Proposed design of music hall near United Center looks off-key
The planned design for a new music hall in the vicinity of the United Center is thoughtless, dreary and bland, or as the Sun-Times architecture critic Lee Bey has sagely opined, it "resembles the result of a shotgun marriage between a community college and a suburban multiplex theater." The structure might have been a pleasing proposal in 1950, but it falls far short of the creative standards of 2025.
For comparison, see the new Sphere performance venue in Las Vegas, an astonishing sight to behold. Or think of the Sydney Opera House, built in 1973 but which remains an awe-inspiring vision 52 years after its genesis.
Given that this brain-dead design is a project of the owners of the Bulls and the Blackhawks, two entities that have been flailing away as bottom-feeding denizens of their respective terrains for the last decade, perhaps it is too much to expect from these dunderheads a triumphant structural statement to enrich Chicago’s rich architectural heritage.
Patrick Riley, Uptown
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Don’t privatize the Postal Service
Having had two relatives who were postal workers, I concur with Sun-Times reader Harvey Graff’s recent letter. The Donald's desire to privatize the U.S. Postal Service is sorely out of line with the agency's purpose.
The Postal Service was never meant to be a money-making organization.
It was conceived as a needed and affordable service to citizens throughout our nation. Any problems with the service are the result of poor management and not the efforts of the hard-working, dependable and often under-staffed postal workers. If needed, Congress should supply funding support.
If his nibs really cares about improving the USPS, he could start by telling his henchman, Louis DeJoy, whom he appointed as post-master general, to begin applying a realistic fee to the mailers of those seven or eight pieces of junk mail that appear in my mailbox almost every day. That would produce a significant increase in postal revenue, and it might decrease the amount of junk mail that gets tossed into my recyclable garbage container.
Dan McGuire, Bensenville
Protecting our feathered friends
Thank you, McCormick Place, for finding a near 100% solution to the migrating bird deaths with the installation of bird-safe film on windows. And to Feather Friendly, the company that makes the film, what a gift you have given the birds. They need all the help we can provide. With other buildings following McCormick Place's lead, I hope your company will prosper.
Linn DeBoo, Cary
‘Tragic’ deaths are from homicides
An Associated Press story in the Sun-Times earlier this month reported the first death in the U.S. from bird flu.
The report said the person was over 65 and had been in contact with sick and dead birds in a backyard flock in Louisiana. The longer version of the story further revealed that 460 people have died of this flu across the world since 2003, an average of about 21 per year. An official at Brown University's School of Public Health called the death a "tragic reminder" that bird flu is "a deadly virus."
In Chicago, meanwhile, published and online reporting listed the number of murders in Chicago in 2024 as at least 573. That means an average of more than 11 people were murdered in the city every single week of 2024, leaving 11 families grieving weekly. The Brown University official used the word "tragic," referring to the bird flu death. We think that word fits better when applied to the loss of life in Chicago.
Chris and Bill Craven, Evergreen Park