Block 37 Plans Revealed

By Margaret Lyons in Arts & Entertainment on Sep 2, 2004 4:18PM

Developers for Block 37 unveiled their plans yesterday for a huge project that would include retail space, and office building, condos, a hotel, express rail service to Midway and O’Hare, a giant obelisk projecting news and travel information, and a massive digital art display.

The design, by Chicago-based architect Ralph Johnson, calls for a four or five-story base with a glass façade that covers the block. Within this shopping podium (that’s what reports are calling it, at least) would be an open atrium, out of which rises the obelisk. Underneath the mall podium would be the CTA hub, which the CTA has agreed to. According to the Trib, you’d be able to check your baggage at the hub, and then hang around downtown instead of at the airport. Um, that actually sounds like a pretty good idea. The complex would be “wrapped…in a digital display of changing art similar to a sculpture in the new Millennium Park….with modern friezes show[ing] the creations of leading artists," and the first floor would include restaurants and night clubs. Nothing says "hot spot" like "kitty-corner to Old Navy."

In addition to the five-story structure, the plan calls for three high-rises, but the specifics of those buildings are not yet hammered out. The proposed hotel, office building, and residential building will take their cues from buyers. Viacom has apparently expressed interest in the office building, which would be on the corner of Dearborn and Washington. So far, no businesses or tenants are on board for any part of the project—retail, office, residence—which is why Mayor Daley has been on the quiet side this time around.

Looking at the picture from the Trib (above), we’re wondering where the obelisk is, where the digital art wrap-around is, and why no one’s complaining that this appears to just be a mall with an L station in the basement.