January 21, 1992 – The first details
of a $150 million effort to create a new recreation center at Navy Pier are
unveiled, showcasing “a glass-walled indoor park of palm trees, gazebos and
fountains, dubbed the Crystal Gardens, and a three-story pavilion which will
become the permanent home of the Chicago Children’s Museum.” [Chicago Tribune, January 22, 1992] Officials
are particularly excited about the Children’s Museum. The chairman of the Metropolitan Pier and
Exposition Authority board, John Schmidt, says, “The Children’s Museum is very
important because it’s an anchor. It
really sets a tone for the pier. It’s a
core of people and activities.” Mayor
Richard M. Daley, who is at the pier when the plans are announced, says that
Navy Pier will become “a major center for family and recreational activity.” As the photo above shows, before summer was over the long freight sheds between the pier's head house and Grand Ballroom on the east end would be gone and work on the new incarnation of the pier would begin.
January 21, 1900 – With the impending demolition of the Rock Island railroad station at Van Buren Street and Pacific Avenue, the Chicago Daily Tribune provides a look at the oldest train station in the city, a place that pre-dates the Chicago fire of 1871. The Rock Island was the second railroad to enter the city, following the Chicago and Galena closely, and its first station was an “old whitewashed barn” in the same location as the station scheduled for destruction. On October 7, 1871 as the great fire began to consume the city, the president of the Rock Island, stayed at the station until the end, locking all of the railroad’s papers in the station’s big vault. Although the building was gutted, the papers survived intact. The Rock Island’s Superintendent of Telegraph, who had been with the railroad since 1849, reminisces in the article about the old days of railroading in the city, “When we first ran in here we used an old barn for a depot … across the street, where the Rialto and Board of Trade Buildings now are, was vacant ground. Our company had a track run across Van Buren street, and we switched our cars half-way down to Jackson boulevard … at that time the Stock-Yards were located at Michigan avenue and Twenty-second street, and all our stock trains were switched over there.” Times changed, though, and it was no longer practical, from a logistical or a financial point of view, to keep a station in the heart of the Loop. The article concludes with this thought, “Chicago is so big now, they say, that there is nothing particular to be gained by having terminals in the congested down-town districts. In fact, many of the old-time railroad agents are of the opinion that union stations farther out would now be better for the city and good for the public.”
January 21, 1963 -- Both the inbound and outbound Chicago, North Shore and Milwaukee trains are delayed as they begin their last runs. Engineer William Livings, with 50 people onboard, operates the final train into Roosevelt Station on the electric line that began as a Milwaukee street railroad in 1891. 170 people ride on the six cars of the last train north, the majority of them sailors returning to the Great Lakes Naval base. The line has operated at a deficit for over half of its existence, but the combination of new superhighways and the increase in commuting by car spell the end for the little electric line. For more on the railroad visit http://www.connectingthewindycity.com/…/chicago-look-back-a…
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1 comment:
I loved the story! I was reading an article on active air force bases. It's really helpful that now via online media every information regarding military bases can be found collectively. Isn't it really great?
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