Since January I
have been down in southern Florida, soaking up the sunshine with the gal who is
most generally wiser than I. Had a
go at deepening the tan again this afternoon on a beautiful sky-blue day. But I’m starting to miss the Big City –
all the more this week since the temperatures in Chicago have rivaled or
exceeded the temperatures down here.
It makes you look
forward to summer, doesn’t it?
Summer offers so
many different opportunities in Chicago, but one of our favorite outings
involves climbing on the old 151 with a couple of lawn chairs and a picnic
supper and heading down to the Pritzker Pavilion for a Grant Park Symphony
evening. There really is nothing
like it – the Michigan Avenue streetwall just to the west, surrounded by
thousands of people, under the stars and Frank Gehry’s magnificent trellis.
I know, I know, New
York City has its Great Lawn. And
it’s great. But it’s a lawn, as
great as it is.
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| (JWB, 2008) |
In Chicago we have
not just a lawn that can accommodate 7,000 people, but an unbelievable
stainless steel colossus designed by one of the world’s greatest living
architects, Frank Gehry. And a
pretty darned good symphony, too.
As far as I know, the Grant Park Symphony orchestra provides the largest
free symphonic schedule in the country, reaching over one million people a year
through its concerts and community outreach programs.
Speaking of Mr.
Gehry, I had a chance to see a brand new Gehry design a month or so ago as Jill
and I cruised slowly down the west end of the Panama Canal. With shiny, silver spires of Panama
City shimmering in the background, Mr. Gehry’s Bridge of Life, or Biodiversity
Museum, presents a contrast, both in form and color.
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| Frank Gehry's Biomuseum nearing completion in Panama City (JWB, 2012) |
Due to open during
summer a year from now, the Biomuseum will use four million square feet and
eight showrooms, split in two levels, to show the geological emergence of the
Isthmus of Panama and the subsequent creation of the Caribbean as a closed sea.
The idea for the
Biomuseum originated over a dozen years ago when the United States handed
trusteeship for the canal to Panama.
In fact, the museum is located on what is know as the Amador Causeway,
which was created during construction of the canal and which served as the
grounds for two large U. S. military bases until 1999.
During the original
construction of the canal waste material, especially that excavated from the
Culebra Cut, was dumped in a desolate area east of Panama City known as the
Balboa Dump. As work continued,
backfill was used to create a large breakwater, a project completed in
1912. The largest of the two U. S.
military bases on the Amador Causeway was Fort Amador, which was the primary
infantry and support base. Manuel
Amador Guerrero was the first president of Panama. The headquarters for the Amador Foundation, the controlling
body for the Biomuseum, is located in the old Officer’s Club on the grounds of
the former Army base, next to the new Gehry-designed campus.
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| The Biomuseum on the Amador Causeway with Panama City in the background (JWB, 2012 |
If it ever gets
finished.
If and when it is
finished, the museum will consist of eight galleries that tell the historically
accurate story of Panama as a bridge for life moving from one continent to
another. The display galleries are
called: Living Network, Oceans Divided, The Human Footprint, the Great Exchange, The Bridge Emerges, Panamarama, and Biodiversity Gallery.
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| Close to the western entrance to the Panama Canal and its port facilities, the new Biomuseum should become a popular tourist destination. That's the hope, anyway. (JWB, 2012) |
It should be a
spectacular museum, when completed, in an extraordinary location, a location
combining both beauty and history.
Maybe in ten years she who must be obeyed and I will return to
Panama. And maybe, by then, Frank Gehry’s
plans will be complete.
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1 comment:
Hi Jim,
I'm having difficulty finding any info online about the current anticipated opening date for the museum--your post is the only one I can find citing "summer 2013" as the latest forecast. Just wondering where you got the info from, so I can be sure it's accurate (working on a piece about the city). Thanks!
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