Questions and Answers (Q&A) Forgotten Chicago Forum
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"Proposed plan for Port of Chicago causeway..."
Posted by:
nvaughn
()
Date: June 11, 2013 02:36AM
From a binder that was being passed around the bus during the 2013 Forgotten Chicago <i>Industrial Might & Architectural Surprises Bus Tour</i>: "...(never)-built 1958 Double-Deck Suspension Bridge & Causeway from 79th Street to Gary." Unfortunately this proposed but never built bridge was not discussed during the tour (was it?) and I haven't been able to find anything on The Google. I posted this image on my flickr page ([url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/nvaughn/9000440119/]http://www.flickr.com/photos/nvaughn/9000440119/[/url]) and a friend commented: "According to an article in the Chicago Daily Tribune on November 6, 1958 ("2 ARCHITECTS GIVE PLAN FOR BISTATE PORT"), it was proposed by architects R. Donald Jaye and Humen Tan. '[T]hey were offering the plan to the city in the hope of stimulating interest in a combined Illinois-Indiana port.'"
Any other info would be appreciated--this causeway seems like an insane idea, and I want to know more.
Re: "Proposed plan for Port of Chicago causeway..."
Posted by:
daveg
()
Date: June 11, 2013 01:07PM
To answer your "was it" question above. Nope.
Re: "Proposed plan for Port of Chicago causeway..."
Posted by:
QlassiQue
()
Date: June 12, 2013 03:09AM
Apologies for not discussing this project more during the tour – there was a lot to cover!
This image was taken from the November 8, 1958 issue of Realty & Building, which is available in the stacks of the Harold Washington Library Center. This scheme is only mentioned in this issue. The article states that the project would extend from the Outer Drive at 79th Street (soon to be the site of the southernmost Shoreline Motel, opening in Summer 1960), and that it would extend to the east of Miller Beach in Gary.
The article states that the road would join the “toll road to New York” and was submitted to Mayor Daley earlier that week, and was expected to be sent to the city plan commission. This wildly expensive scheme (tellingly, there is no cost estimate given) was also planned to include a “60-story building to house a new interstate port authority and international shipping and commercial firms.”
The FC archives currently has over 800 images and articles of unbuilt projects in Chicago and elsewhere. We’re hoping to some day have the resources to digitize these and make them available online.
This image was taken from the November 8, 1958 issue of Realty & Building, which is available in the stacks of the Harold Washington Library Center. This scheme is only mentioned in this issue. The article states that the project would extend from the Outer Drive at 79th Street (soon to be the site of the southernmost Shoreline Motel, opening in Summer 1960), and that it would extend to the east of Miller Beach in Gary.
The article states that the road would join the “toll road to New York” and was submitted to Mayor Daley earlier that week, and was expected to be sent to the city plan commission. This wildly expensive scheme (tellingly, there is no cost estimate given) was also planned to include a “60-story building to house a new interstate port authority and international shipping and commercial firms.”
The FC archives currently has over 800 images and articles of unbuilt projects in Chicago and elsewhere. We’re hoping to some day have the resources to digitize these and make them available online.
Re: "Proposed plan for Port of Chicago causeway..."
Posted by:
CrazyIvan25
()
Date: June 13, 2013 04:30PM
@QlassiQue
That would be great to read all the "what if?" projects that could have been done for Chicago. It makes me wonder just what cool things we missed out on, or convienent things, or just wacky things.
I hope there is more info on the CTA expansion plans during the 40s about extending the now "Blue Line" subway down Belmont Ave. to Oak Park Ave. Or other ambitious CTA projects and other ideas like the airport in the lake.
is there any way to access your FC archives?
That would be great to read all the "what if?" projects that could have been done for Chicago. It makes me wonder just what cool things we missed out on, or convienent things, or just wacky things.
I hope there is more info on the CTA expansion plans during the 40s about extending the now "Blue Line" subway down Belmont Ave. to Oak Park Ave. Or other ambitious CTA projects and other ideas like the airport in the lake.
is there any way to access your FC archives?
Re: "Proposed plan for Port of Chicago causeway..."
Posted by:
QlassiQue
()
Date: June 13, 2013 05:57PM
Until we get the resources to digitize them, we encourage Forum readers to keep coming on our tours and attending our presentations.
FYI, we are repeating our popular Shoreline Motel presentation on Saturday, July 20 and the brand new Edgewater Public Library, 6000 North Broadway.
