events

Thursday, August 5th 2010 at 12.15 pm

Chicago Cultural Center | Millennium Room

Since the closing of Meigs Field more than seven years ago, Northerly Island has been waiting for a comprehensive redesign. Gia Biagi, director of planning for the Chicago Park District, will provide an update on the process that has happened to date, what they have heard so far in their publ...ic review and what is next in the project planning. Joining her in the talk will be Gregg Calpino with the Chicago office of JJR, a national leader in planning, landscape architecture, engineering and environmental services.

Thursday, July 8th 2010 at 12.15 pm

Chicago Cultural Center | Millennium Room

The opening of the blockbuster Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago last year was but the latest in a series of expansions that have taken place at the world- renowned institution since it first opened in 1893. Join museum communications director and author Erin Hogan as she recounts the various additions over the decades that have created not only one of the world's finest art museums, but also one of the largest.

Thursday, June 3rd 2010 at 12.15 pm

Chicago Cultural Center | Millennium Room

Preservation Chicago was born amidst the controversy of tearing down the historic Chicago Mercantile Exchange building at Washington and Franklin, a site that still sits empty. Over the past nine years, Preservation Chicago has issued its annual list of the Seven Most Threatened Buildings in Chicago, many of which are downtown. Some have been saved, some have been lost, and many others are still in limbo.

Join Preservation Chicago Executive Director Jonathan Fine for an overview of the organization's efforts and what battles it sees ahead.

Thursday, May 6th 2010 at 12.15 pm

Chicago Cultural Center | Millennium Room

Ty Tabing of the Loop Alliance and Sue Fogel of DePaul University will discuss a new study on how Chicago's Loop has evolved into Illinois' largest college town and how that's revitalizing the area.

Thursday, April 1st 2010 at 12.15 pm

Chicago Cultural Center | Millennium Room

The Friends of Downtown April Brown Bag luncheon will feature a presentation by Ozzie Chavez and Michelle Woods of the Chicago Department of Transportation who will highlight the Wacker Drive Project with a power point presentation and a Question and Answer period to follow.

Thursday, March 4th 2010 at 12.15 pm

Chicago Cultural Center | Millennium Room

Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture has been commissioned by the owners of Willis Tower – formerly known as Sears Tower – to design a retrofit/greening project that will use sustainable technologies and strategies to modernize the 1973 landmark and make it much more efficient. The project will reduce the base building electricity use by 80percent. The greening project at Willis Tower will demonstrate how to save a significant amount of energy and improve the occupant experience of an existing building during a large-scale 21st century modernization.

Please join Sarah Beardsley of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gills Architecture as she describes this significant project that will affect all of use, whether or not we work, dine or sightsee in Willis Tower.

Thursday, February 4th 2010 at 12.15 pm

Chicago Cultural Center | Millennium Room

Paul Fitzpatrick and Joey Carr of Joseph Freed and Associates LLC (JFA) will report on the current status of the downtown mixed-use project known as Block 37. JFA purchased the project from The Mills Corporation in early 2007 and has been leasing the project while completing construction.

As of October 15, 2009, the Pedway and certain street level retailers, including PUMA, Zara, Anthropologie, Steve Madden and Swarovski were due to open in November, 2009. The project will continue its leasing and as additional retailers complete their build outs, they will open, with the project projected to be completed by December, 2010.

Thursday, January 7th 2010 at 12.15 pm

Chicago Cultural Center | Millennium Room

Roosevelt University will be greatly expanding its presence in downtown Chicago by constructing the second tallest university building in the nation at 421-425 S. Wabash Avenue. The 32-story building will provide space for classrooms, laboratories, recreation, student services, the University's business college and student housing. The building will have a stunning glass exterior that will be an architecturally significant counterpart to the limestone facade of the Auditorium Building, the University's national historic landmark. The new building will be connected to the Auditorium and its upper floors will overlook Grant Park and Lake Michigan.

Please join Lesley Slavitt, Vice President of Government Relations and University Outreach for Roosevelt University and Chris Groesbeck of VOA Associates Incorporated, an architecture, planning and interior design firm, as they share their knowledge of and enthusiasm for this exiting project.

