6100 north lincoln ave

this motel is in our new neighborhood. "new" meaning we've lived in albany park for 3.5 years. i remember driving past this motel several times, admiring the sign. then one day, the hotel was gone.

before

from marmotfoto's flickr stream

after


what was really disturbing about this particular destruction is that barbara o'conner was heading up the new development. she was the real estate agent that handled the rehab of our condo. and it was for shit. roof leaks, bad wiring, crappy appliances. we tried to sue her, but to no avail. her husband is an alderman. may they both rot in hell.

anyway, her new development went the way of most developments around 2008... the way of the dodo. the sign advertising her name was removed and now it's just an empty lot.

1418 west fullerton

this restaurant was 5 doors down from where i used to live. i ate there once and didn't like it too much. president clinton ate there once when i lived there. the whole length of fullerton was closed from southport to the expressway. it was pretty cool.

one day, it was just... closed. no warning. i didn't know what they were going to do with the buildings, but soon enough, it became clear.


taken in 2003

taken in 2005.

taken today.

1512-1544 west montana

there used to be a factory here. a few years ago, before i moved away, i noticed it was empty. i tried to find a way in, to no avail.

the next time i drove past, it looked like this:

i can't find an old picture right at the moment.

1511 W. Webster Ave

Gutmann Tanner was a huge staple of Lincoln Park. not only did it make the river at webster and ashland smell like leather, but it blocked any sun that might reach the 1500 block of webster.

i remember walking past the tannery at some point. the basement windows were open and i could see piles of pelts stacked high all over the huge room. thousands and thousands of pelts. i guess i was surprised it was still an actual tannery rather than an empty defunct tannery.

then one day, after i moved away from the neighborhood, i drove back and found the entire building... gone.

read about the end of Gutmann's life here.

before

taken from TheeErin's Flickr site, taken on August 26, 2006.

taken from this website

after

from google maps, obviously.

taken by me today

1157 west drummond

i moved to lincoln park in 1999. much has changed since then. one large thing that has changed is that i now have a digital camera. many of the pictures from "before" will be scans from old photos, from other people's websites, or from google maps.

before



after