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    • CommentAuthorEastSider
    • CommentTimeApr 20th 2008
     
    I don't know Ken but I knew his Dad nearly my whole life.He used to travel to the little country towns and set up shop in motel rooms once a week and do eye exams. The next week he would be back with your prescription glasses. No one hour service with Dr Finkelman!!
    CB....do you know if he has passed away? Its been about 11 or 12 years since I saw him last at the Avenue Building.
    •  
      CommentAuthorcancelbot
    • CommentTimeApr 20th 2008
     
    Moderator
    I don't know, EastSider. I never knew him myself, but I recall a magazine article about Ken Finkleman referring to his dad's practice.
  1.  
    Great item in rise and sprawl - including, ahem, one of my pics ;-) he must have had a tour of the place: http://riseandsprawl.blogspot.com/2008/04/epic-mistake.html <p>
    <a href=http://riseandsprawl.blogspot.com/2008/04/epic-mistake.html>
    http://riseandsprawl.blogspot.com/2008/04/epic-mistake.html</a> </p>
    • CommentAuthorrgalston
    • CommentTimeApr 21st 2008
     
    I didn't know that was your photo of the Chicago Theatre, Mr. Christian. I will note that on there.
    Thankful People: mrchristian
  2.  
    cheers ! Great post by the way. Glad to hear that it wasn't complete doom and gloom inside.
    •  
      CommentAuthorSputnik
    • CommentTimeApr 21st 2008
     
    Posted By: rgalstonhttp://riseandsprawl.blogspot.com/2008/04/epic-mistake.html


    Are you trueviking on SSP or were you just posting it for him?
    •  
      CommentAuthorcancelbot
    • CommentTimeApr 21st 2008
     
    Moderator
    I think rgalston goes by the same name here and at SSP?
    •  
      CommentAuthorSputnik
    • CommentTimeApr 21st 2008
     
    My bad.

    rgalston made the original post.

    Feel free to ignore my question.
    • CommentAuthorEastSider
    • CommentTimeApr 21st 2008
     
    What a great article! I was under the impression the theatre was in tatters and ruins. Now I really wonder if Gerbasi was actually inside the theatre or if she needs new glasses.
    • CommentAuthorrgalston
    • CommentTimeApr 21st 2008
     
    Thanks, guys. I understand it could be coming down very, very soon, and I don't think my post, or the actual truth of the state of the Regent (Epic)'s interior will change that.
    • CommentAuthorEastSider
    • CommentTimeApr 21st 2008
     
    Posted By: rgalstonThanks, guys. I understand it could be coming down very, very soon, and I don't think my post, or the actual truth of the state of the Regent (Epic)'s interior will change that.

    This is precisely why I find Mr C and Mr P's pictures so important, I hate like hell to see the 2 grand old dames go but at the very least we have great photographs to remember them by.
  3.  
    I don't quite know how to feel after reading rglaston's article. On one hand, it's fantastic to hear that that by all appearances, the theater does not seem to be in the state of disrepair that had been reported. On the other hand, knowing this, it's even more depressing that the building is going to be coming down.

    As both a cinephile and lover of architecture, I'm decidedly bummed about the demolition (of both theaters). Does the Rise and Sprawl article offer any hope?
    • CommentAuthorEastSider
    • CommentTimeApr 21st 2008
     
    It sounds like a done deal.............so sad to see the city mistreating and abusing their heritage buildings. There should have been absolutely no excuse for leaving broken windows exposed to the elements. Don't we pay enough taxes to cover a sheet of plywood and half an hour of labor?
  4.  
    My feelings about it are not just for the theatres. As I said abovge something really neat is happening on tht block and I hope doing a bulldozer job and dropping in a Route 90 style office building doesn't get it off track. <br>
    <br>
    Thanks for the heads up about it being soon. I really want to get pics of it before it's gone - hopegfully get a glimpse of some of the features as its being demolished.
    •  
      CommentAuthormrchristian
    • CommentTimeApr 22nd 2008 edited
     
    When in Chicago I visited the <a href=http://www.architecture.org/
    > Chicago Architecture Foundation. </a> If you love cities and architecture that is a great place to spend time. They have a Cityspace Gallery with their
    <a href= http://www.architecture.org/exhibitions.html#cityspace
    > Chicago: You Are Here </a> display that “provides a tour of the spaces, places, and structures that define Chicago. It highlights the people who built the city, from the Sears Tower to the Illinois and Michigan Canal.” <br>
    <br>

