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An A+ for a Small Wisconsin College That Thinks Big (and Green)

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An A+ for a Small Wisconsin College That Thinks Big (and Green)

Since its inception in 1907, the forbidding Blackhawk Generating Station was the polar opposite of a friendly next-door neighbor to Beloit College’s quaint, leafy campus, located across Pleasant Street in Beloit, Wisconsin. Whenever winds blew from the west, the coal-fired, steam-generating electric power station’s 135-foot-high smokestack would belch plumes of polluted air toward the college green. This continued for years, as the brick, concrete, and steel plant expanded in stages until 1947, and finally ended in 2010 when its owner, Alliant Energy, ceased operations, slating the plant for demolition.

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Courtly Old Courthouse Combines Elegance and Efficiency

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Courtly Old Courthouse Combines Elegance and Efficiency

Completed in 2023, the former County Courthouse and adjacent Sheriff’s House in Woodstock, Illinois, of Groundhog’s Day fame, recently underwent a wholesale modernization and retrofit, designed by Studio GWA architects and managed by Bulley & Andrews. The three-tiered brick buildings, now known as the Old Courthouse Center, anchor the town square. Though they have been subjected to a string of modifications and repairs since their original dates of construction (1857, the Old Courthouse, and 1887, the former Sheriff’s House), they still look pretty much the same on the outside as they did over a century ago, except cars roll by instead of horse-and-buggies.

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Sustained Applause to Double Door for Sustaining the Life of an Old Theater

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Sustained Applause to Double Door for Sustaining the Life of an Old Theater

Chicago’s legendary rock music hall Double Door is overcoming the typical odds faced by those looking to preserve the best of a historic building while revamping it with both modern and green features. To paraphrase George Harrison, it takes plenty of money, a whole lot of precious time, and much patience, to do it right.

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Ramova Theatre Reborn in (Green) Style

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Ramova Theatre Reborn in (Green) Style

Chicago’s storied Bridgeport neighborhood has been the home of mayors, police, and firefighters for years. But hidden in plain sight is another feature of that illustrious neighborhood: the almost century-old Ramova Theatre, newly renovated and reopened for business. Now it anchors a 36,000-square-foot entertainment complex including a live music hall, banquet space, brewery, and restaurant. The upstairs banquet space, called the “Ramova Loft,” was once a karate/boxing gym.

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#4 Electrifying Our Old Oak Park Home: Appliances

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#4 Electrifying Our Old Oak Park Home: Appliances

This is Part 4 of my series Electrifying Our Old Oak Park Home. Read all 4 parts here.

A little over a year ago in April of 2023, we completed the electrification of our house. Since then, I’ve received a lot of interest in this project, was awarded a Green Award by the Village of Oak Park, and was even featured in the Chicago Tribune!

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Oak Park's Unity Temple: Preservation Meets Green Innovation

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Oak Park's Unity Temple: Preservation Meets Green Innovation

Since Unity Temple’s latest renovation in 2017, led by Harboe Architects, a plethora of modern features, many cleverly hidden from view in columns or ductwork, have coexisted with historic elements. Moreover, a lot of the newfangled improvements—a geothermal heating/cooling system, energy-saving LED lights, upgraded skylights, motion sensors—might even qualify the Temple as a certifiable green structure. Thanks to the geothermal apparatus' connection with the moderate temperatures of the earth, the building is air-conditioned for the first time in its history.