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* Jordan Perkins…

One of Chicago’s iconic pieces of public art will be getting a new home.

French artist Jean Dubuffet’s sculpture “Monument with Standing Beast,” in place in front of the Thompson Center since the building opened in 1985, is moving to a different spot in the Loop.

With the state of Illinois selling the building to Google, the sculpture, once dubbed “Snoopy in a Blender,” will move to the former BMO Harris Bank building at 115 S. LaSalle St. That building was recently purchased by the state to replace some of the office space lost with the Thompson Center sale. […]

“Monument with Standing Beast” has four elements, meant to represent an animal, a tree, a portal and a monument.

* David Roeder…

For the state, the sale to Google is a cleaner deal than the one Pritzker hatched last December. It called for selling most of the Thompson Center to developer Michael Reschke of the Prime Group but keeping some government offices there, making the state liable for a share of the rehab costs.

With the straight sale to Google for $105 million, state government gets out of that burden. It then buys for $75 million from Reschke the building at 115 S. La Salle St., once BMO Harris’ headquarters, and consolidates its downtown leases there. […]

Everybody hopes Google will do for downtown what it did for Fulton Market when it moved there in 2015, landing with fanfare to show the old meatpacking district is A-OK for hip employers. Its executives saw something in the idea of moving into an old cold storage warehouse. Job growth ensued for Google.

Now, Karen Sauder, Google’s head of Chicago operations, sees similar potential with the Helmut Jahn-designed Thompson Center, a postmodern flight of fancy that never got executed right. Maybe Google’s money can fix that. […]

And at Pritzker’s event last week, [Karen Sauder, Google’s head of Chicago operations] said, “Chicago isn’t just a world-class city, it’s also an incredibly important and attractive place for Google to deepen our roots in. We’ve been fortunate to call it our home since 2000 and have loved being part of Chicago’s diverse and vibrant community. Googlers love Chicago and all this city has to offer.

* The Question: What should Google name its new real estate purchase?

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 2:08 pm

Comments

426 Error (”Upgrade Required”)

Comment by lake county democrat Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 2:12 pm
Googleville: An All-Seasons Water Park

They are going to build that epic water slide, right?

Comment by Pot calling kettle Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 2:14 pm
The Terrarium

https://capitolfax.com/wp-mobile.php?p=28327&more=1

Comment by Ducky LaMoore Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 2:16 pm
The Snoopy mish mash was an embarrasment compared to other public art in the Loop. JB should leave behind or mail to ‘Riffie in FL
How Googodome?

Comment by Annonin' Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 2:16 pm
Maybe “The Siri” or “The Alexa”…

I’ll probably call it “The Google Key”

Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 2:16 pm
“Water Park Coming Soon”

Comment by Nick Name Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 2:17 pm
If you don’t get it, it’s not my fault.

Comment by Bruce( no not him) Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 2:19 pm
How about “Your Friend”.

AS some on here are sometimes saying, Google is your friend.

Comment by don the legend Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 2:19 pm
“The Bezos Dome, by Google”

Comment by AlfondoGonz Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 2:20 pm
The Google-Plex.

Comment by hisgirlfriday Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 2:26 pm
They should leave it the Thompson Center but change which Thompson it refers to every six months or so. 20 years from now every Chicagoan will have bizarrely strong opinions on the historical Thompson ranking. Hot dog toppings are played out, this could be a fun new bit.

Comment by vern Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 2:31 pm
The Incubator

Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 2:32 pm
Illinois State Fairgrounds Chicago Center brought to you by Google.

Comment by Just Sayin Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 2:34 pm
Another question–should there be another facilty or landmark named after Gov. Thompson? I say yes and the State Fairgrounds would be a perfect spot. Maybe “James R. Thompson Grandstand” or “Thompson-Nelson Grandstand.”

Comment by Just Sayin Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 2:35 pm
They could fill it with water and marine life and name it the Shedd Annex.

Comment by Pot calling kettle Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 2:37 pm
I think it’s between lake county democrat and hisgirlfriday for the win, but I’ll add: Hughes-Costanzo Plaza.

Comment by Northsider Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 2:40 pm
Google could always sell it to Lucas and he could finally have his Chicago museum, at least 6 years late. And without the Friends of the Parks on his back.

Comment by Just Sayin Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 2:42 pm
How about “Monument is a Standing Beast”?

Comment by Boomerang Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 2:47 pm
The Chrome Dome

Comment by Senator Clay Davis Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 2:52 pm
I amend;

The Illinois Incubator

Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 2:52 pm
Jeff Bezos ” We bought what? Didn’t you guys read the reviews online about that place?”

Comment by Bruce( no not him) Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 3:03 pm
==Google could always sell it to Lucas and he could finally have his Chicago museum, at least 6 years late==

With its first special exhibition that attempts to answer the age-old question, “What would ‘Running Scared’ had been like if it had taken place in a galaxy far, far away?”

Comment by Just Sayin Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 3:09 pm
The Cloud

As in, I am on my way to a meeting in The Cloud. Or, I think it is raining in The Cloud.

