This photo was taken 11/12/2011. Chicago has floated the idea of using the historic, iconic bridgehouses for

advertising and now the bridgehouses at Wabash Ave. have these B of A banners prominently displayed.

It doesn't speak well for a city that takes so much pride in its architectural legacy.

Please let your alderman and Mayor Emanuel know your opinion on the matter.

( Via U.S. Mail - The Hon. Rahm Emanuel, Office of the Mayor, City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle Street, Chicago, Illinois 60602)

****

Based on this 11/26/2011 update, the city seems focused on this idea.

It's one thing to have ads in water bills - quite another to make historic landmarks billboards.

Please keep the pressure on. Contact your alderman and the mayor.

****

On 12/2/2011 Blair Kamin reports some of the advertising banners have come down.

****

As of 12/15/2011 the last banner was removed from the N. Wabash bridgehouse.

****

A "Little Plan"

Using historic landmarks as billboards is disturbing for many reasons but, the most discouraging aspect is the lack of respect shown for these icons and the history they represent. No attempt has been made to harmonize the ad with its surroundings, 21st Century boorishness meets 20th Century elegance.

It's interesting that a city supposedly so proud of its architecture would pursue such a scheme. One can only imagine the reaction of the city visionaries who implemented the Plan of Chicago. Daniel Burnham is credited with the quote:

“Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men's blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone will be a living thing, asserting itself with ever-growing insistency. Remember that our sons and grandsons are going to do things that would stagger us. Let your watchword be order and your beacon beauty. Think big.”

The idea to advertise on historic landmarks is “a little plan” developed out of desperation and weakness. Will the revenue earned (about $4500 for the Wabash experiment) compensate us for what we lose by cheapening our heritage? Will the landmarks being defaced receive any of the revenue generated – or will they continue to crumble with the rest of our infrastructure?

What if our corporate citizens were approached with a sponsorship program that allowed them to help defray the annual costs of keeping a particular bridge free of graffiti, the bridgehouses in good repair, etc? For this act of good citizenship, they would receive a plaque on the bridge commending their service to the community. They could be remembered and lauded for contributing to the preservation, rather than the cheapening, of these historic landmarks.

Here are some other ideas: What about using the bridges to generate revenue by harnessing people's natural curiosity of them? This could be done by offering “insider” tours (within the necessary security and safety constraints) throughout the year and during scheduled bridge lifts. There are waiting lists of people willing to pay tidy sums to spend a night in lighthouses and fire lookout towers, why not take advantage of the ornamental bridgehouses (without the operator's controls) along the main stem? What a unique way to spend a night in Chicago! Revenue generated by these ideas would go directly to a bridge fund.

This additional revenue directed to the bridges could free monies to be used elsewhere in the budget. This would achieve the same objective as the advertising without visual pollution.

As we all know, having an idea is easy and implementing it is hard. The City of Chicago and Mayor Emanuel need to re-think this idea of putting advertising on city “assets.” We do not feel slapping a plastic banner on an historic landmark is a positive use of these wonderful symbols of Chicago.

Jim Phillips and Pat Armell

ChicagoLoopBridges.com

Other's thoughts:

Blair Kamin's The Skyline blog

Historic bridges

Unless otherwise noted, content of chicagoloopbridges.com ©2008-2012 James S. Phillips

***