Results tagged “mccormickplace”

File this under No Surprise to Anyone: Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, otherwise known as McPier, is deep in debt. Crain's is reporting that according to the new chairman of McPier,

McCormick Place East is in need of $100 million worth of repairs in order to be properly maintained, calling into question the future of the building once referred to as ruining the Chicago skyline by Mayor Daley. In order to get the money to upgrade, the Illinois General Assembly needs to authorize the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority to re-structure their debt; otherwise there won't be enough money to cover the costs.

Bears fans planning on spending their Sundays tailgating at a pair of parking lots should prepare to pay a little bit more than they did last year. The two lots - one at the McCormick Center and one at 31st & S. Moe Dr. - will see nearly a 50 percent increase from their $17 2008 costs to $25 in 2009. And why, exactly? According to Mary Kay Marquisos, spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Pier & Exposition Authority, it's to cover "the cost of security, portable toilet facility rental, shuttle buses, cleaning and parking taxes." Also, due to ownership issues, there will be no parking at Michael Reese Hospital.

          

This past weekend, Chicagoist visited the trade show of the National Restaurant Association and its sister convention, the International Wine, Beer and Spirits Event. Despite the downturn in the economy, the convention was still hopping, filled with new products, new packaging, extravagant pavilions and thousands of companies hoping to sell the “next big thing” in food service. You’ll be seeing products and companies that we met up with at NRA featured over the next several months but for now, here are a few notes from a first-time attendee.

The annual National Restaurant Association trade show, beginning tomorrow at McCormick Place, serves two primary purposes. It's a showcase for new products tailored for the restaurant and food service industries. From point-of-sale systems and cookware to beverage dispensers and entertainment systems, NRA Show 2009 is one of the best places to find customers for the latest hot thing.

The Thrive Allergy Expo will take place this weekend at McCormick Place, featuring speakers, events and activities geared toward individuals with allergies and celiac disease.

              

While most were checking out the last day of the Chicago Auto Show, we decided to head over to the west end of McCormick Place to visit the Swans at the International Kennel Club dog show. Almost 1,000 handlers showed up with over 6,000 canines to compete for "Best in Show" and to put us in complete puppy dog overload. Dogs also competed on two different agility courses, and there were numerous booths set up to purchase plenty of indulgence items for your pampered pooch, recession be damned.

As promised, Chicagoist checked out the 2009 Chicago Auto Show over the weekend. And as suspected, the show was a smaller event than in recent years. While most auto makers still had their wares on the show floor -- Porsche was the noticeable exception -- the brands clearly scaled back their displays in both decor and in terms of the numbers of cars on the floor. This was especially evident for the larger brands, who used to feature a number of their most popular models for attendees to check out in all the various trim levels. In booth after booth this year, however, just one of each model beckoned people to check it out.

Times remain tough for the auto industry, with sales having fallen off a cliff due to a perfect storm of high gas prices, tight credit and the poor economy. But while we may be avoiding showrooms like the plague, we still want to check out the latest metal from Detroit and Munich -- especially if we can do so without packs of hungry salesmen nipping at our heels. While it's likely to be a less elaborate affair compared to years' past, the Chicago Auto Show must go on.

Oh man, we almost forgot about the Children's Museum debate! Luckily, Alderman Brendan Reilly wants to keep it front and center, which is why he sent the Museum a list of 24 possible places it could relocate that aren't Grant Park:

Who doesn't love dogs? Besides these two, we mean. Many of us here at Chicagoist have our own pups that we lavish with too much attention and expensive things to chew. There's nothing that warms our hearts after a long day at the office like the excited look and wagging tail of our canine companions.

There are few days of the year that Chicagoist look more forward to than our annual trip to the Chicago Auto Show. When we were a kid, we dreamed of the day we'd be able to drive any one of the shiny machines we admired so. Now, we fantasize about being able to trading up to something a bit more sexy and exotic that our current ride.

If you’re looking for a little summertime fantasy amidst this arctic freeze we’re having, then head on over to McCormick Place for the 78th Annual Chicago Boat, RV and Outdoor Show, which is in its final day. New for this year is the Accessory Center, which highlights all the latest we need to bling our boats, from safety equipment to the latest in outdoor entertaining. You can also “test drive” a pair of Crocs, borrowing a pair while you’re at the show.

Goose Gossage is the lone Hall of Fame inductee this year. He should also be inducted into the mustache HoF, dudes. [MLB.com]

Mike Madigan made it seem like he was ready to deal this week, with a letter to state legislators saying that he'd endorse a bill to expand gaming in the state in order to fund roads and schools. In announcing his "compromise", he said he is "willing to embrace compromise and offer a sincere, serious proposal that will receive my full support and backing." That expansion may not happen, though, as some lawmakers have enough...

