| Program Synopsis: Unbuilt Chicago |
April Program: Unbuilt Chicago
By Susan Matejcak, Jones Day
Mr. Bey organized the various development schemes into four main categories: At Play (parks and recreation), Suburbia, Wish You Were Here (worthwhile developments that never came to pass) and They Might Be Giants (office towers and other downtown developments). He then proceeded to show the audience examples of each type. There were numerous buildings that would have changed the skyline (not always for the better), a 1973 vision for the redevelopment of State Street which came complete with a monorail, several schemes to build islands on Lake Michigan, and a plan to build an entire integrated community in DuPage County. A number of the unbuilt projects contained elements which now seem ill-conceived, such as the 1957 plan to construct a civic center at the site of the Daley Center Plaza which featured a proposal to “modernize” City Hall by recladding the classic exterior with metal. Other schemes might arguably have been great assets to the city, such as the 1922 World’s Fair on Northerly Island, the Miglin Beitler Tower proposed in 1989 and the 2016 Olympic Village and athletic event venues. One of the more striking aspects of Mr. Bey’s presentation was the way in which some of the ideas incorporated into earlier unbuilt plans found their way into later successful developments. For example, there was a forwardthinking plan in 1956 to convert the far south end of Michigan Avenue to residential use, a 1957 plan to construct an ice rink in Grant Park and a 1977 plan for the area that is now the site of Millennium Park which featured a band shell and several of the elements that ultimately were built there. The reasons the projects remained unbuilt were varied and often familiar, ranging from economic downturns and inability to obtain financing to a developer getting mixed up in organized crime and ultimately disappearing into the witness protection program. Overall, it was informative and entertaining presentation on a fascinating topic. |
What would Chicago and the surrounding area look like if some of the wilder dreams of real estate developers over the past century had actually been constructed? That was the question that attendees at CREW Chicago’s April 28, 2010 luncheon presentation were invited to contemplate. Lee Bey, the Executive Director of the Chicago Central Area Committee and a respected Chicago writer, critic, professor and advisor on architecture and urbanism, gave an entertaining and often amusing slide show presentation providing a glimpse of various grand buildings, towering skyscrapers, stately parks and public spaces, and integrated urban developments that were planned but never built.