UTRF Blog

We Are Pleased to Announce New Tourism Hours at Unity Temple for 2010

As of January 1, 2010 Unity Temple will be open to the public for self-guided tours on the following:

Monday - Friday: 10:30 am - 4:30 pm
Saturday:  10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Sunday:  1:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Admission is $8 for adults, $6 for Seniors 65+ and Students 22 and younger.  Children 5 and younger are free. 

Pre-arranged guided group tours are available for groups of 15 or more at the rate of $6 a person.  To inquire about or book a tour, contact Krista by email: kgrensavitch@utrf.org, or by phone: 708.383.8873.

Have a happy and safe Holiday Season, everyone!

The Shore Thing

The installation of the scaffolding and shoring of Unity Temple's south roof slab is complete. Even though the staff was accidentally trapped downstairs by a rogue crossbar, it was a very interesting process to watch. It is also a significant milestone. Now that the roof is supported, demolition of select segments can begin.

The entrance hall is now a thicket of shoring posts. They have been "shrouded" in white muslin so people won't bump into the posts and hurt themselves, but here's a look at the bare bones. If you look carefully, you can see how Safway used steel I-beams to bridge the loads over the old heating tunnels.

 

On Thursday morning, I climbed up onto the roof (thank you, Alex, Mark, and C.P.) to see the shoring up close and get a look at the temporary roof that Zera was building. From below, you can get a sense of the strength of the shoring and the imposing load it supports:

 

Here's an even better view, from the first roof level, above the entrance hall and the minister's office:
  

  

Up on the south slab, Henry and his crew from Zera Construction were busy building the temporary roof structure that will keep the weather out when the roof is demolished. It stretches from the parapet wall (on the right in the photo) about 10'-8" to wear the roof cantilevers beyond the columns (on the left). (All the cantilevered eaves were restored in 2001, with the $1,000,000 from the State of Illinois. They are in excellent condition and are not part of this project.)

 
  
While C.P. and the Safway engineer reviewed the scaffolding and shoring, Zera continued to remove plaster from the underside of the roof slab. They also submitted two concrete mix designs to C.P. for approval.

Speaking of concrete, in the beginning of the summer C.P. invited us to observe when the first test batch was "whipped up" at CTLGroup's offices and laboratories in Skokie. CTLGroup used the same mixer it's used for decades. It was hard not to draw comparisons to a bakery:

 

Next: a trip to the glass restorer's studio.

- Emily

A Gala Centennial Celebration for Unity Temple

 
Photo courtesy of The Pioneer Press.

It was a stunning evening.

On the evening of Saturday, September 26, 2009, Unity Temple Restoration Foundation presented the Unity Temple Centennial Gala, celebrating the 100th anniversary of Frank Lloyd Wright's modern masterpiece, Unity Temple. The Centennial Gala was successful in all ways--the musical performance was amazing, the food was delicious, the Prosecco flowed, the decor was fabulous, the silent auction offered lots of interesting treats, and our guests had a great time. Most importantly, generous gifts from supporters will fund a portion of the work to repair the critically damaged roof.

 
The Chicago Chamber Musicians. Photo courtesy of The Pioneer Press.

Thank you for your support.

UTRF was so pleased to welcome new supporters, drawn to the gala through our collaboration with The Chicago Chamber Musicians and the premiere of Peter Lieberson's new work, "The Coming of Light," and by the urgent need to support the restoration of this architectural treasure. It was a pleasure for UTRF to work with CCM and their executive director, Amy Iwano, and their very supportive Board of Directors. And it was a great honor for UTRF's board and staff to meet and spend time with Peter Lieberson and his wife, Rinchen.

 
Composer Peter Lieberson and his wife Rinchen.

Our fabulous sponsor Room & Board created four seating areas in the Entrance Hall and Unity House with gorgeous furniture from their collection. We overheard one longtime UTRF-supporter say of the installations, "This was how Frank Lloyd Wright would have wanted it..." We were thrilled to partner with Room & Board. Thanks to Karen Wickett, Barb Bohnert, David Staten and the rest of the staff!

 
Room & Board's installation in Unity House, lit by Noah Record.

Noah Record and friends at Protolight provided beautiful lighting for the evening, both inside and out. As you can see above, the lighting in Unity House made it seem as if there was a mural above the hearth...and made us all feel that that was what Wright really intended for the space. Tulipia donated gorgeous floral displays, and guests nibbled on hors d'oeuvres from Cucina Paradiso, Hemmingway's Bistro, Klay Oven, Maya del Sol, Rent-a-Chef, and Winberie's. We were grateful to House Red for helping us with the wine for the evening, and hugely appreciative of the Richard H. Driehaus Charitable Lead Trust's donation of Prosecco -- it was wonderful!

Unity Temple in shades of purple and green.

