Over the next decade, the two companies underwent various reconfigurations, until the two companies emerged in 1863 under the combined name Chicago & Milwaukee Railroad.

     At the same time that the tracks were being put up towards Wisconsin, there was a local service also being inaugurated, one that started in 1856.  However, this line quickly started to become unprofitable, and the railroad wanted to abandon passenger rail in favor of freight.  Eventually the powers that be were talked into giving the passenger operation another chance, and traffic on that line eventually picked up. As the train became more successful, it also sprouted the growth of such northern suburbs as Lake Bluff, Ravinia, and Winnetka(to name a few).  By 1871, the line was thriving, with 7 round-trip trains running every day between Chicago and Kenosha, a trip that took just over 2 hours to make.  Upon arrival downtown, the trains would pull into a station situated at Wells and Kinzie streets that had been built in 1853.  All seemed to be going well.

     But then on the evening of October 8, fire took hold of the city and maintained its hellish grip for two whole days.  When the smoke finally cleared, any building that wasn't the Water Tower, the Pumping Station, or three other buildings, was destroyed.  This included the Chicago & Milwaukee's downtown station.  There wouldn't be a replacement built at the same site for another 10 years. Eventually things went back to normal, but then around the turn of the century, the replacement station was getting a bit too small, so the process was started to erect a new station.  In 1908, ground was broken, and in 1911, the station that would eventually come to be called Ogilvie Transportation Center was opened in its original iteration.

     Over the course of the 20th Century, not much changed up until 1984, when Metra was formed and the Chicago & Northwestern(as the line had come to be called) became part of it.  Eleven years later, Union Pacific absorbed the C&NW and the line became known as the Union Pacific North Line.  However, the old line lives on in the color of the UP North's schedule(Flambeau Green) which hearkens back to the lines C&NW heritage.  Today the line takes about an hour and 45 minutes to get from one end to the other, and also includes a feature that is the last of it's kind in America.  But more on that later...

Day 69: A Road for Ann

     Pioneer Court(you know, right by the Jack Brickhouse statue and the former location of Marilyn Monroe) features a number of honorary street names.  One of those names is that of Ann Landers.  First off, if you need to know who that is, clearly you don't read enough advice columns.  Secondly, if you're wondering what she is doing in a blog about Chicago, I invite you to read on...

     Esther Friedman was born in Sioux City, Iowa in the year 1918.  She spent her formative years in Sioux City, before attending Morningside College, where she wrote for that school's newspaper while majoring in journalism and psychology.  Upon her graduation, she started writing an advice column, and in 1939 she was married to Julius Lederer.

     At this same time, the Chicago Sun-Times had an advice column written by Ruth Crowley entitled "Ask Ann Landers".  In 1955, Crowley died, and the column was passed to Esther, who also went by the nickname of Eppie.  She proceeded to do the column for the next 47 years, and became known as a notable figure in the pantheon of North American media.  She even changed with the times, addressing questions about homosexuality as well as other taboo topics.  On that front, she admitted in 1993 that she was glad that the restrictions of the 1950s no longer existed.

     In the early 1970s, Lederer moved into an apartment in the River North neighborhood, where she became a prominent fixture in the Chicago social scene. Lederer continued to write her columns until shortly before her death from cancer in 2002.  After her death, she was honored with the honorific naming of a street after her at the corner of North Michigan Avenue and East Illinois Street, right in front of the Tribune Tower, where her column had originated from since 1987.  Lederer has left a legacy and forever influenced the direction of her craft.  Not bad for a  girl from Iowa.

Day 67: The Heart of the Old in the New(er)

     In 1911, the Chicago and North Western Railway built a railroad station in order to replace the aging Wells Street station.  This was still the era of the classic stations(i.e. Dearborn Station)  The station itself was designed by the same team who put up the original LaSalle Street Station in 1903.  The main station house featured a gloriously appointed waiting room, as well as a concourse for intercity passengers, washrooms, and dressing rooms. The station even included a doctor's office.  Over the years, the station served some of the most well-known and loved train lines, including the famed "City" trains run by the Union Pacific Railroad.

     Unfortunately, like all good things, this too had to come to an end. The era of train travel in America had been on the downturn ever since the 1960s, when cars and the highway system provided Americans with an opportunity to get places faster and cheaper than the train.  In 1969, Chicago's Grand Central Station closed, and the two remaining lines from that station moved into the Chicago and North Western's Terminal.  On May 1, 1971, Amtrak assumed operations of most of the country's intercity rail lines.  Consequentially, those lines that were to be taken over ceased operation the day before the changeover.