Thursday, December 3rd 2009 at 12.15 pm

Chicago Cultural Center | Millennium Room

Ronald McDonald House Charities of Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana (RMHC-CNI) will build the largest Ronald McDonald House in the world at 211 East Grand Ave., near the new downtown campus of Children's Memorial Hospital located on East Chicago Avenue. The new Ronald McDonald House will provide a temporary residence for families of children being treated at Streeterville hospitals. It will be fifteen stories tall, with 86 guest rooms, three floors of shared communal space and a rooftop garden.

Among its core programs, has four Ronald McDonald Houses in the Chicago area. Its mission is to provide a "home away from home" for families of children receiving treatment at nearby hospitals. At the Houses, families have a comfortable residential setting just blocks from the hospital where their child is being treated. The goal is to keep families together when they need each other the most.

Please join Friends of Downtown on Thursday, December 3rd in the Millennium Room as they host Doug Porter, CEO of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana, Joe Antunovich, President of Antunovich Associates and Al Novickas, Principal at Antunovich Associates.

Thursday, November 5th 2009 at 12.15 pm

Chicago Cultural Center | Millennium Room

For years transportation experts have been talking about the advantages of making Chicago a hub for a Midwest high-speed rail network. However, with Federal and State funding in billions now set aside for this purpose, the reality of high-speed rail has never been closer. Please join Kevin Brubaker of the Environmental Law and Policy Center as he talks about what projects might happen first (and when!), how fast the trains will go, the costs of such a network and the benefits to downtown Chicago.

Thursday, September 3rd 2009 at 12.15 pm

Chicago Cultural Center | Millennium Room

Planning Ahead in the Off Chance that You Want to Add 860,000 sq. ft. to the Top of an Existing Building

In 2006 the City of Chicago granted a building permit to Health Care Service Corporation dba Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois to build up instead of out, making Blue Cross Blue Shield the first project in Chicago to build up.

Please join Friends of Downtown as Joe Dolinar, Project Architect, Goettsch Partners; Lou Rosetti, Senior Project Manager, Walsh Construction; and Jim D’Amico, Vice President, The John Buck Company present the architectural and construction challenges of and the reasons for the vertical addition to 300 East Randolph, located on the north end of Grant Park.

Thursday, September 3rd 2009 at 12.15 pm

Chicago Cultural Center | Millennium Room

Besides the subway, what other infrastructure is lurking below Chicago's downtown streets? Many of us who were residents or workers in downtown Chicago on April 13, 1992 found out part of the answer to that question. Earlier that morning, some 124 million gallons of murky Chicago River water poured through a crack into a little-used, all-but-forgotten 47-mile network of freight tunnels under the central business district. After filling the tunnels, the river water rose into the basements of many downtown buildings, knocking out electric power and natural gas service. Friends of Downtown decided that it was time to revisit that story with the intention of learning more about what infrastructure lurks below the surface of our fair city.

Join Herb Berg of HBK Engineering as he sheds light on Chicago's underbelly, returns to the day of the flood and expands our knowledge of the inner workings of our city below street level and out of sight.

Thursday, August 6th 2009 at 12.15 pm

Chicago Cultural Center | Millennium Room

Besides the subway, what other infrastructure is lurking below Chicago's downtown streets? Many of us who were residents or workers in downtown Chicago on April 13, 1992 found out part of the answer to that question. Earlier that morning, some 124 million gallons of murky Chicago River water poured through a crack into a little-used, all-but-forgotten 47-mile network of freight tunnels under the central business district. After filling the tunnels, the river water rose into the basements of many downtown buildings, knocking out electric power and natural gas service. Friends of Downtown decided that it was time to revisit that story with the intention of learning more about what infrastructure lurks below the surface of our fair city.

Join Herb Berg of HBK Engineering as he sheds light on Chicago's underbelly, returns to the day of the flood and expands our knowledge of the inner workings of our city below street level and out of sight.