The evening would not have been possible without Sidney K. Robinson, our Centennial Gala Benefactor, whose very generous donation made possible the commissioning of "The Coming of Light," and Ellen E. Griffith and John H. Frye. We are particularly grateful to our sponsors, who have demonstrated their support for UTRF's mission time and again: Prairie Design Group, Architectural Consulting Engineers, John Toomey Gallery, Harboe Architects, CTLGroup, ReedSmith LLP, and Evergreene Architectural Arts.

Evergreene Architectural Arts worked with Unity Temple Restoration Foundation
to recreate the original plaster and paint finishes in Unity House.

Special thanks to Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation for their grant to help develop Unity Temple's Centennial Celebration, and to Jerry McManus, Jack and Mary Ellen Lesniak, and the Oak Park Area Convention & Visitors Bureau for their support. As in past years, the young ladies from the Tau Gamma Service Club from the Oak Park River Forest High School were incredibly helpful. And the entire production would have been impossible without the critical support of Gala Committee volunteers Coreen Arnold, Kimberly Brumirski, Jamey McElvain, Mari Miller, Eric O'Malley, and Jan and Ron Scherubel. And thanks to all who donated to the silent auction: S. Lloyd Natof, Maureen and E.B. Smith, Chef Gale Gand, Froebel USA, Jay and Ellie Homan, Prairie Arts, Jessica Roble-Cinelli, Carol deBoth, Susan Himmerfarb, David Jansheski, Sandra Wilcoxon, and so many other dear friends and local businesses. There are far, far too many to thank!

 

Gala Chair Rolf Achilles.

After the performance but before the crowd sang "Happy Birthday", our Gala Chair Rolf Achilles, who had spent many hours and made an untold number of phone calls to ensure that this gala was a success, gave a toast. We echo it:

Here's to Unity Temple's next 100 years.

-- Emily

Finding Unity Temple's Tunnels

When Frank Lloyd Wright designed Unity Temple, he equipped the building with a forced air heating and ventilating system. A network of underground tunnels was construction to carry air from the basement on the south side of the building to Unity House and Unity Temple. Unfortunately, the system proved to be inaequate and was abandoned long ago. Since then, the tunnels have been used for piping, electrical, and communications cables. (Soon, the tunnels will have new life as an integral part of the new ground source heat pump ("geothermal") system that is proposed for Unity Temple.)

An opening to one of Unity Temple's underground tunnels

Most people don't know that there are tunnels under Unity Temple. They are set into the earth and are under the concrete floor slabs. You can enter the tunnels--and actually crawl through them--at several spots, but they are basically invisible to the naked eye. To make it more of a mystery, the one drawing we have of the tunnels from the time they were built, by Foster & Glidden Co., does not represent their true location.

Foster & Gllidden drawing of Unity Temple's heating system.

As soon as we knew we were going to have to shore up the south roof, we knew that we would need to be really careful not to place the shoring posts on top of the tunnels. The weight of the roof bearing on a tunnel could cause collapse. Yesterday, Zera Construction called in Universal Construction Testing to locate the network of tunnels using ground-penetrating radar.

Mike from Universal Construction Testing uses GPR to locate the tunnels.

They were able to mark out the actual location of the tunnels. The diagonal blue lines show where the tunnels actually are:

 
 

Diagonal blue lines mark the location of Unity Temple's underground tunnels.

Safway, Zera Construction's shoring subcontractor, marked the floor with blue x's last week. As you can see, some of those x's fall directly in the path of a tunnel. Stay tuned for the solution.

So Long, Art Glass...It's Only Temporary

Over the last several days, Mike Smoucha and his crew from Botti Studio of Architectural Arts closely examined the ten clerestory art glass windows on the south side of the temple in preparation for removing the windows and transporting them to Evanston for restoration.

 

Botti Studio loosens the putty where the windows are joined.

The condition of the windows is generally excellent. Up close, you can really appreciate the opalescence of the opaque glass, especially the green pieces. When the sun comes through, the glass is a beautiful mixture of green, yellow, blue and even orange tones, and contrasts with the dark zinc caming. When the glass is cleaned, I'm sure the colors will be stunning.

Once the screws and putty were loosened, the workers were able to remove the windows. These windows have been in place for one hundred years and have rarely been disturbed, so it was amazing to see Mike and his crew just lift them up and move them onto the scaffold platform.

 
Then they secured them in specially-built wood crates, and lowered them by hoist to the ground below. It was a painstaking process that took most of the morning and all afternoon. As soon as the first window was lifted out, I stepped out onto the scaffolding and caught part of the process on video:

Being up on the scaffolding afforded me a rare up-close look at Unity Temple's cast-in-place concrete columns:

In the afternoon, Zera Construction's testing firm attempted to identify the location of the old underground heating tunnels by using ground penetrating radar:

We are going to be installing structural shoring in the Entrance Hall that will help hold up the roof, and it is really important that it not bear on the tunnels, which could cause a cave-in. Mark Nussbaum of Architectural Consulting Engineers, who has designed the new ground source heat pump (a/k/a "geothermal") HVAC system for Unity Temple and arguably knows the tunnels better than anyone, stopped by the help. In the end, the rig was not strong enough to locate the deeper tunnels. Zera is bringing proper equipment up from Texas and we'll try again next week.

