The Noyes Street Station is located at 909 Noyes Street in Evanston, Illinois on the CTA Purple Line.   The first station at this site was a ground level station.   It was removed when the elevated tracks were  constructed.

The current station was built in the 1930′ s.  It is elevated on a solid fill embankment.   There is no station house.   Two staircases lead to an area having a customer service booth, vending machines and turnstyles.    The station platform is concrete with a canopy.

In the past, the North Shore Line provided service at Noyes Street.   This was discontinued in 1955.

Unless otherwise indicated,all photos and text are copyrighted

     The Varsity Theater was located in Evanston, Illinois at 1710 Sherman Avenue.  It opened on December 24, 1926.  It was built for a former local resident Clyde Elliot.   The architect was E.O. Pridemore. There was one screen.  I have found two estimates of seating capacity 1850 or 2500.

     The Varsity was built as what was called an atmospheric theater.  It was designed to resemble a Royal French Chateau.  Its sidewalls were made of Italian Marble.  The stage resembled a drawbridge.  The lights in the ceiling mimicked twinkling stars.  Even the Geneva organ was modified to resemble a cottage.

     In the 1930’s, the Varsity became part of the Balaban and Katz chain.  The theater continued in business until the 1980’s.  In later years, it became part of the Plitt Chain.

     After the theater closed, the main level and lobby were gutted and the space was converted to retail space. 

     At one tme, a plan was floated to convert the space into a performing art center.  This never happened.

  Unless otherwise stated, all photos and text are copywrighted

 

There have been 3 bridges named Shippingsport crossing the Illinois River in LaSalle County, Illinois.    The designation of these bridges has changed from US 51, Business 51 to  IL 351.  The bridge was named after a civil war hero Harvey Shippingsport.

     The first bridge at this site was constructed in 1872.  The structure had a swing span.     This bridge was replaced in 1929.

     The replacement opened in November, 1929.  It consisted of 6 Parker Through truss spans.  Each of these were 180 feet long.  There was a single Waddell and Harrington lift span.  It was 200 feet in length.   The largest span was 200 feet.  Total bridge length was 1,679 feet.     The builders of the bridge were Illinois Steel Bridge Company of Jacksonville, Illinois and Stresenreueter Brothers of Chicago.  Construction costs were $500,000.  

    Over the years, the bridge deteriorated significantly and the IDOT considered closing the Highway 351 bridge.   Lobbying by local residents resulted in a change by the state department.  IDOT decided to rebuild the bridge.  Because the new bridge was to be built in the same location as the 1929 bridge, this bridge was removed before the new one was constructed.  This resulted in a lack of a river crossing at this site for two years.

     The third bridge is the current one.  It was built for a cost of 16 million dollars.  Contractor was Edward Kreamer and Sons.  Bridge type is steel girder with a concrete deck.  A new type of high performance steel was used.  The girders are  thin  and carried longer spans.  There are two lanes of traffic.  Length is 1,775 feet.

     In 2004, the bridge was almost damaged by a F 3 tornado missing by a mere 20 feet.

     The Riviera Theater is located in the Uptown Neighborhood of Chicago at 4746 N. Racine Avenue.  It opened in 1918.  Construction costs were $585,000.  The building style is French Renaissance Revival.  The theater was once called the Orpheum.   The architects were Rapp and Rapp.  The theater was built for Balaban and Katz.  Like other theaters in the area, a Wurlitzer organ was installed in 1920.    The capacity was 2500 seats.

     Since 2006, the Riviera is a private night club.  Its owner is Jan Productions. (Also the owner of the Uptown).   The seats have been removed.

The Uptown Theater is located in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago at 4817 North Broadway.  It was built in 1925.  The architects were Rapp and Rapp.  The contractors were the Paschen Brothers.   It was built for Balaban and Katz Company.

It is a large ornate building in the Spanish Revival Style.   It had a six story  grand lobby, a large seating area, a large stage and a very large balcony.   On the outside, it  had an elaborate terra cotta facade.  It occupied 46,000 square feet.  It had a capacity of 4381 seats.  Like many theaters of this era, it had an elaborate Wurlitzer organ.

When the theater first opened, it employed a staff of 130 persons.  This included a 34 person orchestra.    In its early history,   a live stage production accompanied the featured movie.

Over the years as a cost saving measure, live shows were discontinued.   First run movies continued to be shown.  Attendance declined in the 1960’s and  the 1970’s.   Beginning in the 1970’s, the theater was used as a concert venue.    The J. Geils band was the last act to play at the Uptown.

In 1981, the theater was closed for regular events.   The Plitt Theater Organization was the owner at the time.  They made a decision to turn off the heat to the building as a cost savings measure.   As a result,  a water pipe burst causing extensive interior damage.  There was a lack of regular maintenance and  frequent acts of vandalism.  There resulted extensive  interior  and exterior damage.

In 2006, the exterior was secured.  There have been many proposals for uses of the theater building.    Unfortunately,  the current owners Jam  Productions have been unable to raise the millions of dollars needed for renovation.

The Uptown Theater was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

As reported in the Chicago Tribune (6/29/2018),   75 million dollars has been raised from various sources for the restoration of the deteriorating Uptown Theater.   The plan is in the proposal stages and will need regulatory and Chicago City Council approval.  Tentatively, project will commence in fall of this year and will last for two years.

The project will be a joint one with Jam Productions (current owner) and Farpoint Development.

    

Uptown Theatre

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all photos and text are copywrighted

 

 

 

    The IAIS bridge over the Fox River is located in Ottawa, Illinois between the East Norris Drive Bridge and the Fox River Aqueduct I and M Canal.     It was built in 1899.  Design is deck plate girder.  Builder was Lassig Bridge and Iron Works (Chicago).  Largest span is 65 feet.  Total bridge length is 450 feet.   Railroads that have used the bridge include Chicago and Rock Island, Iowa Interstate Railroad.  Bridge is currently active.

  The Abraham Lincoln Memorial Bridge is located in LaSalle County, Illinois.  It crosses 2 railroads, the I and  M Canal,  Highway 351 and the Illinois River.  It was built in 1987.   It is a steel through arch bridge.  It carries 4 lanes of traffic.    Its largest span measures 619.9 feet.  The total bridge length is 7,120.2 feet.  Its width is 82 feet.

     Most recent bridge inspection (July,2016).

Overall                                 Condition.             Fair.                       5 out of 9

Superstructure.                Condition.             Satisfactory.        6 out of 9

Substructure.                    Condition.              Fair.                       5 out of 9
Unless otherwise indicated all photos and text is copywrighted.

The first bridge at this site was an iron lost through truss over the Illinois River  on Illinois 178.    It was built by the Decatur Bridge Company.    In 1906, three spans were destroyed in a tornado.   The bridge was rebuilt in 1907.  Swing spans were added.  The bridge was replaced around 1962.

The current bridge(built in 1962) is in the process of being replaced.  This is a project that will extend between 2017–2019.  The existing bridge  is a steel  cantilevered through truss bridge over the Illinois River on Illinois 178.  It carries two lane of traffic.   The largest span is 377.8 feet.  Total length is 1, 157.8 feet.  The bridge is 63 feet above the river.