    <p><img src= http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2075/2433525530_027ec7de3a.jpg?v=0> <br>
    <I>Image: from Cityscape Gallery, Chicago <a href= http://www.flickr.com/photos/christiansphotos>mrchristian</a></I> <br>
    <br>
    <br>

    The Foundation also had a display entitled <a href=http://www.architecture.org/dowedare/index.html> Do We Dare Squander Chicago’s Great architectural Heritage </a>. The title is taken from a sign that photographer and preservationist <a href= http://www.wttw.com/main.taf?p=1,7,1,1,32> Richard Nickel </a> first carried in a 1961 protest to save the <a href= http://cinematreasures.org/theater/1016/>Garrick Theater </a>in Chicago. <br>
    <br>

    <p><img src=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2338/2433525500_fd59e7dfea.jpg?v=0 ><br>

    <I>Image: <a href= http://www.flickr.com/photos/christiansphotos>mrchristian</a> </I><br>
    <br>


    <p><img src= http://cinematreasures.org/images/photos/1016.jpg><br>

    <p><img src= http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3058/2433525508_32cd578208.jpg?v=0 ><br>

    <I>Image: <a href= http://www.flickr.com/photos/christiansphotos>mrchristian</a> </I><br>
    <br>

    Nickel became the focal point of the pereservationist movement in Chicago in the 60’s and 70’s when many of the city’s old theatres and office towers were being torn down. Ironically, he was killed by a staircase that fell from the semi demolished Chicago Stock Exchange building while pohotographing and collecting artifacts. <br>

    <br>
    <p><img src= http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2260/2433525514_191e92d7d2.jpg?v=0 ><br>

    <p><img src=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2323/2433525536_41d9df1d7a.jpg?v=0 ><br>

    <I>Images: <a href= http://www.flickr.com/photos/christiansphotos>mrchristian</a> </I><br>
    <br>

    The 'Do We Dare Squander' display was not just visual. A series of public lectures, tours, videos etc. are part of it as well. Here’ an overview from the <a href= http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/chi-0220archfeb20,1,841454.story
    > Chicago Tribune</a>

    <br>
    <br>
    I thought it was very neat to be in a place that celebrated and embraced its built environment like that.
    •  
      CommentAuthorcancelbot
    • CommentTimeApr 22nd 2008
     
    Moderator
    Would this matter be of any interest to the Demolition by Neglect facebook group? Perhaps those individuals (I'm a member) could be enlisted to contact their councillors and the mayor's office to request that a different solution be found?

    This is a prime example of demolition by neglect, at the hands of the City of Winnipeg, no less.
  5.  
    I've seen mention of these building in that group, but is seems like there's a pretty small number of people that actually care about them.
    Thankful People: rgalston
  6.  
    I don't think don't care I just think there's a lot more options on this one. Easier to galvanize people towards a polarized tear down or not tear down debate. This is a little more than that - incorporating the buildings, bad design of what's going in its place, the debates sorrt of been all over the place. I think people are tired too form The Gray building and the Albert Business Block debate.
    • CommentAuthorrgalston
    • CommentTimeApr 22nd 2008
     
    Several of us admins at Demolitions by Neglect have talked with people from Centre Venture, and WRHA. We've written letters to City Councillors, and I wrote about this issue in the Free Press. There has been a fair amount of support for preserving Main Street, but almost none at the official level: Jenny Gerbasi has shrugged it off as a "shame" that the City let the Epic rot for 16 years, and Heritage Winnipeg has apparently stayed mum. The Heritage Foundation of Canada was calling around recently, but it's all been too little, too late. The two theatres are set to come down very soon, maybe even this week from what I've heard.

    There is simply no "political will" to preserve anything on Main Street, particularly if that would stand in the way of official revitalization plans.

    I'd like to say that we could at least learn from this mistake, but we obviously didn't learn from the Thunderbird House in '98, or the Civic Centre of '62-'68, so why would this be any different?
  7.  
    This is Winnipeg for chrissake...we don't learn from mistakes.