Make no little plans...

"Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men's blood and probably will not themselves be realized." A phrase credited to Daniel Burnham, the architect of Chicago's 1909 Plan of Chicago.

Well, it looks like the city has another renovation plan its considering. In the Tribune, the Chicago Central Area Action Plan is outlined. Below is the proposed West Loop Transportation Center.


A four level, $2 billion transporation center under Clinton Street. It would connect Union Station and the Ogilvie Transportation Center served by Metra trains with CTA bus and rail lines, Pace buses, a proposed Carroll Avenue transit line and long-distance Amtrak high-speed trains.

Check out the Tribune article for some of the very interesting proposed changes.

Time to think about air conditioning.

You wouldn't think that the warm weather will be in Chicago soon, but you can count on humid, hot days soon. If you live in Marina City, you probably have one of the older air conditioning and heating units. These 45 year old beasts aren't very energy efficient and do break down.

Over the last couple of years, I have had the pleasure of working with Rob Engelthaler. He is my new heating and air conditioning guru. When the cooling portion of my unit went out in my Marina Towers bedroom, I wasn't looking forward to putting money into repairs. Someone gave me Rob's name. For $1,500, I had a new quiet and efficient unit installed. New thermostats and new wiring were included in the price. He even took the old one away at no charge.

Rob's has just created a website to advertise his business.

Below is a new unit installed.



Here is my unit with the cover off.


These units are the very popular GE Zoneline heat & a/c units that hotels all over the place use. Thankfully they fit perfectly in the old metal sleeve above the balcony door.

Rob's installed price is below. I think that if you can work with your neighbors to order 3 or more, there may be a discount.

Model (BTU Rating) Price
9000 $1400.00
12,000 $1500.00
15,000 $1600.00

Rob's contact information is as follows:
Robert Engelthaler
2306 Commonwealth Ave
North Chicago IL 60064
847 785 0875 office
773 991 4128 cell
http://www.marinatowerheatingandcooling.com

Time for Cheese? Yes!

While waiting for my fiance Wednesday and killing time, I happened on a very interesting neighborhood shop. Pastoral Cheese, Bread and Wine at 53 E. Lake Street is right around the corner from Marina City.


Pastoral is a part time (lunch hour during weekdays) sandwich shop and full time specialty cheese, bread and wine shop. From their website, “In a world of mass produced products stacked high on shelves in supermarkets, superstores and wholesale clubs, there is still a time and a place for small bath, high-quality, handcrafted products sold in an intimate environment with the most attentive and thoughtful service. Somehow artisan products like cheese, bread and wine, which hail from the land in some of the most beautiful places on Earth deserve to be showcased, cared-for and sold someplace that reflects their special roots – PASTORAL!”

Service was definitely top notch when I stopped by. I got a tour of all the products with the majority of time spent on the huge and unique assortment of cheeses. What a great place! I am going to try two of the classes that Pastoral is offering:

Wines of the Southern Hemisphere on April 25 at 6:30pm.
Wine, Beer & Spirits for Cheese Lovers on May 9 at 6:30pm.

With all the chain stores & restaurants in the Loop near Marina Towers, its nice to have a store that is locally owned & operated with some excellent products!

New Marina Towers neighbor on the cutting edge of green.

If you live and/or work in the River North neighborhood, you may have noticed the construction work opposite the new office tower 353 North Clark. With so much building in the neighborhood, I almost missed this story in Green Bean Chicago. A large parking garage is being constructed on the northeast corner of Kinzie & Clark. This parking garage incorporates sustainable features and is called Greenway Self Park.

The most noticeable feature of the completed structure are the wind turbines on the southwest corner of the building. You can see those below.


The new garage also features the following:
- Natural ventilation
- Low-E glass to further reduce energy demand
- A green roof to combat heat
- A bike storage room for 2 dozen bikes
- Six plug-in stations for electric vehicles



I snapped a few construction photos while on my way to lunch from Marina City.








In the photo below, you will notice the pre-fabricated structure being delivered. Unlike an office tower, this parking garage is constructed in pre-fab sections that are delivered by truck and put into place by crane.



Below is a pre-fab piece being lifted.

Can the unions save the Chicago Spire like they saved downtown and built Marina City?

CBS2 Chicago has an interesting article on the Chicago Spire. There is some talk about a major union is considering using its pension fund to finance construction of the building and secure jobs for members.

Below is a picture of the current state of the building's stalled construction. The developer has completed most of the foundation work, including caissons and the very obvious circular building core.



This story caught my attention because it parallels the construction story behind Marina Towers 50 years ago. On marinacityonline.com, you can read the entire genesis of Marina City. I have enclosed a little here:

"William McFetridge, president of the Building Service Employees International Union (now known as the Service Employees International Union), was concerned about his union members not being able to get jobs in the suburbs. He wanted to persuade people to live in town, where wages would be higher.

According to Howard Swibel, son of real estate developer Charles Swibel (1927-1990), all William McFetridge knew was that he wanted to invest his union’s pension fund not so much in stocks and bonds, but in something progressive – something that would help people. He mentioned this to Charles Swibel, who suggested the union invest in housing"



It would be great to watch the building rise while sitting on my balcony this summer!