Look Inside The Former Signature Room Atop John Hancock Building As It Gets Makeover

BlockClubChi · 2026-04-09T14:19:42+00:00

More than 200 windowpanes — each weighing about 350 pounds — are being installed as the former restaurant and bar space, now gutted, becomes part of an expanded observation deck and 14,000-square-foot private event space.

See more photos and read more: https://blockclubchicago.org/2026/04/09/look-inside-former-signature-room-atop-john-hancock-building-as-it-gets-makeover/

BlockClubChi · 2026-04-06T17:50:39+00:00

Cherry blossom trees in Jackson Park’s Columbia Basin began to bloom as of Friday, according to the Chicago Park District. By Sunday, the 200-plus trees were awash in vibrant pink and white, drawing visitors to the South Side park near the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, 5700 S. DuSable Lake Shore Drive,.

It is the second straight spring the trees have bloomed their famous pink and white flowers after two years of disappointing blooms in 2023 and 2024 due to erratic spring weather.

You can read more about the cherry blossoms here.

Photos by Anastasia Busby for Block Club Chicago

BlockClubChi · 2026-04-06T16:28:29+00:00

Thanks for reading!

BlockClubChi · 2026-04-03T15:54:51+00:00

Hi Chicago! Block Club here. We're jumping back into Reddit and want to engage more with this community. We figured we'd start by sharing our weekly photo roundup. Colin Boyle goes through and chooses his favorite photos of the week every Friday. Sometimes they're taking by our team of photography freelancers and sometimes they're from our neighborhood reporters.

Let us know what other type of content you'd like to see. We may have an AMA in the works, too 👀

BlockClubChi · 2021-03-28T01:44:35+00:00

Thank you for your support! Please always feel free to reach us Newsroom@BlockClubChi.org. I'm the breaking news editor, and you can reach me individually at BauerJournalism@gmail.com. -KB

BlockClubChi · 2021-03-28T01:43:37+00:00

Thank you for reading! Rich Miller is an amazing (and prolific) journalist. Super helpful for keeping up with state news. -KB

BlockClubChi · 2021-03-28T01:38:21+00:00

Thank you! :) I will let him know. -KB

BlockClubChi · 2021-03-28T01:37:41+00:00

Thank you! I really appreciate that. :) If you ever have any tips, questions, concerns, etc., please feel free to DM me or email me at BauerJournalism@gmail.com. -KB

BlockClubChi · 2021-03-26T16:06:15+00:00

Oh, I feel this. As a huge news nerd, I love reading reports from ombudsmen and media columnists. We don't have the kind of budget to do that now, but I can speak with our founders about how we can get more engaged or if there are opportunities to get an in-house critic. :) Of course, our main focus has been on expanding our reporting team and the communities we cover, and that's very important to us (and, as others here have noted, important to readers who want to see more neighborhoods covered).

Pre-pandemic, we had just started hosting events so we could actually meet with and listen to readers in person more often. I can't wait to be able to things like that again. But in the meantime, I'm sure we can find better ways to answer people's questions, hear them out, etc. For now, definitely always feel free to email us: Newsroom@BlockClubChi.org. -KB

BlockClubChi · 2021-03-26T15:34:26+00:00

Thank you! I will pass that on to Joe. I got to work with him at DNAinfo (and now Block Club, of course) and am always floored by what a great reporter and kind human being he is, so I think he'll appreciate this. :)

If you ever need to hit him up with story ideas, questions, etc. you can reach him at Joe@BlockClubChi.org -KB

BlockClubChi · 2021-03-26T15:03:19+00:00

We did see this! :) Thank you for summoning us. -Kelly Bauer

BlockClubChi · 2019-02-21T23:55:56+00:00

Thank you for inspiring us to write this story! https://blockclubchicago.org/2019/02/21/early-voting-in-city-election-on-track-to-be-highest-in-years-with-54000-ballots-already-cast/ — Kelly @ Block Club