-- Emily

Preparation and Protection

More scaffolding went up...

And workers added a layer of protection to the interior:

Check back next week for more updates. Thank you for your support!

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

 
Today marks the start of work to repair and restore the badly damaged concrete in the south roof slab above Unity Temple's sanctuary. This is a $520,000 project, with funding coming from generous individual donations, the Unity Temple Unitarian Universalist Congregation, the Rotary Club of Oak Park and River Forest, the Women's Architecture League Foundation, the Chicago Community Trust, and a $200,000 challenge grant from Save America's Treasures, administered by the National Park Service.

 
So much remains to be done. UTRF must raise another $7 million to stabilize the structure. Every dollar you give counts -- every dollar makes a difference. It's easy to donate. Go to UTRF's website and click on "Support". Every dollar you donate will be matched dollar-for-dollar by our Save America's Treasures grant.

Help us raise the money to pay for these necessary repairs, so we can ensure that Frank Lloyd Wright's modern masterpiece stands for the next 100 years.
 

UTRF Awarded Prestigious Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services

 

We are delighted to announce that Unity Temple Restoration Foundation has received a grant for $82,852 from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to create more robust tourism program with richer offerings for the more than 30,000 visitors who tour Unity Temple each year. The grant will fund a wide variety of projects designed to improve the visitor's experience, including website upgrades, a digital audio tour, better signage, and new printed materials in many languages.

Representative Danny Davis (D-Chicago), Anne-Imelda Radice, IMLS Director and Marsha Semmel IMLS Deputy Director of Museum Services presented UTRF Executive Director Emily Roth with the grant at The Field Museum on Monday, August 31.  Read more about the IMLS Press Conference here. 

"This grant goes to the heart and soul of UTRF's mission. We are grateful to IMLS for recognizing the importance and potential of Unity Temple as a museum," said Emily Roth. "Unity Temple has so much to teach, and now we will be better able to serve our community."

“As repositories of our nation’s treasures and our nation’s history, museums are positioned to play an integral role in the education of their communities. Museums for America grants support projects and ongoing activities that build museums’ capacities and help these institutions serve their diverse constituencies to the best of their abilities,” said Dr. Anne-Imelda M. Radice, Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Read more about The Institute for Museum and Library Services after the jump.

The Unity Temple Centennial Gala :: "The Coming of Light"

Detail, "Starbirds Over Riells del Fai," David Jansheski, 2009

Join us on Saturday, September 26, 2009 for a once-in-a-lifetime gala celebration of the 100th anniversary of Unity Temple's dedication.

Enjoy a buffet of tastes...a bubbly toast...and the world premiere of composer Peter's Lieberson's "The Coming of Light," a new work of chamber music commissioned in honor of this historic occasion. Help save Frank Lloyd Wright's modern masterpiece, one of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.

Tickets are $150, $200, $500 and up. "Rows" of prime and premium seating in Unity Temple are available, along with acknowledgement in the Centennial Gala Program Guide and invitations to a VIP reception.

To purchase tickets click here or call 708-383-8873. If you are not able to join us, we welcome your donation . Your support helps pay for repairs that must be made immediately, including the shoring and restoration of the critically damaged south roof slab.

UTRF estimates that all but $50 of each gala ticket is tax-deductible as allowed by law.

Click below to read more about the World Premiere of 'The Coming of Light"

Prairie School Adventures Schedule Announced :: Summer 2009

Architecturally-Inspired Summer Camps
at Frank Lloyd Wright's Unity Temple
Presented by Unity Temple Restoration Foundation
Children Grades 3-5 :: Register Today

Printmaking Magic :: July 13-17 :: 9am-12pm :: $160 UTRF Members/$175 Non-Members

Art Glass, Nature & Wright :: July 20-24 :: 9am - 12pm :: $145/$155

City of the Future :: July 27-31 :: 9am - 12pm :: $145/$155

Unity Temple Restoration Foundation's Prairie School Adventures is a series of fun, interactive, high-quality educational programs for children in grades 3 through 5.  With the architectural principles of Frank Lloyd Wright and Unity Temple as inspiration, Prairie School Adventures explores architecture's relationship to visual arts, geometry, history, social studies, science and technology.  Programs integrate key concepts such as historic preservation and sustainable design, and create enriching experiences through hands-on art projects, dialogue between local architectural professionals and students, and site visits to significant local landmarks.

To register call 708.383.8873 or email jmiller@utrf.org