     In 1974, with encouragement from Illinois Governor Richard Ogilvie, the Illinois General Assembly created the Regional Transportation Authority.  The RTA was tasked with administering all the commuter rail coming in and out of Chicago.  Ten years later, the RTA created Metra, a unified body responsible for all of the city's commuter rail.  Around this same time, the old Chicago and North Western station was being renovated.  In a radical move, the entire 1911 head house was demolished and replaced with a 42-story office building. The renovations were completed by 1987.

     In 1991, Metra bought the train shed from the Chicago and North Western and assessed its condition.  The conclusion was reached that repairs were needed to shore up the integrity of the building.  The renovations posed an interesting challenge, since the station was to remain open during the renovation, which included repainting the entire station, replacing all of the tracks, and very extensive structural repairs.  After 4 years and $138 Million, the renovation was completed in 1995.  2 years after that, the station was renamed to honor Richard Ogilvie.

     Entering the station today, you're immediately confronted by a large glass-filled atrium with various shops.  From there, you can either go further into the lower level and run into the food court, with its selection of anything from Panda Express, to Chutney Joe's, to Popeye's, and even an old standard like Taco Bell.  After you get done eating, you go up the escalator to the ticket counters, where you can purchase carriage aboard any of the 3 lines that serve Ogilvie Station.  After you've bought your ticket, the first instinct is to board the train.  But hold up there for a second.  If you walk all the way down the platform, you'll see a descending stairway.  Follow those stairs down and you'll be in the MetraMarket, which features more restaurants, a drug store, multiple other retail stores, and even a French Market.  After that, you can feel free to board your train and depart the same station that one would have departed over a hundred years ago, while having just experienced the amenities of today.  How's that for progress?

Day 66: Two Thumbs Up

     It isn't often that a film critic transcends his craft and becomes a truly integral part of his city, but then again, it isn't often that a film critic is named Roger Ebert.  Somewhere between the first Pulitzer Prize ever given to a film critic and his 47-year career writing for the Sun Times, Ebert became a staple of Chicago.

     Ebert was born in 1942, in the town of Urbana.  He had a Catholic upbringing in Urbana, where he first discovered his knack for writing in High School by writing comment letters to sci-fi magazines.   This led to an involvement in sci-fi fandom, and his first experience writing articles.  He won the Illinois High School association speech championship in 1958.  It was also during this time, where he learned to be a movie critic-by reading MAD Magazine's movie parodies, and seeing how they would lampoon the movies for all being the same.  Soon afterwards, Ebert started at the University of Illinois, where he graduated from in 1964.  After a stint at the University of Cape Town, he moved to Chicago, where he was pursuing a doctorate at the University of Chicago.  Needing a job while in school, Ebert applied for a job at the Chicago Daily News, however the editor instead referred him to the Sun-Times, where he was hired as a reporter and feature writer in 1966. For the next year, Ebert pursued his PhD while reporting for the Sun-Times.  Then, in April of 1967, Ebert was offered the job of film critic.  After taking it, he figured that the work load was too heavy and so he ended his doctoral studies.

     After a few years writing for the Sun-Times, Ebert began hosting a weekly film review show in 1975.  3 years after that, he was joined by a Tribune film critic named Gene Siskel on his show, and it became nationally televised via PBS.  They would become very well known throughout the industry, making the term "Two Thumbs Up/Down" a household phrase.  The show would continue on until Siskel's death in 1999.  Just over a year later, Ebert was joined by fellow Sun-Times critic Richard Roeper, and the show continued for another 9 years.

     As a consequence of his fame, Ebert became a pop culture icon, making appearances in episodes of The Critic and Early Edition.  Ebert also started Ebertfest, a film festival in his hometown of Champaign.  In the 1980s, he briefly dated Oprah Winfrey.  That relationship didn't last, but Ebert convinced Winfrey to nationally syndicate The Oprah Winfrey Show.  That's something that did last. Eventually he married his wife Chaz in 1992, and they would stay married until his death. 

     In 2002, Ebert faced the first of his many cancer diagnoses.  The cancer was quickly removed via surgery and Ebert returned to his duties.  However, the cancer came back a few years later and he required a second surgery in 2006.  This time, the complications were more dire, and he lost the ability to eat, drink, and speak.  Nonetheless, he bounced back and resumed his regular reviewing schedule.  In 2008, he needed a third surgery to attempt to correct the first two surgeries.  The surgery was unsuccessful in restoring his ability to speak, as well as in trying to reconstruct his jaw.  Finally in 2010, Ebert decided to forgo any further surgeries to attempt to repair his voice.

