Trouble in River City

flooding has caused an evacuation

08/05/2010 0:56 AM

By Bonnie McGrath

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It's been over a week and everyone is still out of River City at Polk and Wells--one of Bertram Goldberg's quirky masterpieces, a little sibling of his iconic Marina City. Because the "basement" of the building is really a boat dock, when the river rose after one of the massive storms we had last week, flooding occurred on the lower level, filling the basement with 12 feet of water, ruining cars, and putting out the utility systems throughout the building. No electricity, plumbing, etc. in the 17-story condo building with 446 units. For the moment the building is uninhabitable and everyone has had to go elsewhere.


The thing I can't figure out is that last week a set of windows about two-thirds of the way up had lights shining from within. I saw them as I walked east on the Roosevelt Road bridge, peering at the darkened building down the river, feeling freaked out for my South Loop neighbors a few blocks away. At first, I thought it was a reflection from some city light somewhere, but as I kept walking and the light didn't change, I knew it was coming from inside the unit. Was there a generator within the condo? If so, what would it be hooked up to? Was someone staying behind and lighting candles or flashlights or battery-operated lights?

It was all very mysterious.


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