I believe my thesis project will benefit the area

By:Andy Cunningham

Good afternoon everybody. Hopefully the first few weeks of the semester have been good to you. Semesters starting to roll a little and work is beginning to pile up a bit, but this is why we do this right. I’m going to write about why I believe my thesis project will benefit the area

Why do I think that this project will benefit the near west side of Chicago? Before I came down to SIU I didn’t know that any place like this existed. The closest thing I knew of was Wrigleyville, and that’s an entire neighborhood. The first place like this that I experienced was Ballpark Village in St. Louis. Experiencing ballpark village was cool, because it was a place for people to go watch a game that was unlike any bar or restaurant that I’ve ever been to. It had entertainment, drinks, food and a great atmosphere. After I decided to on doing this project, looking into research I found that there are multiple places like this around the country, and I wondered why there aren’t any in Chicago. Although I did find out that the Cubs are planning to build something similar next to Wrigley, I felt that with as good as the Blackhawks and bulls have been recently, and as good as their future looks, a place like this around the United Center would be awesome. If Ballpark Village could bring me and my friends together from 4 different cities for a Hawks vs. Blues game, then why can’t my project do the same?

Being able to create a space or building that can impact someone’s life is a really cool thing that architects can do, and that is my goal for this project. To bring something to an area that does not really have much around the arena of two of the biggest sports teams in city, would be great.