     On April 2, 2013, Ebert wrote a piece in the Sun-Times announcing that he was taking a leave of absence to deal with the cancer.  Two days later, Roger Ebert died at the age of 70.  On April 6, his final film review appeared in the Sun-Times, a critique of the movie To the Wonder.  His funeral service was held at Chicago's Holy Name Cathedral on April 8, and was attended by fans, fellow critics, and even Governor Pat Quinn and Mayor Rahm Emanuel.  Ebert's "relative, not absolute" approach to reviewing movies endeared him to his fans and ensured that his legacy will always receive a strong "Two Thumbs Up"

Day 65: The Music Platform

     Imagine that you work in the Loop, and you live up on the North Side.  While there are many ways you could get home, the most obvious choice would be the Red Line.  After you get off of work, maybe you go down to the Loop for while, swing by Pritzker Park and reminisce about that giant eyeball that used to be there, maybe you even see what's up at the library. Eventually though, you want to get home.  So you walk down into the subway, put your card into the turnstile, go down onto the platform, and all of a sudden you hear music.  You wonder where its coming from, and then you see it: a boom box/amp is on the ground, and somebody is either singing or playing music(or both).  You watch it for a while, think to yourself how lucky you are to live in a city like this, and then board your train that takes you back to your home and the rest of your evening.  My fellow Chicagoans, welcome to the Jackson Red Line station.

     The Jackson stop was part of the original State Street Subway project(as was Roosevelt), and opened along with the rest of the line in 1943.  During the construction, a pedestrian tunnel connection to the Blue Line was also put in, though that did not open until 1951(when the Blue Line finally opened).  Not much changed for the station over the next several decades, until the 1980s came and there was a push to renovate the subway stations.  Over the course of 14 years(from 1989 through 2003), the station was renovated in three separate phases.  First, the mezzanine level at Adams/Jackson was renovated from 1989-1991.  Then the mezzanine level at Jackson/Van Buren was renovated from 1996-2000.  Finally, the actual platform area received a makeover from 2002-2003.

     As part of this most recent makeover, the pedestrian tunnel to the Blue Line was given a refurbishment and updating.  One of the most obvious changes were red and blue colored tiles placed into the ceiling, symbolizing moving between the two lines.  Also, lights were put in at either end of the tunnel with a piece of either red or blue plastic in them to subconsciously alert commuters which end of the tunnel they were walking towards.  Some other tile work on the platform included placing the letter J in red tiling, again to symbolize the name of the station.  The renovation was officially completed on January 20, 2004.  Since then, Dunkin' Donuts has moved into a space on the Adams/Jackson mezzanine, and digital info panels have been added to the platform area.

     Over the years, the station's platform has tended to attract more performers than other stations, making it a very nice diversion for commuters and tourists alike.  After 70 years, the Jackson Red Line station has a bright future, and an even better taste in music.

Day 41: Thinking Again

     As part of the Museum Campus, there is a lot of public art throughout the place.  Like(for example) the Kelpies, the Man with Fish statue, the Kosciuscko statue, or the Copernicus statue to name a few.  Most of these works of art are in the city as part of Chicago Sculpture International's Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition.  Today's piece is no exception.  Standing behind the Field Museum, Another Thought by Michael Brown is a Limestone sculpture that was erected in 2007.

     Mike Brown is an artist from England who was born in 1942.  Early on, he studied the trades, but then at the age of 13 he moved to Canada with his family, who after four years of living there, moved to the East Coast in 1959.  He began his professional education by getting a degree in Art Ed from The State University College in Buffalo, NY. Six years later, he would receive his Masters in Sculpure from The Rhode Island School of Design.  Upon receiving his diploma, Mr. Brown began teaching at Harper College in Palatine, a position that he recently retired from in order to pursue sculpting full-time.

     Looking at some of his other works, I would have to say that one of his biggest patterns is the inclusion of multiple colored strips throughout an otherwise solid brick of limestone.  Another curiosity is that on his website, Mr. Brown talks of a desire to have his art be something that people can approach and play with.  However, on the plaque declaring the sculpture as part of CSI's OSE, it clearly says "Please do not climb or play on sculpture".  It seems that they got their messages mixed up, don't you think?

Day 64: A Well-Composed Tribute

     We've already mentioned how big of an influence Polish culture is on Chicago, so it shouldn't surprise you that there are several tributes (i.e. Kosciuszko and Copernicus to name two) to famous Polish nationals, as well as numerous pockets of Poles in the city.  One of those enclaves is the community of Portage Park, which in fact has the distinction of being the largest Polish community in the entire metropolitan area(according to the 2000 Census).  So, it seemed only natural for a park located in that area to be named in honor of Frederic Chopin, the most famous pianist and composer to hail from Poland.