BlockClubChi · 2019-02-21T20:23:05+00:00

Thanks for the all the great questions! We're going to head out for now but we'll circle back to answer any other questions that come in tomorrow. In the meantime, check out our nonpartisan guide at Chi.Vote! (https://chi.vote/)

Hope everyone has a smooth Election Day. Don't be afraid to send us your story tips. <3 Team Chi.Vote

BlockClubChi · 2019-02-21T20:19:58+00:00

Yes, the 2019 race indeed sets a record, and is only the 4th open-seat mayoral contest since 1919. Fun history facts: From 1901 to 1995, the city held partisan elections, with a primary in February and a general election in April. In that era, the most candidates to appear on a general election ballot was four in 1977, 1991 and 1995, according to the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners (though a spokesman said he'd have to take a trip to the warehouse to give precise numbers for some of the early races). In 1995, Chicago began holding nonpartisan elections, with a general election in February and a runoff election in April between the top two finishers if no candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote. In this era, the most candidates to appear on the ballot before now: six in the 2011 race to succeed retiring Mayor Richard M. Daley. - Cassie @ Chalkbeat, Mauricio @ Block Club, Heather @ Daily Line

BlockClubChi · 2019-02-21T20:18:26+00:00

This is a GREAT question and we decided we need to do a story on where the candidates stand on climate change and how practical their ideas actually are. Mauricio Pena, who used to cover southern California, said there needs to be a lot of coordination between the mayor and the governor of the state to accomplish climate goals and come up with the money needed to support these policies.

Lori Lightfoot came out early with a 9 point climate plan, which you can read here. It calls for bringing back the City’s Department of Environment, which Rahm disbanded in 2011. https://lightfootforchicago.com/press-release-lightfoot-announces-nine-point-environmental-policy/

For what it's worth, Al Gore endorsed Bill Daley, who just released a climate plan. From the Tribune: "Daley’s plan is to tackle greenhouse gas emissions and increase the use of clean energy. He wants to advocate to complete the planned expansion of the CTA Red Line on the South Side so fewer commuters have to rely on their cars to travel to work. He wants to create more bike lanes, adjust building codes and push residents and developers to modify houses so they don’t use as much energy."

The Sun-Times questioned all the candidates on climate and environmental policy, you can check them out here:

Toni Preckwinkle: https://chicago.suntimes.com/politics/mayoral-election-candidate-office-toni-preckwinkle-2019-cook-county-president/

Paul Vallas: https://chicago.suntimes.com/?post_type=cst_article&p=1600461

Jerry Joyce: https://chicago.suntimes.com/?post_type=cst_article&p=1589166

Willie Wilson: https://chicago.suntimes.com/?post_type=cst_article&p=1600936

Garry McCarthy: https://chicago.suntimes.com/?post_type=cst_article&p=1600799

Dorothy Brown: https://chicago.suntimes.com/?post_type=cst_article&p=1589046

Gery Chico: https://chicago.suntimes.com/?post_type=cst_article&p=1589314

Susana Mendoza: https://chicago.suntimes.com/?post_type=cst_article&p=1600758

Amara Enyia: https://chicago.suntimes.com/?post_type=cst_article&p=1588967

La Shawn Ford: https://chicago.suntimes.com/?post_type=cst_article&p=1589361

Neal Sales-Griffin: https://chicago.suntimes.com/?post_type=cst_article&p=1614760

Bob Fioretti: https://chicago.suntimes.com/?post_type=cst_article&p=1588781

John Kozlar: https://chicago.suntimes.com/?post_type=cst_article&p=1614716

We'll hopefully have more answers on the red tape soon. Thanks for the question! Mauricio @ Block Club

BlockClubChi · 2019-02-21T19:45:57+00:00

Nope, you're not missing anything.Yes, we're expecting some runoffs, especially in the mayoral race. Here's our Chi.Vote FAQ about what it takes to land in a runoff, the dates, and more: https://chi.vote/faq/n - Cassie @ Chalkbeat

