Sunday, July 20, 2014

Vote Now For Uptown Viaduct Mural Submissions

One of the mural submissions for the viaducts
Both the Wilson and Lawrence viaducts at Lake Shore Drive are slated for reconstruction some time in the distant future, but in the meantime, Ald. Cappleman's office would like your input on which mural design should grace the walkways under each overpass. Visit this link and choose which of the 4 designs you'd like to see under the Lawrence and Wilson viaducts. Voting ends August 8th at 5pm.

Update:  As for the timeline, Ald. Cappleman's newsletter says:  "After the 2 selections are made, we will be coordinating with the State of Illinois for the the minor repairs on the bridges and the City for repainting the viaducts. When both jobs are completed, work will start with the 2 murals.

The work for these underpasses will need to last until the State of Illinois has sufficient funds to do the major overhaul of the bridges, which could be ten more years. In the meantime, improving this area will make the neighborhood look more welcoming to residents that walk and bicycle to the lake shore as well as motorists driving into the neighborhood from Lake Shore Drive."

3 comments:

  1. Mark, read the "update" above. Looks like soon, not immediately. And bad news for the funding to completely replace those bridges, which badly need help and have for years.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm in a vile mood today. I don't deal well with heat. My AC is out and I'm working from my basement. Cool it is, but conducive to work it ain't.

    I think what all Uptowners should agree on is that three people should make this decision for us.

    First, Jeffrey Littleton. He is not only a long time Uptown resident, as he tells anyone who has the misfortune to engage him in conversation, but an artist of the first rank. In this case "rank" refers to the Merriam Webster definition of the word.

    having a strong, unpleasant smell

    very bad and obvious


    Actually Littleton's art is not half bad. It isn't half good, but it's not completely worthless. Is there not a wall in need of a modest mural somewhere?

    Second, we must consult JP Paulus, former Uptown resident and renowned Uptown tour guide. JP is also in good with the Lord and will SAVE you if you so desire. Me personally I'm looking forward to the rapture. I figure with all the believers being taken up into heaven and the general disruption the line at Sonic will be shorter.

    Speaking of JP the other night I was bored and listening to WBEZ online. JP was a caller on a program regarding crime in "safe" neighborhoods. Go 27 minutes into this story to hear JP's siren voice and incisive commentary. Apparently JP's wife has the wrong values. She's concerned about the crime in Chatham and is at least talking about moving. How bougie of her! I'm guessing that unlike JP she didn''t grow up on the hard mean streets of Arlington Heights and might have a more realistic view of what damage living with serious crime could do to herself and their daughters. JP on the other hand as the handpicked messenger of the Lord is unafraid and seemingly unconcerned. After all his comments makes him seem more concerned by sexual assault in Wrigleyville that crime in his own Chatham neighborhood.

    As an aside anyone notice that things have slowly been improving in Uptown since JP moved and declining in Chatham? Is he the causal agent of such changes? Almost certainly not, but it will annoy him so I post it. If he tries to post a comment UU please consider letting it through. JP's comments are like fertilizer for Uptown growth......

    Third of course we must take into account the opinion of "longtime" Uptown resident Ryne Poelker from Uptown Uprising. Depending on which comment of his you believe he may have lived here for somewhere between 3-10 years. My guess is that it's more like 1-2 years, but I could be wrong. It clearly hasn't been 10 years since was he a teen downstate then.

    Now he's Uptown's version of Helen of Troy. Mythical, beautiful and the "face that launched a thousand quips". He's not mythical, unfortunately, and he's not nearly as beautiful as he seems to think he is, no matter what "bogeyesque" comparisons Jon Trott, unofficial spokesman for JPUSA, may make. I know as a badly dressed straight male I'm not expected to make comments about other males "beauty". However, I'm getting sick of seeing comments from Ryne "My eyes are too close" the Revolutionary making cracks at the expense of Uptown's graying gay condo owner population. I emailed Ryne's latest photo, the revolutionary one where's he wearing the Palestinian kaffiya scarf to one of my teen nieces. I won't post her reply as it was suitably vicious, but let's just say she doesn't think he will be America's next top male model.

    Should I add a fourth? Should we take Trott's opinion into consideration? No, I didn't think so.

    Three is enough. Please tell us what to do guys. All Uptown awaits your collective decision.

    ReplyDelete