FYI, we are repeating our popular Shoreline Motel presentation on Saturday, July 20 and the brand new Edgewater Public Library, 6000 North Broadway.
Re: "Proposed plan for Port of Chicago causeway..."
Posted by:
Paul Petraitis
()
Date: June 13, 2013 08:47PM
Wow some things are just too weird to be real...do you think that causeway woulda been the cause of fatal accidents during a healthy January noreasteroff of Lake Michigan? Waves shaking the structure, ice covered road, wind pushing vehicles into the frozen water...sounds like something out of Astounding Magazine! Only slightly less practical than a port at Lake Calumet!
Re: "Proposed plan for Port of Chicago causeway..."
Posted by:
ChiTownJim
()
Date: June 13, 2013 10:46PM
CrazyIvan25 wrote:
"That would be great to read all the "what if?" projects that could have been done for Chicago. It makes me wonder just what cool things we missed out on, or convienent things, or just wacky things."
Another 'what if' project, while not as unusual as the 'causeway' or the 'airport on the lake' would be the Crosstown Expressway which was supposed to parellel Cicero Ave and was opposed by many residents in the area. I believe in the 90s, the idea was kicked around again; this time putting it up 'on stilts' over the railroad tracks near Cicero Ave. Another project was the Frankln St subway which never got built. Both were pet projects of Richard J Daley.
"That would be great to read all the "what if?" projects that could have been done for Chicago. It makes me wonder just what cool things we missed out on, or convienent things, or just wacky things."
Another 'what if' project, while not as unusual as the 'causeway' or the 'airport on the lake' would be the Crosstown Expressway which was supposed to parellel Cicero Ave and was opposed by many residents in the area. I believe in the 90s, the idea was kicked around again; this time putting it up 'on stilts' over the railroad tracks near Cicero Ave. Another project was the Frankln St subway which never got built. Both were pet projects of Richard J Daley.
Re: "Proposed plan for Port of Chicago causeway..."
Posted by:
QlassiQue
()
Date: June 14, 2013 02:19AM
These crazy and unbuilt schemes seemed to be especially prominent in the 1950s, which also thought that wholesale clearance of entire neighborhoods were a benefit to the city as a whole (see the area around UIC and Hyde Park as clearance projects that were completed). Wildly expensive and impractical transportation projects were also mentioned often.
We've found other bizarre proposals, including a 1955 double-deck bridge from Oak Street to Dempster Street in Evanston. Naturally, this would also include a monorail, with an additional stop at Montrose Avenue. These schemes usually are only mentioned once, and as as ridiculous as they seem today, it's worth noting that they were considered serious enough to be published in Realty & Building.
Practical proposals, such as the Central Area Circulator following linking Metra stations with Navy Pier along old rail lines near the north bank of the Chicago River have been discussed since 1987. It's intriguing to think what a benefit this would be today.
FC hopes to do a presentation showing some of the best (and worst) unbuilt schemes we've found.
We've found other bizarre proposals, including a 1955 double-deck bridge from Oak Street to Dempster Street in Evanston. Naturally, this would also include a monorail, with an additional stop at Montrose Avenue. These schemes usually are only mentioned once, and as as ridiculous as they seem today, it's worth noting that they were considered serious enough to be published in Realty & Building.
Practical proposals, such as the Central Area Circulator following linking Metra stations with Navy Pier along old rail lines near the north bank of the Chicago River have been discussed since 1987. It's intriguing to think what a benefit this would be today.
FC hopes to do a presentation showing some of the best (and worst) unbuilt schemes we've found.
Re: "Proposed plan for Port of Chicago causeway..."
Posted by:
CrazyIvan25
()
Date: June 14, 2013 02:57AM
I did find some good CTA and pre-CTA subway plans here:
http://www.chicago-l.org/plans/1939CompSubway.html
http://www.chicago-l.org/plans/1939CompSubway.html
Re: "Proposed plan for Port of Chicago causeway..."
Posted by:
Paul Petraitis
()
Date: June 16, 2013 12:01PM
Out here on the far south side we had our share of "proposals". One was extending the "L" from 63rd St south on Wentworth Avenue to the Illinois Central Blue Island Branch at 121st. They also recently proposed extending the Red Line from 95th and the Dan Ryan SW to the C&^EI/GTX tracks so as to build a new commuter line through Roseland (with a station at Kensington) out to Altgeld Gardens. What about the old plan to run the Red Line EAST from 95th to Olive Harvey/Chicago State?
