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New wrought iron fence for historic Linwood Cemetery

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Linwood foundation giving historic cemetery a facelift

By MIKE OWEN

The final resting place of some of the city’s most distinguished citizens is getting a facelift — along its back side.

Up until recently, historic Linwood Cemetery has been surrounded on two sides by black wrought iron fencing, topped with sharp spires. And since 1957, the back two sides of the cemetery, which run along 17th Street between Fifth and 10th Avenues, and a stretch of the west side facing Fifth Avenue, have been graced by a chain link fence topped with barbed wire to discourage trespassers.

For a week now, workers have been digging and welding in place matching iron fencing along Fifth Avenue and are working their way up the 17th Avenue side, courtesy of the Historic Linwood Foundation.

The foundation, established in 1997 as an effort to restore and renovate the city’s first cemetery, works together with the city to maintain the 28-acre historic property.

Foundation Executive Director Jane Brady said she was not at liberty to divulge how much the project will cost, but said it was made possible by a gift from Warren Foley, chairman emeritus of the foundation’s board of directors.

“We’re so glad it will finally encircle the entire cemetery,” Brady said. “We’re always doing something here to renovate, restore and beautify.”
The fencing project, being done by Iron Works International of Atlanta, will replace more than 2,000 feet of chain link fencing with wrought iron.

The work was originally estimated to take about two months.
“But they’ve only been at it about a week,” Brady said.
“And you can see how far they’ve gone.”

The workers have finished the stretch along Fifth Avenue and about 150 feet along 17th Street.

The Historic Linwood Foundation and the Riverdale/Porterdale Foundation provide private funding and volunteer help to assist the city in maintaining its historic cemeteries, according to Deborah Abraham, cemetery division manager for the city.

“We’re in partnership with the foundations,” she said. “They do whatever they can do that we’re not able to do to help enhance the cemeteries.”
Riverdale, Porterdale and East Porterdale, the city’s other three cemeteries, are clustered near the intersection of Victory Drive and 10th Avenue. Porterdale was established in 1836, Riverdale in 1890 and East Porterdale in 1946.

But Linwood Cemetery is literally as old as the city. It was established in 1828, the same year the city was incorporated by the state legislature.
Its first resident, whose grave’s actual location has long been lost to time, was 7-year-old Truman Thomas. He was the son of Edward Thomas, the city’s first surveyor and planner. The boy succumbed to the elements of an unusually harsh winter of 1828 and was buried on land that his surveyor father would soon dedicate to be the city’s cemetery.

Among the others interred at Linwood are: Francis Joseph Springer, founder of the Springer Opera House; W.C. Bradley, the industrialist founder of the business empire that still bears his name; Dr. John Pemberton, the pharmacist who created Coca-Cola; H. Augusta Howard, the woman who founded Georgia’s Women Suffrage Association; and Confederate Gen. Henry L. Benning, for whom Fort Benning is named.

In the southwest corner of the cemetery, an old iron cannon stands sentinel over some of the hundreds of graves of Confederate soldiers buried there.

from ledger-enquirer.com

1860′s Victorian home for sale in Lincoln Park video

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An 1860′s farmhouse for sale in Lincoln Park

By Joe Zekas

Dennis Rodkin recently visited a Victorian home on the 2000 block of Seminary, in Lincoln Park’s DePaul neighborhood, and recounted some of its early and more recent history:

Built in 1861 as the farmhouse for a truck farm that delivered its produce into Chicago, the house still has several of its original elements. The ornate gingerbread on its Victorian façade, the front porch, and even the wrought-iron fence are all believed to date to the home’s construction.
…
The house was rundown and a candidate for demolition in the early 1990s. That’s when a renovation partnership bought it from the family that had owned the property for about 90 years.

When I lived on the 2000 block of Seminary, the home was known as “Mrs O’Neill’s house.”

Edna O’Neill was in her 90s when I moved there in the late 70s, and most of the block came together to help her care for her home and herself. People took turns taking her grocery shopping, shoveling her snow, maintaining the house, helping her get to doctor appointments, etc. The block held a birthday party for her in the back yard of her home every year. The neighborhood was far less homogenous and far less affluent at the time, and still had traces of its once largely Italian population.

In her younger years Mrs O’Neill had been a secretary to Bathhouse John Coughlin. She also remembered attending the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition as a young girl.

The home evidently passed through an estate, since 14 separate owners executed deeds in 1991 to transfer the property to new ownership, according to the Cook County Recorder’s office.

The home, at 2029 N Seminary, is currently listed for sale at $1,574,900 with Coldwell Banker’s.

from chicagonow.com

Francis Derby’s King

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The Early Word on Francis Derby’s King

Chef Francis Derby, an alum from Gilt, Tailor, and Momofuku, recently opened King, appropriately named after its location on 5 King Street. The antique decor and menu are both channeling old world Europe. The reviews have been mixed with some raves, some prominent shills, some references to Medieval Times, and some debate about the champagne buttons. Let’s take a more in depth look at what the early patrons have to say.

