More Photos from Holy Name

More photos from Holy Name Cathedral, from the 1949 book 100 Years: The History of the Church of the Holy Name.

Amazing Interior of St. Boniface

Neglected BEAUTY
Originally uploaded by primeau.

OK, I have concluded that
1) There ares some good photographs on Flick
2) Henry Schlacks' St. Boniface is one of his typical masterpieces
3) It may be a bit dangerous to crawl around in old Churches and theaters
4) Most anyone is a better photographer than I am
5) But I am willing to admit 4 and thus will hire guys like James Morris to do photo projects
UPDATED 6) Photos such as these are better when they do not have a story to tell. The story is usually melodramatic, but the visual information may stand alone better than the commentary.
7) Perhaps documentary information is better than commentary, name-date-lighting type-weather etc
8) The commentaries usually go something like this "What a tragic site...why? wHY? WHY?" It is not helpful
9) My commentaries are mostly speculative fiction and propoganda, but in general as good a piece of history as available anywhere else, and peppered with facts. Here is a short fact, SLR Cameras distort large format shots of buildings. Look at the upper right and left hand corners of this shot. They are bent. To the best of my knowledge, there is not a compact large format camera that can be packed away while sneaking into empty churches.
10) The whole campus settings of Churches such as St. Boniface are interesting artifacts in themselves. Anyone still building urban church campusses?

The Chicago Athletic Association, the former owners of the Chicago Cubs, is closing its doors after a 117 yr + run as one the pre-eminent Gentleman's Club's in the world. Businessmen, Politicians, Journalists, and even Athletes called the CAA their home away from home in one of the architectural marvels of Skyscraper design. Henry Ives Cobb does a Venetian Splendour on the shores of Lake Michigan (before the infill) and with a great view of Lake Michigan (even after the infill).

Here is a tip of the hat to those that wanted to make Chicago more than just tolerable, rather the world champion of architecture. There is nothing quite like the Michigan Avenue facade of this building.

I took some apt snapshots at a literary lunch today of the Catholic Citizens of Illinois, who were championing a renaissance in Catholic Literature with none other than Joseph Pearce as a guest speaker, telling histories of Chesterton, Waugh, Greene, and Belloc.

A luxury hotel will come into this facility, and we wish them well, and continued public access to this Architectural Marvel.

Bagdhad by the lake

The Economist newsaper last year famously referred to Chicago as "Baghdad by the lake" noting:

A DICTATOR on the rampage; airfields destroyed; a pre-emptive strike; calls for outside intervention to bring democracy. It is not difficult to see why one cartoonist has lampooned Richard Daley's Chicago as “Baghdad by the lake”.

In my opinion Mayor Daley is no dictator, at least not a violent one. Yet, a creeping Statism pervades our Urban environment, presuming the Government is the best decision maker as to use of public resources. Consider this: the Cannes beachfront pictured above is most completely privately owned and managed. All manner of hotels, such as the Martinez (a haunt of PG Wodehouse among others) provide pretty much any service a visitor could want, right to your lounge chair on the Mediterranean. But if this privately owned model can work in semi-Socialist France, why not Chicago?

Well, back some 50 years ago, Chicago did have something quite like Le Croissette in Cannes: Edgewater Beach. Everyday luxury, a walkable neighborhood and yes, cold drinks served at your lounge chair on the beach.



So what happened? Well, you might notice that Lake Shore Drive is not in that postcard picture, as it was not built yet. Through an incessant demand for a quicker commute, landfill was inserted on the EAST side of the lake front to build the massive (and quite functional) highway. But in between, pedestrian and private access to Lake Michiagan were cut off. Anyone wanting to get to the Lake in this neighborhood is taking his life in his own hands.

So, since the loss of an Old Urban piece of brilliance is a lamented waste of natural resources one might think that the "progressive" elements in Chicago would work night and day to see that it does not happen again. Unfortunately, not true.

The long closed USX South Works in the South Shore neighborhood is a case in point. A 275 acre site surrounded by Lake Michigan is under redevelopment now, with many quite pleasant plans to implement "New Urbanism" non-vehicular everday life, with Metra Stops, restaurants, high density residential area, and most importantly: pedestrian access to Lake Michigan.

However, an alternate view exists, touting Government control of the lakefront in the South Shore neighborhood, cutting off human access to the Lake with another in a series of ill-advised, underutilized, poorly maintained, pedestrian-hostile "park". In a presentation titled "Completing the South Lakefront Parks:The Last Four Miles", a group claiming to be "Friends of the Park" are demanding control of "approximately 4 miles are not public parks but remain in private or quasi-governmental ownership."

Can anyone tell with, with the City's pathetic record on providing park access and maintenance, do we really want the city to appropriate the last area between Foster Ave and Indiana not under the Park District's thumb? Or would we rather have at least a French level of respect for private enterprise to provide human access to one of the finest natural resources in the Midwest?