NorthShore
Conductor
You win the thread!
Ambitious restoration and transformation in the Chicago area
- Thread starter George K
- Start date
Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:
tommylicious
OBS Chief
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2013
- Messages
- 599
The propsed design was unequivocally slammed by Chicago's preeminent, Pulitzer Prize winning architecture critic: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/kamin/ct-biz-union-station-assessment-kamin-0626-story.html
Last edited by a moderator:
tommylicious
OBS Chief
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2013
- Messages
- 599
"The seven-story addition and its 404 rental apartments would bring to the forlorn but grand train station all the grandeur of a Holiday Inn." -- Blair Kamin, Pulitzer Prize Winner.
frequentflyer
Conductor
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2008
- Messages
- 1,170
Agreed.
frequentflyer
Conductor
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2008
- Messages
- 1,170
Holiday Inn? He is being generous.
cpotisch
Engineer
I think that's the point.
Devil's Advocate
⠀⠀⠀
tommylicious
OBS Chief
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2013
- Messages
- 599
jis
Permanent Way Inspector
Staff member
Administator
Moderator
AU Supporting Member
Gathering Team Member
This proposal appears to be a variation on the original plan for that space, which was never built out.
MisterUptempo
Lead Service Attendant
Just a small update. The Chicago Union Station Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/ChicagoUnionStation/
posted a few photos of the restoration work in the Great Hall, specifically of the ceiling.
From February-
And from late June-
These photos appear to be of the ceiling over one of the Canal St. staircases.
https://www.facebook.com/ChicagoUnionStation/
posted a few photos of the restoration work in the Great Hall, specifically of the ceiling.
From February-
And from late June-
These photos appear to be of the ceiling over one of the Canal St. staircases.
Last edited by a moderator:
cpotisch
Engineer
From this angle at least, I can't really see any significant difference.Just a small update. The Chicago Union Station Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/ChicagoUnionStation/
posted a few photos of the restoration work in the Great Hall, specifically of the ceiling.
From February-
And from late June-
These photos appear to be of the ceiling over one of the Canal St. staircases.
Last edited by a moderator:
keelhauled
OBS Chief
The scaffolding is gone and the ceiling is once again visible from ground level.
frequentflyer
Conductor
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2008
- Messages
- 1,170
And eventually the main hall is where the majority of pax will wait for their trains?
MisterUptempo
Lead Service Attendant
Here is a shot of the staircase ceiling before restoration, largely a warm monotone, whereas the ceiling has now been restored to the color scheme that was original to the station when it first opened.
img src - Chicago Architecture Foundation
With the restoration, the coffered ceiling really shows off its magnificent detailing.
Last edited by a moderator:
MisterUptempo
Lead Service Attendant
Well, it appears as if the developers got the hint-
img src - Chicago Sun-Times
Invoking Fair Use, a portion of an article from the Chicago Sun-Times - https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/new-renderings-union-station-office-tower-acquired/
The big news, of course, is that the headhouse is left intact, save for what appears (in the top rendering) to be a single-level structure that rings around the inner portion of the headhouse roof. There are a couple of small structures up there already. Unclear whether this will be used strictly for mechanical purposes, or the developer will locate any hotel amenities up there. Very likely the new addition won't be visible from street level.
The fact that the room count is being bumped up without a major addition leads me to believe that Riverside ditched the idea of making floors 2 & 3 of the headhouse available as office space, as was originally planned, and will instead use it to grow the hotel from 330 to 400 rooms.
The top rendering looks very basic. The office building appears as if it is taking some design cues from the Immigration Court building across the street, and the plaza looks like a sketch an architect might make on a cocktail napkin over drinks with a client. The second rendering does show a more refined vision of both the building and plaza.
Knowing that Rahm had a hand in getting this deal done makes me wonder whether the tenant that the Sun-Times article mentions was the carrot Emanuel dangled in front of the developers to convince them to eliminate the residential units from the headhouse. Either that, or Rahm found a bunch of TIF money in between his couch cushions.
Salesforce has been in town a lot recently, and have been in discussions about locating a new office, bringing thousands of new jobs into the city, at the yet-to-be-built Wolf Point South building. Among Salesforce's demands were a tax break (no problem there - Rahm gives those out like candy), the right to install a large video display on the building (on the riverfront? could be a problem), and exclusive access to riverfront public space several times every year (close riverfront access to tourists? potentially big problem). At the Union Station site, Salesforce could get all of those demands met without much trouble. Might also explain why the two tower plan is now a taller single tower plan, with a much larger public space. Just a guess on my part.