REB Eats writes a detailed account of her experience at King, with this excerpt summing it all up: “Dark wood and leather accents, wrought iron chandeliers, and sepia-faded antique portraits, emanate an elite underground society from the days of yore. Yet the staff could not be more welcoming and the cuisine could not be more progressive. The ambient historical charm only sets the platform for food – and drink – with a nouveau twist.”

Essential Luxuries writes an in depth description of a recent meal at King, ending with: “There were many things about the King Restaurant that I liked – several of the dishes were quite unique and lovely. Others, such as the scallops and the poached apple, were not quite as strong – they lacked in flavor and consistency. I am excited, however, to return to this newcomer restaurant after it has had time to work out the kinks (which there are only very few of).”

“We seemed to have a lot of waiters helping our table but they didn’t get our white wine out in time for our appetizers, which was too bad. All in all, they seemed a bit clueless about wine service. However, they did take the entire cost of the white off our bill, which I thought was overly generous. I’m not sure if we were comped anything else, but Francis did come out to say hello at my tipsy request. An interesting and baffling detail- every table has a light switch which can be triggered for champagne delivery. We triggered the switch (before we knew exactly what it was) and a waiter came over about 20 minutes later to ask if we wanted something. According to Francis they’ll have a lot of champagne choices in the future, when they’re able to fill out the wine list a bit more. A bit like calling over a stewardess…All in all, a very good meal with mostly hits and a few neutrals. The food is much more interesting than what Francis was doing at Shorty’s 32. I think it will be interesting and exciting to watch them find their feet here.”

An Eater commenter compares King to Medieval Times: “Went last night. Disorganized, slightly strange, poorly executed. Medieval Times was the pervasive theme, from the heavy curtains and candelabras, to the gothic, nearly illegible font on the menus. Food was disappointing and lacking distinction.”

TIn response Adventures in Shilling, this commenter wrote: “I don’t know why you think this is shilling, have you tried King? Chef Derby is taking some of the tricks he learned running David Chang’s Momofuku Ssam Bar and outdoing his former boss! Everybody talks abou the Gougeres at EMP, but the beer cream here puts them over the top. Even my non-foodie friends liked the Tripe Gratin…so unexpected and delicious! Can’t wait to go back, the whole menu sounds great and the champagne buttons are so much fun. And have you seen the brunch menu?! Hopple Popple will be hopping into my mouth next Sunday!! Standing ovation to Chef Derby and his team and thanks for choosing my neighborhood!” [Eater Comments]

The Needs Improvement News: The Food Doc thinks King still has some work to do: “Sometimes, the marriage of the classical and avant-garde works, as in the case of Mr. Derby’s version of Caesar salad, wherein frisee, soft-cooked egg, and smoked octopus substituted for the lettuce, coddled eggs, and anchovies, producing a dish that is both familiar yet unique, and certainly scrumptious. Other times, the results are head-scratching, such as the tripe stroganoff, where the “creme fraiche noodles” turn out to be limp and flavorless, and do little to enhance an otherwise wonderful tripe stew. Other dishes may need a bit of tweaking: the skate was a tad too salty, overpowering the cauliflower puree; the fluke crudo needed some sweetness to balance the acidity from the citrus and the herbal notes from the fennel; the curd in the lemon tart was too stiff, and the espresso foam was bitter (fortunately, the sambuca syrup was a lovely addition); and the salted caramel creme brulee was too rich. All in all, The King is a restaurant whose food has yet to equal its ambition. In time, perhaps, and with a few improvements, the restaurant will produce a menu that embodies its objective to a T.”

Alexis de Boschnek

from ny.eater.com

 

The wrought iron gates of Landsborough’s Peace Memorial Park weren’t enough to keep them from ripping up the turf

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Hoon rampage rips up sport field

Anthony Brand

HOONS have gone on a rampage at a Coast sporting field, causing thousands of dollars worth of damage.

The wrought iron gates of Landsborough’s Peace Memorial Park weren’t enough to keep them from ripping up the turf with a vehicle on Friday night.

The ground is home to the Landsborough Cricket Club and maintained by volunteers in conjunction with the council.

Cricket club life member David McIntyre said the offenders removed the bollards from in front of the fence and drove through it before smashing through a separate piece of fencing on their way out.

“They lifted the bollards and drove straight through the fence,” Mr McIntyre said.

“They then proceeded on to the ground and drove all over the grass, ripping up a lot of the turf.

“As they left they drove through another part of the fence.”

Mr McIntyre said the vandalism was a slap in the face for volunteers who worked tirelessly to maintain the once-immaculate turf, mowing the ground themselves.