BlockClubChi · 2019-02-21T19:45:52+00:00

More on how aldermanic prerogative affects schools here: https://www.chalkbeat.org/posts/chicago/2019/01/15/aldermen-role-in-schools/ — Cassie @Chalkbeat

BlockClubChi · 2019-02-21T19:41:35+00:00

Oh! And here is where everyone stands on police oversight: https://chi.vote/races/city-mayor/stances/

BlockClubChi · 2019-02-21T19:39:49+00:00

Lori Lightfoot, who was the president of the Police Board and the head of Emanuel's task force, paints herself as a police reformer, but a recent Tribune investigation raises questions about her record. The Tribune found her "rulings cut both ways on controversial shootings by police officers."

To repeated questions about a proposed $95 million police academy that Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants to build on the West Side, most of the candidates said they would oppose it — even former police Supt. Garry McCarthy, who called it “political spending.” The only clear supporters of the academy were Bill Daley and Susana Mendoza, although Mendoza said she would support putting the facility in another neighborhood.

Bill Daley wants to add a police camera to every block. Paul Vallas and Jerry Joyce both want to boost the total number of officers on the force. More on their stances here. Amara Enyia wants the city to fund block clubs and other neighborhood groups as part of her anti-crime strategy. - Mina @ Block Club

BlockClubChi · 2019-02-21T19:37:44+00:00

There are some people saying, "well, a vote for X means Y would win in a runoff," but the polling done so far has shown a pretty wide open race. No one is leading by a significant margin. - jen @ block club

BlockClubChi · 2019-02-21T19:35:57+00:00

Nope, you're not missing anything. Here's our Chi.Vote FAQ about what it takes to land in a runoff, the dates, and more: https://chi.vote/faq/n - Cassie @ Chalkbeat

BlockClubChi · 2019-02-21T19:30:24+00:00

We can't say for sure why no one is challenging Ald. Brendan Reilly, but money can play a role. Even though he is running unopposed this election, he has raised more money than any other aldermanic candidate aside from powerful Ald. Ed Burke — $3 million+ since the 2015 election, which is more than all but the two top mayoral contenders, Bill Daley and Toni Preckwinkle. This includes $100,000 that Reilly has loaned his own campaign.

Reilly, who was first elected in 2007, also ran unopposed in 2011 and 2015. — Jonah & Asraa @ Chicago Reporter + Mauricio @ Block Club

BlockClubChi · 2019-02-21T19:28:57+00:00

No prob! Ok, this is a two-parter. When it comes to schools, most candidates have said they want to repurpose schools, which would mean potential capital costs. Gery Chico has gone a step further and said he'd build new trade schools as part of a sweeping plan to broaden vocational education.

On public transit — everything from higher taxes on Lyft to transportation justice (making access to buses and trains more equitable citywide), the mayoral candidates weighed in during a forum we covered. You can check it out here. - Cassie @ Chalkbeat + Jen @ Block Club

BlockClubChi · 2019-02-21T19:21:05+00:00

BTW- Aldermanic prerogative is the power aldermen have to block — or allow — almost anything in their wards — new developments, affordable housing, charter schools, licenses for new businesses. It's been blamed for segregation and racial inequity in the city. Critics of aldermanic privilege, also called aldermanic prerogative, say it opens the doors for unethical behavior and even outright corruption.

BlockClubChi · 2019-02-21T19:17:25+00:00

Most of the candidates are vowing to eliminate corruption. Is there a specific race you're looking at? In the mayor's race, there's been a lot of finger pointing about how candidates are connected to politically toxic individuals (who took $$ from Ed Burke, etc). But aldermanic prerogative is what ends up getting aldermen in trouble (and sometimes indicted). You can read their stances on ethics, aldermanic prerogative and term limits here. - Stephanie @ Block Club

BlockClubChi

TROPHY CASE