Thursday, July 2nd 2009 at 12.15 pm

Chicago Cultural Center | Millennium Room

Daniel Burnham’s 1909 Plan of Chicago was phenomenally important to today's city. The lakefront parks, the forest preserve system, Wacker Drive, the Magnificent Mile—all owe their origins to this famous (but often misunderstood) document. It's the year of Burnham, and centennial celebrations this summer will spotlight the Plan’s history and energize today’s regional planning efforts. It's equally important to recognize the civic leaders and technicians—beyond Burnham—who brought the Plan to life in the early 20th century and shaped the city we know. This lively lecture includes pictures of the Chicago that faced the planners a century ago, the grand visions they had for the city, and what actually resulted from the Plan of Chicago.

The speaker is Dennis McClendon, a Chicago geographer and historian. He wrote the booklet being distributed by the Burnham Plan 100 organization, a web version of which is available online.

Thursday, June 5th 2009 at 12.15 pm

Chicago Cultural Center | Millennium Room

The newly residential Loop is now welcoming its first high school. This fall, students will attend their first classes at Muchin College Prep, a new campus of Noble Street Charter School opening at One North State. Kim Neal, the new school’s principal, discussed the Noble Street Charter School mission and curriculum and the unique opportunities presented by teaching and learning in the heart of Chicago’s Loop. Larry Kearns, partner at Wheeler Kearns Architects, described how a full floor of the former Mandel Brothers (later Wieboldt’s) department store has been transformed into a high school.

Thursday, May 5th 2009 at 12.15 pm

Chicago Cultural Center | Millennium Room

Congress Parkway was a major element in Daniel Burnham’s and Edward Bennett’s Plan of Chicago and has been the primary entrance to downtown Chicago for a half-century. Unfortunately, in its current condition, Congress Parkway is more utilitarian than beautiful, and creates unsafe conditions for both motorists and pedestrians. The City of Chicago Department of Transportation has created a streetscape plan that will make Congress Parkway safer and the grand entry that downtown deserves. Janet Attarian, Project Director for the City of Chicago Department of Transportation Streetscape Program, described the exciting new streetscape design planned for Congress Parkway.

Thursday, April 5th 2009 at 12.15 pm

Chicago Cultural Center | Millennium Room

The beginning of 2009 saw the division of the city’s Department of Planning and Development into two departments. The Department of Community Development was created to promote and preserve a vibrant economy by encouraging job creation, business development and affordable housing to create and sustain strong, healthy neighborhoods. Chris Raguso, Acting Commissioner of the Department of Community Development, explained the changes that have been made to the departmental structure within city hall and what it means for residents, business owners, developers and other professionals.

Thursday, March 5th 2009 at 12.15 pm

Chicago Cultural Center | Millennium Room

The 2003 Chicago Central Area Plan, the work outlined development, transportation, and open space guidelines for Chicago’s downtown. Broad in scope and visionary in its predictions for future growth, the Central Area Plan represented a 20-year vision for Chicago’s development. Benet Haller from the City of Chicago discussed recent modifications to the plan, contained in a Central Area Action Plan document, and adjustments the city has made in response to changing demographics and economic conditions.

Thursday, February 5th 2009 at 12.15 pm

Chicago Cultural Center | Millennium Room

How does someone turn the IBM Building or the Hotel Wacker into an upscale, LEED certified boutique hotel? John Rutledge, founder and president of Oxford Capital Group, discussed his opportunistic and contrarian investment philosophy. In addition to the IBM and Hotel Wacker projects, John has been involved with such hotel projects as the Wyndham, the Hotel Cass, the Allerton Hotel and the Doubletree Hotel–Magnificent Mile.

Tuesday, August 18 2009 from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm
Flashpoint Academy at 25 N. Clark, 4th floor.

A reception and tour of the downtown Chicago school where video games, animation, film/broadcast production skills and movie special effects are born - Flashpoint Academy.

Flashpoint Academy is one of Chicago's newest centers of higher education. Flashpoint's students focus only on what is necessary to develop careers as game developers, computer animators, film makers or sound engineers. Only two years old, the Academy already has 600 students in its Chicago Loop "campus" and expects to grow to 1000 students soon.

Come and see demonstrations of the latest technologies that are being used for today's and tomorrow's entertainment and game industries.

As a bonus, you'll be surrounded by the impressive and extensive modern art collection of Academy President Howard Tullman that adorns the hallways of Flashpoint.