“When I saw the damage my immediate thoughts were with all the volunteers that help to keep the ground in such great shape,” he said. “We’ve had so much support from those volunteers and to see the damage done is very disappointing.”

Early estimates put the damage bill at more than $2000, with the club having to dig into hard-earned fundraising dollars to foot the bill.

“We don’t know exactly how much it will cost at this stage,” Mr McIntyre said.

“They’ve done at least $2000 to $3000 worth of damage – maybe more.

“Along with ripping up the grass, they ripped up the artificial turf on the wicket as well, which adds to the cost and we’ll probably have to replace that too.”

The damage comes in the middle of the cricket season, forcing matches to be moved to other fields.

“It means the ground will be out of action for some time,” Mr McIntyre said. “We’ll get it back as soon as possible but in the meantime the matches will be shifted to other grounds. We’re not sure where yet.”

from sunshinecoastdaily.com.au

Nerja caves

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Explore Nerja caves

By Chitra Ramaswamy

The 65 km drive from Sunset Beach Resort where we are vacationing is scenic. Our agenda for the day is visiting the famous Nerja (pronounced ‘Nerkha”) Caves in the municipality of Nerja, most picturesquely located on Spain’s southern Mediterranean coast marking the eastern tip of Malaga’s Costa del Sol.

Once called “Detunda” by its Roman settlers, “Nerja” the town’s present name is perhaps derived from “Narixa” meaning abundant spring. The town was so renamed by the Arab settlers who were immensely attracted to its agricultural and silk products. At one time, a fishing town, Nerja located in the Axarquia region of Malaga, is now a much sought after tourist destination. The scenic Sierra de Burno, Sierra de Almijara and Sierra Tejeda descend down dramatically upon the 16 km turquoise aqua stretch and overlook the town. We drink in the vista from the spectacular Balcony of Europe, so named by King Alfonso XII who visited the town in 1884. Once the site of the great Moorish castle, this romantic setting, the venue for various cultural activities has a scenic promenade adorned with palm trees and exotic plants providing an enchanting view of the Mediterranean coastline.

Considered to have the best climate in Europe, Nerja is an year-round visitors’ paradise with cafes, restaurants, bars and water sports aplenty. The town is an aesthetic blend of the old and new with well-preserved, rich Andalucian architecture. We walk along the narrow winding streets of its old quarter with its freshly painted houses roofed with wrought iron terraces from which spill out plants with multicoloured flowers. As several other tourists, we also fancy riding a horse-drawn carriage to explore parts of the city.

We catch a glimpse of the gorgeous Gardens of Capistrano Playa which descends to the Burriana Beach before heading by car, towards the principal object of our visit, the Cave of Wonders.

A few kilometers in the outskirts of the town of Nerja we come upon the famous Caves, located on the lower slopes of the Sierra Almijara at its lowest point. The caves, the formation of which dates back to around five million years ago, were a chance discovery in January 1959 by five young Spanish schoolboys from Maro: José Luis Barbero de Miguel, Miguel Muñoz Zorrilla, Francisco Navas Montesinos, Manuel Muñoz Zorilla, and José Torres Cárdenas. For days together they had watched in fascination, huge numbers of bats flying out during the hours of twilight, through a narrow hole in a dry sink La Mina. When curiosity got the better of they decided to explore the region from where the bats emerged. They squeezed themselves in through a narrow opening, coming upon what is known today as the Cataclysm Chamber. And the rest as they say is history. On 15 June 1961, the Cave at Nerja was declared an Artistic Historical Monument. A monument to the five children who discovered the cave, in the form of a stone sculpture is erected at the cave entrance.

The cave measuring 7,220 metres from North to South is divided into three sections — the Lower or Tourist Galleries, Upper Galleries and the New Galleries discovered in 1969. The cave has two natural entry points and a third one built in 1960.

We walk down the pathway set in the midst of lush greenery, pass the monument to the kids and proceed to the man-made cave entrance. We descend down 8 metres through a flight of steps and have our first view of the miraculous structures in the caves. Beginning with the Entrance Hall, the first of seven chambers in this lower gallery, we walk along well marked pathways to access the Christmas Crib, Elephant’s Tusk, Cascade or Ballet, Cataclysm, Cavern and Mine chambers, each with its strange and mesmerising natural creations.

Awesome, bewildering, bewitching, we gape in utter disbelief at the world’s longest stalactite measuring 63m in length, wondering how mere drops of water could give rise to such a grand formation! We are held spellbound by the poetry in stalagmite-stalactite in the Hall of the Cataclysm, which is more than 100 meters long, 50 meters wide and over 30 meters high. In the centre is the Great Column, a 32-metres-tall structure, supposedly the largest cave structure known to date, formed from 1,000 billion drops of water.

Still under the hypnotic spell cast by the cave’s fascination formations, we leave its precincts late evening as the sun prepares to retire.

from deccanchronicle.com