It’s nice to see stuff like that happening in downtown Elgin, isn’t it?
Another nice thing to see happening in downtown Elgin is the emergence of a tech community. See Mike Sullivan’s article in the Elgin Courier News about Steve Munson’s plans for bringing techies together in Elgin.
Munson said he’s been mulling the possibility of bringing together downtown Elgin high-tech business owners to compare notes.
“For years I’ve been thinking we should get together and exchange ideas and get to know who the other tech/creative firms are and be able to build on that knowledge,” he said.
In fact, Munson said he hopes to schedule the first networking session in the next few weeks.
[Julie] Schmidt said Munson’s idea is a good one.
“It’s a great thing to get Elgin businesses together and find out where natural partnerships might evolve,” she said. Schmidt noted a certain firm may specialize in one particular aspect of technology, while another firm specializes in another.
“You can make a natural partnership that’s beneficial to you and businesses in the community,” Schmidt said.
For more information, call Munson at (847) 695-9476. (Courier News 5/11/08)
Tech businesses are a natural fit for downtown Elgin. I think it’s a promising idea. Date and location for the first event will be posted here when I find out. Stay tuned.
Advocates to Revitalize Cultural and Historic Elgin Sites (ARCHES) is holding its inaugural meeting Monday at 6:30 at the Gail Borden Public Library.
The idea came about a few years ago when members of the Northeast Neighborhood Association rallied to save — for now — the former D.C. Cook Communications building on North Grove Avenue from demolition to make way for a condominium development.
ARCHES members want to serve as a resource for others if a similar scenario surfaces.
Betsy Couture, an ARCHES member who also is a member of Elgin’s Heritage Commission, said neighborhood anchors could include buildings, parks and even things like the west side Kline farm stand, which grew out of an old diner…
At Monday’s meeting, people will brainstorm ideas. Eric Pepa, an architect and heritage commission member, will speak about the reuse of older buildings….
Residents were encouraged to call (847) 742-2857 or e-mail mikonins@aol.com with questions. (Daily Herald Herald 5/3/08)
Can you imagine if it looked like this? Nobody would play hooky any more.
The [High School for the Visual and Performing Arts, LA, California] campus will include four “academies” for education in music, dance, theater arts and visual arts, and a theater for 1,000 visitors which can be open to the public.
The theater lobby, a crystaline shape of glass and metal, that forms the public entrance to the theater, symbolically emphazises the openness of the school to the public and simultaneously serves as an exhibition space which can be linked to the visual arts studios and the event space on top of the tower.
The library is deliberately placed in the center of the school courtyard and rises as a truncated, asymmetrical cone with an oculus towards the sky. Through its central location and dynamic but centralized form this “Space of Knowledge” collects and enhances the energies which revolve in and around it.
The entrance for the day to day student use and the community is expressed through a grand staircase of urban scale and is oriented towards the community. (arcspace)
I couldn’t help thinking of the Elgin Academy when I saw this because their building is likewise for theater and art space (in addition to other things), and that image pictured above looks similar to the Elgin Academy site, grade-wise.
The high school in L.A. is by Coop Himmelb(l)au, and scheduled for completion this fall.
