Thursday, January 4, 2018

Arch Watch 2018: Piecing It Together




It's coming together! This is what's going on with the clock tower arch at the Gerber Building at Wilson and Broadway today. There's still work to be done -- the addition of the clock, the interior row of lights, the decorative side posts, the parapet backing, and more -- but it is most definitely on its way to completion.

The material used in this version of the arch is glass fiber reinforced concrete, which is easier to work with and lighter-weight than concrete. You can see in the photo below how cracked and damaged the original arch became at some point in its original 35-year run between the mid-1920s and late 1950s. (Also, note the 1950s' answer to just about everything that got decrepit in Uptown -- just slap some metal on top of it! Gotta love that "clock.")

9 comments:

  1. ....Looks *GREAT*!! ....Really coming along, *Nicely*!!

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  2. It really looks great. I hope there is some "fix" or decorative element that will cover those two rows of cinder blocks right under the clock face. I'm not seeing anything in the blueprints that shows what goes there.

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    1. Good point! It looks like the clock was raised 2 rows of bricks higher than the original for some reason. The original lined up better with the main columns of the building. And the parts next to the clock came to a point at the bottom while now it's squared off. And there were floral swags around the clock face and globe lights to match the large swags on the main building columns. Much more architecturally correct in the 20's. I was hoping that it would be an exact copy. Unless they are going to add more details to it still. I don't see the swags on the blue prints though.

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  3. Do we know whats going in the building yet?

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    1. No, the CTA has not yet announced its choice of a tenant. We will let you know as soon as we hear.

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  4. Well, it may not be an exact recreation of the original, but at least it's very much in the spirit of the original--something that hasn't been seen in the lifetimes of most of us. If and when the Uptown is ever restored, I hope they will use this glass fiber reinforced concrete.

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  5. ....Some great eyeballing you guys, of the differences between the new, and old arches. ....It'll be interesting to see if this is going to be an exact copy of the original, or not, when the new arch is finally completed. ....And also, to find out why there are differences (if any) between the original, and the copy.

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  6. Well, the original didn't last very long in the scheme of things so whatever changes were made, they were likely made for a reason. Some of us would complain about the rope we were hung with. For the love of all that's holy, stop the nitpicking.

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  7. It is so awesome to see this coming along. Every day I pass it with more excitement. It was a beautiful building and the restoration has been incredible. It doesn't have to be the exact same; it's so well done you'd barely notice the small differences. So glad it actually happened and makes me even more proud to call uptown my hood!

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