One question that lingers is what Riverside is going to do with the 3.1 million square feet it is allowed to build on the Union Station properties. The new office building is thought to be about 1.5 million square feet. Phase 3 of the project calls for a residential building over the south train shed of 500,000 square feet. That still leaves 1.1 million square feet unaccounted for.
ETA - The design of the office building may just be preliminary. As has already been mentioned elsewhere, the structure bears a remarkable resemblance to 110 N. Wacker Dr., which is currently under construction, and was designed by the same architectural firm that is partnered with Riverside on this project (they did not design the residential monstrosity that was plopped onto the headhouse in the previous proposal).
img src - Crain's Chicago Business
img src - Chicago Sun-Times
Invoking Fair Use, a portion of an article from the Chicago Sun-Times - https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/new-renderings-union-station-office-tower-acquired/
-snip-
Alderman Reilly will conduct another community meeting for the project, in which the details of the redesign will be presented. The meeting will take place on Tuesday, September 11, 2018, 6PM-8PM, in the Burlington Room at Union Station.
The big news, of course, is that the headhouse is left intact, save for what appears (in the top rendering) to be a single-level structure that rings around the inner portion of the headhouse roof. There are a couple of small structures up there already. Unclear whether this will be used strictly for mechanical purposes, or the developer will locate any hotel amenities up there. Very likely the new addition won't be visible from street level.
The fact that the room count is being bumped up without a major addition leads me to believe that Riverside ditched the idea of making floors 2 & 3 of the headhouse available as office space, as was originally planned, and will instead use it to grow the hotel from 330 to 400 rooms.
The top rendering looks very basic. The office building appears as if it is taking some design cues from the Immigration Court building across the street, and the plaza looks like a sketch an architect might make on a cocktail napkin over drinks with a client. The second rendering does show a more refined vision of both the building and plaza.
Knowing that Rahm had a hand in getting this deal done makes me wonder whether the tenant that the Sun-Times article mentions was the carrot Emanuel dangled in front of the developers to convince them to eliminate the residential units from the headhouse. Either that, or Rahm found a bunch of TIF money in between his couch cushions.
Salesforce has been in town a lot recently, and have been in discussions about locating a new office, bringing thousands of new jobs into the city, at the yet-to-be-built Wolf Point South building. Among Salesforce's demands were a tax break (no problem there - Rahm gives those out like candy), the right to install a large video display on the building (on the riverfront? could be a problem), and exclusive access to riverfront public space several times every year (close riverfront access to tourists? potentially big problem). At the Union Station site, Salesforce could get all of those demands met without much trouble. Might also explain why the two tower plan is now a taller single tower plan, with a much larger public space. Just a guess on my part.
One question that lingers is what Riverside is going to do with the 3.1 million square feet it is allowed to build on the Union Station properties. The new office building is thought to be about 1.5 million square feet. Phase 3 of the project calls for a residential building over the south train shed of 500,000 square feet. That still leaves 1.1 million square feet unaccounted for.
ETA - The design of the office building may just be preliminary. As has already been mentioned elsewhere, the structure bears a remarkable resemblance to 110 N. Wacker Dr., which is currently under construction, and was designed by the same architectural firm that is partnered with Riverside on this project (they did not design the residential monstrosity that was plopped onto the headhouse in the previous proposal).
img src - Crain's Chicago Business
Last edited by a moderator:
Dakota 400
Engineer
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2014
- Messages
- 3,741
Looks truly great! A good reason for another trip to Chicago to see this for myself!
Pere Flyer
Lead Service Attendant
Looks like it can now rival GCT! Hope to connect through CUS on my next train adventure!
tim49424
Engineer
Sweet..... I’ll be there next month on my way to New Orleans!
George K
Conductor
I was there last Thursday (6 days ago) and was impressed with what I saw. The new pictures are even better.
Those natural lights do really brightened up the interior of building! I visited that station nearly two months ago. Now I need to visit it again to see the glass ceiling!
cpotisch
Engineer
Welcome back, Sarah!
Oh, that's lovely! It was full of scaffolding and plastic draping when I went through last winter. Can't wait to see it on my next trip, whenever that may be!
