Two Views of the Lake Shore Athletic Club
(photo by Preservation Chicago)
Efforts to save the Lake Shore Athletic Club from demolition are being told in two new video reports recently posted on America's town square: YouTube.
The video by Preservation Chicago covers the group's June 7 protest outside of the building, 850 N. Lake Shore Drive. Demonstrations like these are often short-shrifted to a few seconds on local news. Here, participants are given the time here to provide insightful comments on why the 83-year-old building should be saved.The other video, Preserving Chicago's Lake Shore Athletic Club is more documentary-like and includes interviews with architecture writer Cheryl Kent, Lost Chicago author David Garrard Lowe and others.
"The purpose of the video is to engage citizens,'' Anna Weaver, creator of the Preserving Chicago's Lake Shore Athletic Club told the Urban Observer. "The video features the commentary of four thoughtful, articulate people ...who suggest the building should remain in situ. I hope viewers' appreciation of the Lake Shore Club is even greater after viewing."
Though made on small budgets, both videos show architecture and preservation advocates are no longer just sitting by the phone, waiting for TV and newspapers to interview them. They're shaping the debate by producing their own media and getting it to people who are interested. Architecture coverage by Chicago mainstream media continues to shrink as outlined here previously by way of Lynn Becker's blog. But the internet is a goldmine for news and views on the local built environment.
Comments
There are two different threads over at www.yochicago.com discussing this issue.
I do like the videos you linked to. I don't necessarily agree with the point of view expressed by the commentators in the videos, but I do agree with you that YOUTUBE does provide a valuable outlet for people and groups getting out their messages.
The major media generally sucks and seldom does anything more than a cursory look at any issue.
Now for something completely different. I picked up "Monkey Hustle" at Facets Video. WWW. facets.org
Surprisingly, it and "Cooley High" were up on the shelves. Apparently some company is putting out DVD's of black films from the 70's in a series.
I haven't watched it yet, but I am looking forward to seeing Yaphet Kotto in an embarrassing movie.
Posted by: irishpirate | July 11, 2007 11:26 AM
irishpirate: let me know what you thought of Monkey Hustle. Its truly horrible, but the helicopter shot in the opening credits are worth the price of the rental.
Posted by: UrbanObserver | July 11, 2007 06:25 PM
Lee,
the movie sucked. The writing, the music, the acting, what little plot there was all stunk more than Hegewisch when the steel mills were operating at full capacity. The new dvd offers English subtitles so I put it on fast forward through major sections and just read the subtitles.
Now the helicopter shot in the opening was great. Interesting to see downtown Chicago 30 years ago. Particularly the South Loop area and the Museum Campus. Kinda desolate back then.
There is a movie called "Medium Cool" from 1968 which has some tremendous shots of the area near Lake Point Tower and good shots of parts of Uptown.
I can't say I had much experience around Woodlawn in the 1970's but I enjoyed some of the shots around there. There was still some decent independent retail there at that point. Which surprised me.
I liked the final shot too. With Yaphet Kotto running down Wacker Drive in the middle of the street. Clearly not his best work but amusing.
For me there was no cost for renting. Facets has something they call a "Freedom Pass". For $25 a month or $250 a year I can rent 3 movies at a time for an unlimited time. Plus members get discounts on purchases and free admission for two people to the small theater they have.
I live in Uptown but close enough that I walk or bike there a few times a week. They even offer the same thing through the mail. I don't know how that compares to something like NetFlix but Facets likely offers more titles.
Roger Ebert called Facets "a temple of great cinema." He has a pulitzer so I won't disagree.
Posted by: irishpirate | July 12, 2007 04:08 PM