April 14 will mark the 100th anniversary of famed architect Louis H. Sullivan’s death. It’s the ultimate irony that a $57 million TIF grant has just been announced to help fund improvements to the 30 N. La Salle building, a bland high-rise that replaced Sullivan’s historic Chicago Stock Exchange Building during the 1970s.
Demolition of the Chicago Stock Exchange Building occurred despite a passionate public protest and became a tragic milestone in Chicago’s fraught preservation history. To make this a double layer of tragic irony, April 13 will be the 52nd anniversary marking the death of pioneering preservationist and Sullivan authority Richard Nickel, who died in a collapse while rescuing artifacts at the demolition site.
Perhaps it’s not fair to hold the sins of the past against proposals to revitalize today’s struggling La Salle Street. But at the same time, using those $57 million in TIF funds to demolish the present building and replace it with a pleasing public amenity would be a most satisfying dream.
Tim Samuelson, cultural historian emeritus, city of Chicago
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What are Illinois’ and Indiana’s traffic plans for the eclipse?
We’re all hoping for clear weather for the eclipse on April 8. Let’s also hope the respective Illinois and Indiana departments of transportation, along with state and local police departments, do a better job managing the surge in traffic than they did for the 2017 eclipse.
Removing any unnecessary lane closures along with stationing traffic police at choke points (red lights and stop signs) on the north-south roads in our two states needs to happen on that day.
Bob Fournier, Union Pier, Michigan
Fix pension mess
The city of Chicago has a pension crisis, and the shortfall is about $52 billion. There are many reasons for that shortfall, but every mayor in the last 20 years has kicked the can down the road, some with only band-aid solutions. The new Bally’s casino is supposed to help this crisis, but that’s not looking good right now. The city has more than 30,000 employees, and they work hard. When they retire, they expect to receive a pension. They have earned it. The politicians in this city need to figure this out and do their job.
Richard Barber, Mount Greenwood
Say no to Bears
Thank you for the clear-eyed response to the Bears trying to bulldoze land for a new major development of the lakefront with seemingly the mayor and city showing no leadership and vision. The public deserves better leadership on this issue. And why should we be subsidizing the Sox and Bears with public money when economists say this would be a terrible investment?
Andrew Burnham, South Loop
