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| Up in the air | |
| Jul 11, 2007 | |
| Ruth Lopez | |
| Time Out Chicago Magazine | |
| Pertains to Bloomingdale Trail, Chicago | |
| What will be Chicago's next great public project? It could be the Bloomingdale Trail—a park tricked out of a three-mile stretch of abandoned elevated freight line on the Northwest side of town, just south of Armitage that extends from Elston Ave to Central Park Ave. Envisioning The Bloomingdale," at Acme Art Works, displays a slew of design proposals for that unused scrap of urban infrastructure. In addition to 14 projects submitted by professional firms in town, dozens of undergraduates and graduates at several colleges turned in proposal, along with 12 elementary school kids who submitted drawings. Michael Wilkinson, of Wilkinson Blender Architecture, organized the charette on behalf of the Chicago Architectural Club. Like so many others who have stumbled on the trail, Wilkinson became intrigued by possibilities, The trail is a completely underutilized space that is also so available, "it goes on for three miles, so you can be up there and not be hit by a car." The potential for design projects is significant (like how to actually get up there), and what to do with the train line has been a standard teaching assignment over the past few years at UIC and IIT design studios. Wilkinson says that when the city planning office held a community meeting in Logan Square a few years ago, the Bloomingdale Trail was identified as a spot worthy of attention. He has been following the trail ever since, preparing preliminary sketches and advocating for thoughtful design. "If this is going to happen, let's flush out the real design potential ”¦ let's not just turn it into a mediocre park district park," he says. For Wilkinson, these design proposals are more than a fun architectural exercise, it's about calling attention to the large amount of design talent in Chicago. When it comes time to seek bids, city officials should tap into the local pool of designers. "There might be smaller firms that haven't had a chance to participate [in public projects]," he says. Mayor Daley is behind the idea, conceptually. "CDOT is involved,' says Wilkinson, which means they can tap federal money. And there is still environmental testing which has to be done. But the park is going to happen. "The biggest issue is acquiring the property at the right time. It’s an insurance and liability timing issue," says Wilkinson. The whole point of the show, he says, is to get people excited about the trail and at the same time, send a message to the city to not "bury the design." |
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