events

Chicago’s Cable Cars

Thursday, June 6th, 2013 at 12:15

Chicago Cultural Center | Millennium Room

Presenter: Greg Borzo

When most people hear "cable car" they think "San Francisco." Yet for almost a quarter century Chicago boasted the largest cable car system the world has ever seen, transporting more than one billion riders. This gigantic public work filled residents with pride-and filled robber barons' pockets with money. It also sparked a cable car building boom that spread to twenty-six other U.S. cities. But after twenty-five years, the boom went bust, and Chicago abandoned its cable car system. Today, the fascinating story of the rise and fall of Chicago's cable cars is all but forgotten. Having already written the history of the "L," Greg Borzo guides readers through a stretch of Chicago's transit history that most people never knew existed--even though they have been walking past, riding over and even dining in remnants of it for years.

Flashpoint Academy Reception and Tour

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.