Comment by thechampaignlife Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 3:14 pm
The Bezos Dome is hilarious… billionaires enter…and do whatever they please?

Comment by Dotnonymous Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 3:17 pm
“I’m feeling lucky”

Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 3:19 pm
The Google Nest Test

Comment by Dance Band on the Titanic Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 3:20 pm
Google Glass Menagerie

Comment by Captain Obvious Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 3:23 pm
Soldier Field, to take a campaign TP away from PQ… c’mon… we all know that he is running for mayor.

Comment by Anonymous Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 3:27 pm
The Big Doodle.

Maybe they can video project the daily Google Doodle on the front glass wall.

Anyway someone needs to inform Google that Chicago is a city in decline .

Comment by Cool Papa Bell Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 3:30 pm
==Soldier Field, to take a campaign TP away from PQ==

Soldier Field, as in the Future Home of the Jacksonville Jaguars?

https://www.chicagotribune.com/opinion/commentary/ct-opinion-soldier-field-bears-jacksonville-jaguars-shahid-khan-20220801-xinyk2afurb5ze6edgbzg6nqtm-story.html

Comment by Just Sayin Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 3:59 pm
===Jacksonville Jaguars?===

Yeah. No… no.

The McCaskey family won’t share the largest media market in America that has one team.

The NFL/AFL merger allowed for the Jets and the LA Chargers, (if you will) the idea of having those large markets be shared. The Charges, of San Diego after one AFL season, moving to Balboa Stadium in San Diego, but I digress… there was the idea of the largest media markets, on both coasts, having both leagues (eventually both conferences) visiting both large markets.

It’s about money, big-big TV money, not some civic pride, and after the Chicago Cardinals left before the 1960 season, a full 10 years before the merger, the Jaguars are more likely destined for St. Louis before Chicago.

To the QOTD?

“The Goog”… just “The Goog”

Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 4:13 pm
=The McCaskey family won’t share the largest media market in America that has one team.=

I’m not so sure about that. The Bears are a day-=to-day operation, the family doesn’t do anything else, i.e., generate income elsewhere. If Kahn came a-callin’ with $300 million for them, that would help their cash flow until the new stadium is up and running and if they got some sort of ongoing consideration? I think it could be possible.

They’ll always be the Bears and thus the biggest team in the area. Once that dome is built, they’ve got built-in income that they never had before, forever.

Comment by Joe Bidenopolous Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 4:24 pm
Call it JB’s Alpha Bet

Comment by West Sider Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 4:29 pm
The Illinois Center for Mold Studies.

Comment by Give Me A Break Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 4:31 pm
===I’m not so sure about that. The Bears are a day-=to-day operation, the family doesn’t do anything else, i.e., generate income elsewhere. If Kahn came a-callin’ with $300 million for them, that would help their cash flow until…===

Narrator: the Bears are a billion dollar entity.

The Bears, all expenses, are paid the first fiscal day of the NFL “new year”

No franchise has any financial strain. None.

If Jerry Jones proved anything, besides burying the most expensive professional franchise in *any* sport into mediocrity, is that Jones showed with the LA building… monies aren’t needed but are merely wanted so profits are fat.

The Bears don’t need the Jaguars, if anything, the Bears would want the Jaguars to move to London and reap the more lucrative Euro rights to games with a permanent franchise in London.

The McCaskeys are “broke”? Stop.

Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 4:31 pm
“Dome Beats Spaceship”

Comment by Gogol plex Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 4:34 pm
UnFitBit

Comment by Lurker Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 4:35 pm
I like my unfitbit but I’m changing my vote to goog so that I could say “take the el to goog”

Comment by Lurker Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 4:42 pm
According to Forbes, the Bears in August 2021 were worth $4.075 billion, with a B

The Goog?

“Meet me at the food court at The Goog”

“The Goog is across the street from the Hall”

“Next stop, The Goog, you can transfer to the Orange, Green, and Blue Lines… The Goog”

Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 4:53 pm
The Googleheim

Comment by Captain Obvious Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 5:59 pm
Bailey Center for Compassion

Comment by Vote Quimby Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 6:21 pm
Oh man. I can’t believe I didn’t think of this…. I was imbibing, and this song came up on my playlist…. https://youtu.be/O8-JPyVRkiE

Sweet Freedom

Since the song was featured in Running Scared, as was the Thompson Center.

Comment by Ducky LaMoore Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 6:27 pm
“The Google Glass Catastrophe”. Or that’s the name for the movie; Drama, 90 minutes.
Heralding the opening of the new GooglePlex, developers hold a party, only to discover the wiring was all made by the lowest bidder and it’s about to burst into flame….and yes, I’m parodying ‘The Towering Inferno’ and ‘Terror on the 40th Floor”.

Comment by thisjustinagain Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 7:17 pm
The death of the worst office space in the Loop

Comment by Loop Lady Tuesday, Aug 2, 22 @ 8:10 am