O.K. Let's Get Serious.

Some Questions For You

Wouldn't you like to see a fully developed set of architectural plans for once?Wouldn't you like to have a copy of the drawings that offer the architect's comprehensive and detailed vision for a project, instead of the highly conceptualized, bold yet incomplete plan that was presented by Connie Abels for the 7015 Sheridan Road proposal? Wouldn't you like to be able to make a rational decision based on real information before hand, rather than react to a plan at a one hour meeting to an incomplete concept, that as presented, in it's developmental stage, raises more questons than it answers?

Because, as much as I liked the direction the architect was headed and it seemed others did too, much work remains to be done before an important decision such as this can be made. The proposal that was presented for the 7015 Sheridan Road project is incomplete. It needs to be fully developed as a business plan. There needs to be an impact projection the plan would have on the local economy and immediate vicinity. We need detailed renderings that would allow us to see whether this design concept works architecturally with the existing buildings it will sit between.

We need this information so that we can make a comprehensive, rational decision on whether the zoning variance should be granted, that seems to be in conflict with the Lakefront Protection Ordinance.

So, would you like to see the original drawings for the Gateway Mall project so you could go to the Pivot Point meeting tonight with some hard data and reasonable questions? Question such as WHY the building was not torn down as the original planned proposed? WHY is the completed mall aesthetic and overall environment so sterile compared to the original plan? WHY didn't the money that was saved by not demolishing the building, be applied towards creating a more succesful completed project? WHY wasn't the Passage family offered an alternative space somewhere in the neighborhood, to relocate their succesful business?

The Original Gateway Mall Drawings

Paradise would like to see those plans. In her recent, excellent comment, she asked some very relevant questions that need answers. All of us need answers to our questions and we all have many. All of our questions and opinions are relevant and they would be incredibly helpful before the fact and during the planning process.

In my humble opinion, we are at a developmental planning stage right now with the Pivot Point Building. We also seem to be at a crossroads with regards to future development in Rogers Park.

We are meeting tonight to discuss the Pivot Point Building and its' apparent re revised incarnation. We will be able to ask rational and reasonable questions tonight based on real, developed plans and be able to put this new Pivot Point proposal into a larger context. And that context is the comprehensive, fully developed original Gateway Mall plan as the architects originally envisioned it.. How can we do that you ask?

Because I Am Looking At The Plans Right Now

So Paradise will get her wish and so will the rest of you, who answered yes to some of the questions I posed. I will bring color copies to hand out, of the 4 drawings that were the original, fully developed plans for the Gateway Mall. I will also go to Kinkos and have the drawings enlarged so we can look at them before our meeting. I encourage anyone who is reading this to come to the meeting tonight and call a neighbor and bring them too.Take a look at what could have been in relation to what we have now and from these plans , ask some of your own questions tonight.

This is not a whine about how things could have been, although I, and a lot of you seem to be unhappy about the way this whole project has evolved. This is more about where we are, where we are going and how we should get there.

A Flawed Process

Because now, we might have a bit of a problem. Directly across the street from the Pivot Point Building, a new, 17 story rental apartment building is being constructed with a 245 car parking garage. The north east corner property is for sale and the current zoning will allow an 8 story building to be built there. And in todays' economic reality, a reasonable assumption could be made that it will probably be built that big. So now, with the Pivot Point Building still standing, we will have a canyon of large buildings right at that important and difficult intersection and as the "gateway" to Howard Street and the NOH neighborhood.

Obviously, this is not the concept that was originaly envisioned.

When you see the plans you will understand what the architects had in mind. I will not divulge the details and let everyone instead, have their own reactions. I will only say that the architects made their case and they proved to me that the Pivot Point building should have been taken down for the sake of the bigger picture. I love that building, as you know but given the real facts, as I am looking at them now, I would have agreed with the architects plan. The original plan was not a suburban sprawl theory concept, but an urban solution for an urban neighborhood. What Gateway is now is quite different.

How many more mistakes can we afford to absorb?

My previous posts were written for several reasons and I will write about the chronology of all these posts, this blog space and what we, yes we, hope to accomplish with this forum because I'm working with a partner at the Rogers Park Review. I only ask that you understand that I just consider myself a regular person like you with a couple of cats and a dog and a regular life. The thoughts and opinions written here are not more important than yours simply because I happen to write on a blog.

Your comprehension, suggestions and opinions are relevant and important and I believe that we all can, given hard data and developed concepts, arrive at constructive suggestions and relevant opinions that can help shape our neighborhood by changing the current process by which those decisions are made.

We Need A Comprehensive Development Plan For Rogers Park. We Need A Framework That Will Allow Our Concerns To Be An Integral Part Of The Development Process During The Planning And Not After The Fact.

The Rogers Park Review is Working on the Development of Such a Plan Based on Succesful Models Elsewhere.

We Need Your Support, Your Suggestions and Your Dialogue.

See you tonight.

Gary Fuschi