Saturday, September 30, 2006

This week I met with Jonathan Fine of Preservation Chicago www.preservationchicago.org. He shared stories of what his group has done to try and save endangered buildings around the city. It's incredible to me how years and years of Chicago history continue to be destroyed by short-sighted city officials and greedy developers.

The teardown of the Nortown is particularly ironic given the fact that our current alderman Berny Stone sits on the City Council Committee on Historical Landmark Preservation. Whis isn't our TIF money being used to save buildings like the Nortown, or at least preserve the facade?

Coincidentally, I had an email from David Balaban, a descendant of the family who built the Nortown and many other historic theaters around Chicago. View his websites at: www.balabanandkatzfoundation.com and www.balabanandkatz.com

Monday, September 04, 2006

Two weeks ago I called VOA to see what I could find out about the status of the Nortown project. I never actually talked with anyone in person, but through phone messages I left my information, and received a message in return. The message was that they couldn't talk about the project due to client confidentiality, but would try to connect me with someone who could give me information. After I heard that I called back and told them I'd appreciate any information I could get. No response as of yet.