Spire on Ice

So there it is. The gloriously stalled-out Chicago Spire at 400 N. Lake Shore Drive. Heralded for years as the Next. Great. Thing. in world design and construction, it is now actually an abandoned receptacle for rainwater, and debris tossed out the car windows of vehicles traveling along the adjacent Lake Shore Drive. 'Tis a pretty lil' thing. Not.

Oh, did I mention that it's also in my front yard? Yeah, lucky me. We used to have a surprisingly delightful assortment of wildlife here. Bunnies scampered. Raccoons visited sidewalk trash cans in the wee hours. Squirrels scurried from tree branch to sidewalk and back again.

Then the Spire service trucks began barreling in, as early as 6:30 each morning. They left dust everywhere. To compensate, the developer brought in trucks to spray everything down with water. Which just left every. single. surface. muddy and messy. Somewhere along the way they also drove out all but a few sturdy squirrels and pigeons. How ironic: Two reasons people move to this neighborhood are its quiet and charm. Where's the charm in noise and mud and chaos? Apparently the wildlife agreed. They're still gone.

This big hole in the ground is what I get to look at until the developer finds more money. Or the economy picks up. Or something. In the meantime, my beautiful neighborhood is host to a fenced-off abandoned ghost worksite.

I'm a Realtor. I'm supposed to be universally excited about any opportunity to increase my business. But this? I wish they'd just fill in the hole, take down the fences, re-landscape what they made bald, and go away. Forever.