     In addition to being 8 acres of open space on the Northwest Side, the park also houses a field house with several rooms and an assembly hall.  There are many preschool classes that take place in this building, along with(appropriately enough) music classes.  In addition to those perks, the park offers an after-school program for local children.  The year 2010 marked the 200th anniversary of Chopin's birth, and plans were hatched to erect a statue of Chopin in the park.  This is in addition to plans to erect a replica of another Chopin statue along the lakefront.

Day 40: Shopping Time Station

     It was 1885 and the train was the new hot way to get from city to city.  Chicago was swiftly becoming the railroad capital of the world, and new routes were constantly being inaugurated.  Thus, the Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad commissioned a new downtown Chicago station.  This station was to be a grand tribute to the Romanesque Revival style, and it would be designed by Cyrus L.W. Eidlitz.

     Looking at the station today, one of its most distinctive features is the 12-story clock tower centered in the front of the station.  This is original to the 1885 building, however it was modified in 1922 in the course of post-fire repairs.  The clock tower originally had a tall, pitched roof, and the renovation served to flatten out the roof and cut down on the height.  The actual platforms were located behind the station's headhouse, which was appointed with ticket counters, waiting areas, and a Fred Harvey Company restaurant(the Fred Harvey Company was a pioneer in the field of chain restaurants, most of which served railroad stations).  Several different train lines originated from Dearborn Station during its heyday, but one of the more famous lines was the Super Chief, operated by the Santa Fe railroad.

     However, with the decline of passenger rail in the 50s and 60s, the railroads were quickly becoming insolvent and/or disinterested in continuing their passenger operations.  In response to this, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation(aka: Amtrak) was created via a law signed by President Nixon in 1970.  One of the consequences of Amtrak taking over in Chicago was the consolidation of all intercity rail operations to Union Station.  Consequentially, Dearborn Station was closed on May 2, 1971, and its trainshed and tracks had been demolished by 1976.  However, the headhouse was preserved, thus escaping the fate that had befallen most of Chicago's other old train stations.  It lay abandoned until the 80s, when it was turned into a combination retail/office complex, which it still serves as today, standing as one of the only reminders(along with Union Station) of Chicago's rich history with the railroad.

Day 60: Plensa's Crowning Achievement

     As has been previously mentioned, the construction of Millennium Park called for many different installations of public art.  The Bean is just one example of that.  Another one is located just across the way from it.  Of course, we're talking about the Crown Fountain(otherwise known as that thing with people's faces on it spitting water).  The process began in 1999, when the Crown Family decided to donate money to furnish Millennium Park with more works of art.  After an independent audition process, the Crowns selected the artist Juame Plensa, over the artists Maya Lin and Robert Venturi.

     Work was soon started on the Fountain, with its twin towers serving as a study in Plensa's knack for dualism.  The largest amount of legwork involved in the project came next, as the likenesses of more than 1,000 Chicagoans were captured to adorn the sides of the fountain.  While this project was going on, the fountain was being designed and built.  The faces were to be displayed on LEDs, but the LEDs needed some sort of protection from the elements, but any such protection couldn't be so big that it would have interfered with the views of the folks looking at the faces. To address this problem, a glass plant in Mount Pleasant, PA was contacted to begin churning out glass bricks for the exterior of the sculpture.  After many struggles, the fountain was dedicated in July of 2004 as part of the ceremonies opening Millennium Park.

     Upon its opening, the Fountain faced more controversy due to the height of the two towers.  The reason anybody would even care about this goes back more than 150 years.  When Grant Park was first organized(the initial incarnation coming all the way back in 1836), the mantra was that the space would be 'forever open, clear, and free'.  This status was cemented by Aaron Montgomery Ward(of department store fame) through several lawsuits that he filed in the 1890s that forced the city to abide by the original intent.  Ultimately, the Fountain was allowed, on the grounds that it was a work of art rather than a building.  A few years later, the city put surveillance cameras on top of the fountain,. this got everybody riled up about the rise of big brother and all that assorted stuff.

     The Crown Fountain has scored rave reviews almost universally, being lauded as an "extraordinary art object", "public art at its best", and a "techno-fountain".  Comparisons have also been derived between this and the Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park.  Overall, the Crown Fountain is one more facet of Millennium Park that should keep locals and tourists alike talking for years to come.