The Greenbuild Expo started this morning at McCormick Place with a keynote by none other than Al Gore's president, Bill Clinton. Greenbuild 2007 brings 18,000 building professionals together for education sessions, lectures, tours of Chicago's greenest buildings, and a huge number of booths featuring new products and technology. Greenbuild says they chose Chicago because of the city's legacy of great architecture and Mayor Daley's dedication to all things green. (During his reign, the city has...

There isn't total agreement on just how "green" Chicago is (though if anyone knows, it would be Blair Kamin). The city hopes to make some progress in Al Gore-ifying the city with its two new programs.

Working Mother magazine's annual Top 100 companies for, yes, working mothers includes eight Illinois businesses. Speaking of working mothers, congratulations to Lisa Madigan and her husband Pat, who are expecting their second child.

Now that we’ve recovered from the sugar crash, we can tell you about some of the things we found during our visit yesterday to the National Confectioners Association’s All Candy Expo at McCormick Place, which ends tomorrow. The industry-only event draws 20,000 visitors to town to sample over 2,000 gums, candies, and snack foods. New products and trends within the industry are also unveiled with all the accompanying sizzle to prospective retailers and wholesalers. The...

Cyrano's Bistrot is open again, after a week and four inspections to combat a roach infestation caused by condo renovations above the restaurant. Congratulations, Chef Didier. Just don't expect us to visit anytime soon. Gabriel Magliaro of Half Acre Beer Company has been busy. Half Acre and Bloodshot Records have a promotion where Bloodshot is offering a sampler album as a free download to Half Acre fans. Magliaro will also be at Whole Foods...

The Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center site is being considered for redevelopment as the Olympic Village, moving the proposed site west off the lakefront. Colliers Bennett & Kahnweiler Inc. has already received bids on the land, which Medline Industries Inc., Michael Reese's parent company, is trying to unload. The hospital is in discussions with Cook County to form a potential partnership, although no formal agreement has been reached yet. Among the benefits of moving...

Former WKQX-FM 101.1 radio host Erich "Mancow" Muller filed a lawsuit Tuesday against his former employer, saying radio officials disparaged his show and blocked him from getting other work. We are getting pretty sick of the cell phone drivers, but we are always amazed at the cell phone bikers (not in a good way). Yesterday, an 19-year-old woman who was struck and killed by a garbage truck on the Northwest Side, was apparently talking...

About 17,000 union members, along with their friends and their families, filled the south end of Soldier Field for a debate, hosted by the AFL-CIO, among the Democratic contenders. A sweaty sea of union members in colored T-shirts, representing everyone from the Service Employees International Union to the United Steelworkers, from the AFSCME to the IUPAT, drank cold bottles of water and listened to Democrats talk about how their administration would work for working families,...

Here’s what happened while Obama turned 46 and you were rocking your ass off: The Sunday Trib assessed McCormick Place’s new West Building, which opened Thursday. Blair Kamin deems the monstrously huge space a success, citing its flexibility and openness to its neighbors. The list of August dance festivals keeps growing, sort of. Reasons for Moving, an Interdisciplinary festival presented by Striding Lion features theatrical work incorporating movement, text, and music, starts August 9 at...

Yesterday, we focused on the presidential candidates that made their way to the YearlyKos Convention at McCormick Place. But the event wasn't just Democratic hopefuls trying to connect with bloggers and grassroots activists from around the nation. The annual event was also an opportunity for progressives around the country to get out from behind their laptops for a few days and talk to each other, sharing tactics, experiences, pitfalls, strategies and ideas, networking with other...

Tomorrow is the kick-off the YearlyKos, DailyKos's annual "unconventional" convention for grassroots Internet political activists, or "Netroots" community. This year's party will be hosted in Chicago, at the illustrious McCormick Place.

To some people – more specifically the U.S. food safety police – sous vide are two very bad words. But the people at Cuisine Solutions, an international food manufacturing company with its U.S. headquarters in Alexandria, Va., that utilizes this style of cooking for the food it prepares for the first-class cabins of Air France and American Airlines, as well as large hotel chains, are working hard to change that perception, and at their recent...

The National Restaurant Association trade show (we'll just call them the "good NRA") is still in full swing through tomorrow at McCormick Place. We went this weekend, took in some of the exhibits, marveled still at the sheer enormity of McCormick Place, and got enough Cholula samples to last us through the summer, or at least the next bloody mary, and our clothes reek of fried food.

The big event happening this weekend is the National Restaurant Association's Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show at McCormick Place. The event features over 2,000 exhibitors in nearly 900 product categories showcasing the latest kitchen innovations and technology, sustainability concepts, and fine cuisine. Highlights of the show this year include a celebrity bookstore (a new feature where celebrity chefs and restaurateurs will be in attendance signing books) a food fair featuring regional specialty foods from across the country,...

We've always considered ourselves to have quite a bit of confidence in our city, stepping onto the pavement this morning, seeing happy people and their dogs, we couldn't help but smile and take a deep breath of some long awaited warm air. It's always important to stay on top of the game though, so this weekend we thought we would take a stab at improving on this. We agree with the Chicago Center for Green...