Falling Down...
(Warning: This is by far the longest post I have done to date, sit back and enjoy.)
I got off the train at Belmont this morning while on an errand and got to witness the early stages of how they bring a house down. I am guessing this is part of the Brown Line expansion project.
I came back about an 90 minutes later and could see that they were well on their way. At that point, I found my self completely engrossed in what they were doing.
After an hour of standing on the over-pass bridge (which is about 45 minutes ago at the time I am posting this), the operator of the big machine that is doing the damage took a break, and I realized how long I had been standing there, and that I needed to head home. At this moment, they are still taking this place down. Here is where I left off at.
To heighten this experience... Here are some close ups of what I saw.
There was plenty of water still in the hot water heater as they pulled it down. BTW, notice the poster on the wall on the right.
A close up of the poster, reveals my source for the title of this post.
Debris flying mid-air was quite interesting to watch. It feeds into the natural human fascination with things that fall down and go BOOM!
More flying debris, what is behind this is one of the bathrooms.
Moments later you can see right into the bathroom. That ugly glass shower door is meeting its demise in the best way I could imagine.
And finally, the bathroom seconds after the last image. Tub is gone, and I am glad I was not sitting on that toilet.
Oh, and here is the front of the house that is falling down. It's sad really to loose yet another 19th century building. Yes, I know Chicago has thousands of them, but I lament this loss because the old structures along the "L" add a lot of character to the experience of riding the train.
Thanks for indulging me with your visits to my blog, I plan to keep'em coming!
I got off the train at Belmont this morning while on an errand and got to witness the early stages of how they bring a house down. I am guessing this is part of the Brown Line expansion project.
I came back about an 90 minutes later and could see that they were well on their way. At that point, I found my self completely engrossed in what they were doing.
After an hour of standing on the over-pass bridge (which is about 45 minutes ago at the time I am posting this), the operator of the big machine that is doing the damage took a break, and I realized how long I had been standing there, and that I needed to head home. At this moment, they are still taking this place down. Here is where I left off at.
To heighten this experience... Here are some close ups of what I saw.
There was plenty of water still in the hot water heater as they pulled it down. BTW, notice the poster on the wall on the right.
A close up of the poster, reveals my source for the title of this post.
Debris flying mid-air was quite interesting to watch. It feeds into the natural human fascination with things that fall down and go BOOM!
More flying debris, what is behind this is one of the bathrooms.
Moments later you can see right into the bathroom. That ugly glass shower door is meeting its demise in the best way I could imagine.
And finally, the bathroom seconds after the last image. Tub is gone, and I am glad I was not sitting on that toilet.
Oh, and here is the front of the house that is falling down. It's sad really to loose yet another 19th century building. Yes, I know Chicago has thousands of them, but I lament this loss because the old structures along the "L" add a lot of character to the experience of riding the train.
Thanks for indulging me with your visits to my blog, I plan to keep'em coming!
posted by Devyn at 12:36 PM
5 Comments:
It's a shame that these houses are being torn down. Yes, Chicago has a zillion of them, but one by one, they are disappearing.
I wish there was some other way to improve the transit situation w/o destroying so much of what makes Chicago great.
Chicagolvr
Fabulous blog.
I'm obsessed with your town. I try to get there every chance I get, but I imagine one of these years I'll have to try living there for a while.
Until then, thanks for all the photos!
-- I
This house was only about 5 years old. I remember when it was built.
^ I think you are thinking of a different house. This house was constructed between 1880 and 1895. It is at least 110 years old.
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