Some years ago, Gerri Oliver and her Palm Tavern on 47th Street were at the center of a heated and complex fight over the tavern's preservation. The whole story is too long to tell here, but ultimately, the building was demolished. Recently, I happened across a real estate listing for the empty lot and was compelled to write the city's inspector general a letter, which I thought you'd like to
Forum: General Discussion

THANK YOU! That's the photo I've been looking for, too! Thanks a million!
Forum: General Discussion

In one of Richard Lindberg's two book about Chicago crime (I think it's the first volume) there's a article about the fire, and you can find a short article in the Time Magazine archives at their website. One of my father's neighbors was a fatality; I remember him telling me about the fire when I was a kid but I'd forgotten about it until I saw it in the Lindberg book.
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Instead of working clock mechanisms, the tower faces will have a backlit sign on all four sides. Weak.
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

I vaguely remember the clock tower at that intersection; it was demolished when I was very young. If memory serves, it had a blue or green lit clock face. It will be nice to gain a timepiece on the Kennedy. It's looked barren since the Stewart-Warner factory came down.
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

I noticed today that two of the clock faces are being refinished for reuse; there are faint hour markings on them. Cool!
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

A friend of mine is an extra in this film. She says the time and effort spent on the details (buildings, streets, cars, wardrobe) is just incredible. Actually, they're filming in the Aragon Ballroom today. I'd like to see how well they cleaned it up for the shoot!
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

I think the Cooper company took over the factory in the late 60s or early 70s.
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

6315 S. Langley is the former Jackson Park Station (now a church), very similar to the one on South Chicago Ave.
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Wow, excellent! I remember that episode; they raided the place by throwing a trash can through the window and a gunfight ensued. There seem to be different buildings used for the exterior shots of Det. Torello's apartment. Some of other the ones I noticed are 860-880 Lake Shore Drive, one of the buildings at Diversey Pkwy and Sheridan and the building at 2400 N. Lake View (which was also use
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There's been recent work on the old Frederick Cooper Lamp factory on Diversey; the facade on the tower that once had the company name and "Lamps Of Elegance" on it has been removed, uncovering the original features including a filled-in area on all four sides where the clocks once were.
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

It doesn't fit into the scope of the article, but in Des Plaines there's a house that originally was the general store and post office for what was then Orchard Place. The house still belongs to the family, and they have the old postage cancelling stamps including an air mail stamp which has the ORD (Orchard Place Airport) designator. They still ran the airfield's post office until the Doug
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It's just north of Touhy Ave. on Dee Road, on the east side of the street. The back of the house faces a small lake. In the show, it was the house of the Outfit's underboss.
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A scene in the pilot episode was shot at Marie's Riptide Lounge on Armitage. Marie has a framed bunch of photos of the shoot on the wall near the door. I do remember them filming at the "UFO house" (Dee Road in Park Ridge, John McDonald, arch.). Some of the other locations: the now-demolished Del Morocco Club on Lake and Halsted, South Shore Country Club, Amy Joy Donuts on Milwa
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Now that I look at the newspaper article, I don't think that structure in the photo is it. This roadway/platform was much taller than the one in the photo appears to be. I'd guess it was about thirty feet high or so.
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There are some remnants of the Army's Nike-class missile facility in Jackson Park, in what is now the bob-o-link meadow. Most of what's left are just a couple of concrete stumps and manhole covers. Pretty strange to think of the lake shore lined with anti-aircraft missiles.
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There was a book in which was printed the photo I saw...I'll try to dig the title out of the cobwebs of my brain. The newspaper article photo looks like it, but I'm not sure of the vantage point. The structure was just west of the railroad tracks close to the street.
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That's it. I've only seen one grainy b&W photo in print. I actually went to photograph it a few years ago and when I got there, it had been reduced to a pile of rubble with a Home Depot being built nearby. It was pretty imposing (scary, actually) when passed at night.
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Does anyone remember or have a photo of the "abandoned roadway" that used to be on Grand and Oak Park Avenues, just west of Riis Park? When I was a kid, the lore was that it was a section of unfinished highway that was left behind after budget cuts shut down the project. It was a elevated section of roadway, with a gentle curve that didn't continue to the ground. As it turns o
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Serhii Wrote: > > I also have pics of Susie's kicking around > somewhere. I believe they have good milkshakes, > right? That they do. Over 60+ flavors, which have probably doubled since I was there last.
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

They are indeed residences. The entrances and windows face the common area that isn't quite visible from either street.
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings