This freestanding Victorian, built in 1860, was actually dubbed the neighborhoods most charming house by the Brooklyn Eagle newspaper. Located at 211 Vanderbilt Street, in Windsor Terrace, it is still clad with cedar clapboard and fronted by a covered porch. The fully detached home is also set back from the street, offering the rare front lawn, plus a side walkway that leads to a truly massive backyard. Although the interior has mostly been upgraded, it still holds a few historic surprises. It is plenty charming, but youll have to judge for yourself if the home deserves the title of most charming in all of Windsor Terrace.

This home is on the market for the first time in decades. Its located on a large lot, which leaves room for the front garden and a backyard big enough to hold everything from a vegetable garden to an in-ground swimming pool. And of course, you cant beat that mahogany porch.

The three-story home, with an English basement, is currently configured as two duplex apartments. It could be converted back to a single-family, or theres extra FAR on the lot to add an additionalthough itd be a shame to tacka new construction onto its historic facade.

Both kitchens were renovated with granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. New additions sit along historic details like pine floors, five panel doors, bullseye moldings and wainscoting. Reproduction lighting was added in the renovation.

Stairs leading to the second floor boast a beautiful stained glass skyline.

The upper bedrooms, four in total, come with views out onto leafy Vanderbilt Street.

Heres a look at the massive backyard, just waiting to be built out into an outdoor paradise. A pool would look pretty good alongside such a well preserved Victorian pad, dont you think?

[Listing: 211 Vanderbilt Street by Marie Parker for Corcoran]

RELATED:

Photos courtesy of Corcoran

Tags : 211 Vanderbilt Street

Neighborhoods : windsor terrace

See the original post here:
Dubbed 'the neighborhood's most charming house' by the Brooklyn Eagle, this Victorian asks $1.825M - 6Sqft (blog)

The Welles-Turner Memorial Library is so last century.

But that is beginning to change as the town, the library's Second Century Fund, and Friends of the Welles-Turner Memorial Library are funding the $250,000 first phase of a plan to improve the library and members note bring it into the 21st century. The town has kicked in $100,000 through its capital improvement plan, with the Second Century Fund adding another $100,000 and the Friends $50,000.

According to library director Barbara Bailey, work will include reconfiguring the express checkout kiosk and moving the customer service desk to the front entrance of the lower level. Other improvements include an automatic sorter for library materials and the construction of two additional study rooms in the upper level of the building.

"We are very lucky to have these two groups supporting the library," Bailey said.

John Phelan, president of the Second Century Fund, said the group raises money for the library's long-term capital needs. A $50,000 study done several years ago noted the library needed from $3 million to $5 million in improvements and expansions.

"It came with a large price tag, but clearly laid out what the library could be going forward," he said. "It's not just a repository for books. It will always be that, but they are morphing into something greater than that ... while it is a beautiful asset today, it could use some more investment to stay aligned with what the state requires and with what the community requires."

Phelan said he hopes the initial improvement will pique the interest of the community and be able to "get down the road to do a more substantial, major renovation in the future."

"We, as an organization, are committed to the further renovations of the library and we have substantial assets at our disposal today that we would like to expend on the library. ... We hope to partnership with the town and friends to make that happen," he said.

Other proposed future improvements include expanding the young adult room and creating a 2,000-square-foot "maker space" with 3-D printers and computers that might attract teens to the library. There could be other additions to free up library space for programs and a staff room. Also planned are outside seating areas and terraces. New windows and chairs have already been added to the older portion of the library.

"Our goal is to help people see that we have a terrific library now, but it was designed for the needs of the community in the year 2000," said Friends president Linda Obedzinski. "We can have an even better library that meets the needs of the community in year 2020 and looking forward from there. We are hoping this is the first step toward a greater renovation."

Town Council Chairman Stewart "Chip" Beckett III said he appreciated the generous contributions, along with the support and dedication of the groups.

"We've talked about library improvements and other capital improvements," he said. "I'm sure we will spend time talking this summer about when and if and how that will happen."

Link:
Glastonbury Library To Start Work That Will Bring Building Into The 21st Century - Hartford Courant

SEOUL - South Korean President Moon Jae-in has ordered a probe after the Defense Ministry failed to inform him that four more launchers for the controversial U.S. THAAD anti-missile system had been brought into the country, his spokesman said on Tuesday.

The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system battery was initially deployed in March in the southeastern region of Seongju with just two of its maximum load of six launchers to counter a growing North Korean missile threat.

During his successful campaign for the May 9 presidential election, Moon called for a parliamentary review of the system, whose deployment has also infuriated China, North Korea's lone major ally.

"President Moon said it was very shocking" to hear the four additional launchers had been installed without being reported to the new government or to the public, presidential spokesman Yoon Young-chan told a media briefing.

Moon had campaigned on a more moderate approach to Pyongyang, calling for engagement even as the reclusive state pursues nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions and threats of more sanctions.

The U.S. military in South Korea did not have immediate comment on Moon's comments. The South Korean military also did not immediately comment.

Moon's order of a probe into the THAAD launchers came amid signs of easing tensions between major trading partners South Korea and China.

South Korea's Jeju Air said on Tuesday China has approved a plan to double its flights to the Chinese city of Weihai from June 2.

China has been incensed over the THAAD deployment, fearing it could give the U.S. military the capability of seeing into its own missile systems, and could open the door to a wider deployment of the system, possibly in Japan and elsewhere, military analysts say.

China has denied it had discriminated against South Korean companies, which have faced product boycotts and bans on Chinese tourists visiting South Korea.

A Korean-Chinese joint drama My Goddess, My Mom" starring South Korean actress Lee Da-hae, whose broadcast had been indefinitely delayed in China, was told by its Chinese partner recently that it will soon be aired, according to JS Pictures, Lee's agent.

An official at South Korean tour agency Mode Tour told Reuters it hoped China may lift a ban on selling trips to South Korea, which had been in place since March 15, as early as the second week of June.

Although there have been no official orders from the Chinese government to lift the ban, a few Chinese travel agencies have sent inquiries about package tours, he said.

However, Lotte Group has yet to reopen any of the 74 retail stores in China it was forced to close in March after the group allowed South Korea to install the THAAD system on land it owned.

BOMBER DRILL

The United States, which has 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea, has a mutual defense treaty with Seoul dating back to the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in a truce that has left the peninsula in a technical state of war.

South Korea's Defence Ministry said on Tuesday it had conducted a joint drill with a U.S. supersonic B-1B Lancer bomber on Monday. North Korea's state media had earlier accused the United States of staging "a nuclear bomb dropping drill".

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe talked to Moon by phone on Tuesday, Japan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement, and both agreed that North Korea's continued provocations were unacceptable.

Abe told Moon that dialogue for dialogue's sake with North Korea would be meaningless, and that China's role in exerting pressure on the North was important.

The North's KCNA news agency reported leader Kim Jong Un supervised Monday's test of a missile equipped with a new precision guidance system and an improved pre-launch automated sequence and a new mobile launch vehicle.

Kim said North Korea would develop more powerful weapons in multiple phases in accordance with its timetable to defend North Korea against the United States.

"He expressed the conviction that it would make a greater leap forward in this spirit to send a bigger 'gift package' to the Yankees" in retaliation for American military provocation, KCNA quoted Kim as saying.

2017 Thomson/Reuters. All rights reserved.

See original here:
'Shocked' SKorea Leader Moon Orders Probe Into US THAAD Additions - Newsmax

TOP AUTO NEWSUse these simple car-buying tips to get a good deal | 1:17

There is a good time to buy a car so that you save the most money, according to car experts. Sean Dowling (@seandowlingtv) has more. Buzz60

1 of 9

Auto stocks are being held back by concerns about a "lease tsunami" -- as a glut of cars come off leases in 2019 and 2020. Detroit Free Press

2 of 9

The future of automobile technology keeps getting brighter, but headlights remain dim. USA TODAY

3 of 9

Alphabet's self-driving car unit, Waymo, could be worth $70 billion. Thats more than Ford, GM, and Tesla. Time

4 of 9

Ford Motors is expected to give current CEO Mark Fields the boot and promote Jim Hackett. Josh King has the story (@abridgetoland). Buzz60

5 of 9

Ford has named Jim Hackett as its next CEO, replacing longtime Ford star executive Mark Fields, according to media reports. Elissa Robinson/ DFP

6 of 9

Ford said Friday it is investing $350 million in its Livonia Transmission Plant to expand its lineup of transmissions and will add 800 new jobs at the plant. The investment will support the production of a new transmission for front-wheel-drive vehicles. Wochit

7 of 9

A vending machine that dispenses luxury cars to well-heeled buyers is the latest space-saving innovation in land-starved Singapore -- just don't try to shake it if it gets stuck. Video provided by AFP Newslook

8 of 9

Ford told its employees this morning that it plans to cut 10% of its salaried workforce worldwide, or about 1,400 employees as the automaker prepares to enter a period of declining U.S. industry sales. Wochit

9 of 9

Use these simple car-buying tips to get a good deal

Auto stocks face future trouble from end of leases

As car technology improves, headlights don't

Alphabet's Waymo could be worth billions

Ford CEO Mark Fields is being ousted

Jim Hackett named Ford's next CEO

Ford to invest $350 million, hire 800 at Livonia plant

Singapore car 'vending machine' dispenses with tradition

Ford to cut 1,400 salaried jobs in North America, Asia

Ford is releasing a a limited edition 2018 Focus RS.(Photo: Ford Motor Co.)

Hot hatch enthusiasts have something new to ogle.

Ford plans to release a limited-edition 2018 version of its powerful Ford Focus RS later this year in the U.S. and Canada. Orders will be taken starting this summer.

Pricing has not yet been released for the 1,500 cars, which Ford says celebrate"the end of run of this generation hot hatch."

The company credited the enthusiast community with providingthe feedback online that led to the car's creation and the inclusion of frequently requested features. Key additions include a limited-slip differential,which can lessen the differencein front wheel spin when one wheel has less traction than the other, new color combinations and styling features.

Read more:

The 'superpower' of Jim Hackett, Ford's new CEO

Hatchbacks stage comeback as other cars slump

We have spent a great deal of time listening to our customers, speaking to ownersclub members, reading comments and suggestions on enthusiast websites, and even studying various forum Photoshop renderings, Henry Ford III, Ford Performance marketing manager, said in a news release. Ford is a great-great-grandson of Henry Ford.

Jamal Hameedi, Ford Performance chief engineer, said in the release thatengineers "have delivered a drivetrain capable of wringing every drop of performance from the engine.

Ford is releasing a a limited edition 2018 Focus RS.(Photo: Ford Motor Company)

The car, made inSaarlouis, Germany,will be available in Race Red or signature Nitrous Blue colors with gloss black roof,mirror caps and rear roof spoiler (which will also have the blue RS logo on the side wings). The car will also have standard 19-inch premium painted forged alloy wheels with blue RS center caps, the release said.

Free Press auto critic Mark Phelan noted in a recent story on the popularity of the hatchback that the "outrageously powerful Focus RS offers all-wheel-drive and (a) 350-hp engine for prices starting at $36,120. It competes with hot hatches from around the world like the $35,655 VW Golf R and Subaru WRX STI."

Inside, the door handles, handbrake lever and turbo boost gauge surround will be "wrapped in carbon fiber skin" on the limited edition. Equipment from the RS2 package is also standard,including "black leather-trimmed Recaroseats with Miko-Dinamica eco-friendly suede microfiber inserts and RS logo, heated front seats with eight-way power drivers seat, heated steering wheel, heated exterior mirrors and voice-activated navigation system."

Other features include all-wheel drive and "launch control for ultimate performance off the start line and 4.7-second 062 m.p.h. acceleration."

Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @_ericdlawrence.

Read or Share this story: http://on.freep.com/2rFSpNq

See the original post here:
Ford touts limited-edition Focus hot hatch - Detroit Free Press

ENCINITAS A Superior Court judge has ruled against a residents group that challenged the citys approval of a second-story addition to a duplex on Rosebay Drive in 2016.

The group, which called itself Friends to Preserve Encinitas Beauty, sued Encinitas residents Gina Merchant and Derek Bradley in March 2016, challenging the addition of a 649-square-foot second story to their 863-square-foot duplex.

The group claimed the home remodel would block public and private views, would violate the citys parking requirements, that it didnt follow the citys Design Review Guidelines and that it should have been subject to extensive review under the California Environmental Quality Act.

The group also claimed approval would prompt others to build additions which would block the view of neighbors above.

Superior Court Judge Earl Maas on May 10 ruled against the group on all counts. Merchant expressed relief in the ruling.

My husband and I are so relieved to have put this to rest as the weight of the lawsuit has been bearing down on us for 12 long months, Merchant said. We were shocked and disheartened that these people took it this far given that we worked carefully with the city of Encinitas to design a second story that would be considerate of our neighbors and community, and their arguments were completely baseless.

They were just determined to try to bully us with their money. We hope our success will discourage similar NIMBY attacks elsewhere in our community, and empower people to fight for their right to improve their homes, Merchant said.

Everett Delano, the groups attorney, said the group hadnt decided if they would appeal the ruling.

Delano acknowledged that winning the lawsuit was not going to be easy, given they would have to prove the slippery slope the approval would create.

I think it was important to set a precedent that we simply cant sit back and allow this to happen, Delano said. Its not about Derek and Gina, its the concern that if you keep building up, everyone else will build up.

Marco Gonzalez, who represented Merchant and Bradley, called the suit frivolous. Suits like these only serve to fuel the perception that our environmental laws are ineffective and frequently abused, Gonzalez said. I really wish some attorneys would consider the negative consequences to the environmental movement when they bring these types of clearly bogus suits.

Continued here:
Judge rules against citizens group in duplex suit - Coast News

(Editors note: This column is part of an ongoing series on the history of Upper Townships villages. The main sources for this piece was Jean Albrechts A History of Upper Township and Its Villages published in 1989 and H. Stanley Craigs The History of Petersburg, published by Herald Press in Tuckahoe in 1913.)

Joyce van Vorst wrote about the schools in Petersburg:

The first Petersburg school was deeded on Jan. 23, 1814. The money for the building was raised by subscription; each subscriber with a specific number of shares. It was known as The Franklin School and the first teacher was Elias Corson. He taught reading, writing, and arithmetic for a term of two months (48 days) for the sum of $30. He worked a seven-hour day and had to pay his own board. (Obviously no teachers unions existed in 1820.)

The subscribers promised one fourth a cord of wood for each scholar. School commenced on Dec. 28, 1820. The school survived the September 1821 Great Gale (mentioned in the Seaville column) but a new school was built in 1871 not far from the Franklin School, which is now gone. These two schools saw 64 teachers come and go. I wonder why?

In 1952, the modern post-war elementary school was built in Marmora with additions in 1959 and 1963 reflecting the growth of the township. A new middle school was built on Perry Road in 1973 for grades 5-8.

The solitary church in Littleworth was the Wesley Methodist Episcopal Church, later to become the Wesley United Methodist Church. It was first organized in 1831 from a prior congregation that was probably meeting in members homes.

Elias Corson and his wife, Abigail, along with nine other Corsons, the Mickels, Godfreys, and a Mr. Peterson formed the initial group. This incorporated group organized to build a meeting house to be called the Wesley Meeting House.

Preachers were scarce in those days so they preached in what was called a circuit much like judges did at the time, riding by horseback or wagon from church to church. In 1839, the existing circuit was divided and the portion including Tuckahoe, Head of the River, Marshallville, Littleworth, Beesleys Point, and later Seaville became known as The Atlantic Circuit. As van Vorst wrote, the congregation of the Wesley Meeting House increased and a larger building was felt necessary.

In 1853 the building on the site was sold and moved to the adjoining lot and converted to a dwelling. The new church building was built by Peter Corson for $3,200 more than $100,000 in 2017.

By 1867 the circuit was divided yet again, this time including the village of Petersburg (with its new name) Beesleys Point and Seaville known as The Petersburg Circuit. Why the Petersburg Circuit? Well, this time the pastor resided in the Petersburg parsonage, and the circuit was so titled.

Eventually, the Methodist Episcopal and Methodist Protestant churches merged to become the Methodist Church and later they combined with the United Brethren to become the United Methodist Church as they are known today.

In 1967 a Sunday school addition was added with a kitchen and dining area in the basement and a stage and auditorium on the second floor. Today, the Petersburg Methodist Church is a healthy and vibrant church in the township.

According to The History of Petersburg (Craig, 1913), the original railroad in Upper Township ran from Middletown to Cedar Swamp Creek crossing the Dennisville Road about where the Killdeer Hill Road branches off. The route was changed at the insistence of the townspeople.

The Philadelphia and Seashore Railway Co. started construction and in 1891 tracks were laid as far south as Corsons Inlet. In 1892 it was completed to Sea Isle City. That same year, the railroad was sold to the West Jersey Railroad which operated it through 1893, when it was sold to the South Jersey Railroad Company, which later sold it to the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company.

In 1894, the Ocean City branch was constructed by Henry D. Moore and by 1897 the Ocean City Railroad ran a branch from Cedar Springs through Palermo (that station is now located at Cold Spring Village) and on to Ocean City.

The Reading Company became the owner of the Ocean City Railroad and the Atlantic City Railroad combined with the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1933 to become the PA-Reading Seashore Line.

Thousands of tourists, who became known as Shoobies because they often carried their lunches in shoe boxes, came to the shore communities from Philadelphia and points north for very reasonable fares.

I conclude with a very interesting railroad story. A railroad spur was built in 1917 from Middletown into the Tuckahoe Game Preserve, now called the Lester G. MacNamara Wildlife Management Area. This area was used to store ordinance such as shells and bullets destined for Russia, which was fighting the Germans in World War I and losing badly on the eastern front.

The Russian Revolution broke out in November of 1917, so there was no way at that point that weapons or ammunition would be sent to aid Bolsheviks.

The United States entered the war April 6, 1917, after President Woodrow Wilson asked for a declaration of war following numerous instigations by the Germans.

The majority of the workforce in Upper Township was employed at that time by the Bethlehem Loading Company whose headquarters was in Belcoville, Atlantic County a few miles up Route 50. When off duty, workers frequently spent time in the building that now houses the Tuckahoe Bike Shop and, before that, Ann Porters Store. There was a piano and stage in the very back of the building which was used for showing silent movies. Pianos provided the sound track for many early silent films with music especially created to accompany each film. In addition, events were scheduled for music and dancing.

The Bethlehem Loading Company, a subsidiary of Bethlehem Steel Company, produced ammunition for the war effort. The munitions factories were set up in South Jersey ostensibly for secrecy. After the Armistice was declared on Nov. 11, 1918, the location was used for the unloading of shells. There is a dynamite shed still on the property, now used for storage, which dates from World War I.

The foundations of these factory buildings can still be seen today on the Route 50 side of Atlantic County Park. There is a sign which indicates the place and nature of the buildings.

Since were commemorating the 100th anniversary of Americas entry into World War I this year it is fitting to talk about the men from Upper Township who served during the war. Perhaps one or more are your ancestors are among that number.

The Aaron Wittkamp Colwell American Legion Post 239 was chartered after the war on Jan. 27, 1920. It was named for the three men from Upper Township who were killed in France in 1918: John D. Aaron, Frank Wittkamp and Theodore R. Colwell. The original charter members of Post 239 were Rolland van Gilder, Fred Hagelgans, William Wayner, Vince DAgostino, Robert Garrett, James Dailey, Riccardo Balzan, Anther Hess, William Tomlin, Earl Fraser, Charles MaCrea, Stanley Gandy, Dominik Detro, Charles Young, Theodore Young, John Young, and Herbert Hand.

One more for the roadHow many of you knew that the Tuckahoe Game Preserve was also used to house German prisoners of war during World War II? The men were trucked out to work on local farms just as they were in POW camps all over the United States. I once met a taxi cab driver in Berlin back in 1972, who was in a POW camp in Louisiana and picked vegetables until the war was over. He had been captured in North Africa and brought here in 1943. His English was excellent!

These POWs in the game preserve were put up in the roughly built wooden barracks that were probably once used by Civilian Conservation Corps workers back in the 1930s, surrounded by a barbed wire enclosure. Some of the buildings are still there in the game preserve now used by the New Jersey Division of Fish & Wildlife.

The POWs were shipped back to Germany when the war was over. Lifelong township resident Jerry Bailey spoke to me about a German pfennig (penny) which is presently owned by a family member and was found back in the area where the German POWs were housed.

I wonder how many German POWs came back to the U.S. after the war? Many did, although we have no idea as to numbers.

When we reach the story of Strathmere, you will be surprised by a story about a German navy captain who watched the Strathmere shoreline from his U-boat during World War II.

Robert Holden taught at the Ocean City Intermediate School for 31 years, retiring in 2006. He is now a senior adjunct professor of history at Atlantic Cape Community College, where he has focused on Holocaust and Genocide Studies. He has traveled to Holocaust sites in Europe, and in China to study The Rape of Nanking and Japanese aggression in the Pacific. In 2009, he received the Axelrod Award for years of teaching and giving presentations about the Holocaust. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Historical Preservation Society of Upper Township and currently serves as the historian. He lives in Upper Township with his wife Janice Breckley Holden.

Read this article:
History of the Ten Villages of Upper Township: Petersburg, Part 2 - Shore News Today

EXPO CHICAGOhas reeled in some big fish for its sixth edition, which opens at Navy Pier on September 13 (through September 17). The biggest fish on the exhibitor list? Gagosian Gallery, which has not participated in a Chicago fair for decades.

As fairs become increasingly large contributors to mega-galleries bottom lines, dealers decisions about which ones to join can signal where they see potential for market growthand which collectors, and regions, they want to cultivate.

Other notable additions to the sixth edition of EXPO CHICAGO include: Tina Kim Gallery (New York); STANDARD (Oslo); Anton Kern Gallery (New York); Ceysson &Bntire (Saint-tienne, Paris, Luxembourg, New York);galerie frank elbaz (Paris, Dallas); and Galeria Filomena Soares (Lisbon).

Notably, Gagosianhas not hesitated to try out regional fairs in the pastbut it is also not afraid to jump ship if an experiment isnt paying off. Having participated in the Seattle Art Fairs inaugural edition, the gallerydid not return for the second. (After Gagosians Lidia Andich joined the fairs selection committee, the galleryis back on board for the 2017 edition this summer.) Gagosian also participated in FOG Art + Design in San Francisco this January and the Dallas Art Fair in April.

In a statement, the fairs director, Tony Karman, said the latest lineup reflects the international partnerships, collaborations, and programming that our extraordinary staff has encouraged and fostered over the last several years.

This years edition also includes a new section, EXPO Profile, dedicated to single-artist and thematic installations. GRIMM gallery will present works by Charles Avery (and also have a second booth in the main section of the fair) and R & Company will dedicate their booth to the Italian design movement SuperDesign, among other projects.

See the complete list of 2017 exhibitors below.

AKINCI, Amsterdam Ameringer | McEnery | Yohe, New York Anglim Gilbert Gallery, San Francisco BERG Contemporary, Reykjavk Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach Bortolami, New York Carpenters Workshop Gallery, London, Paris, New York CarrerasMugica, Bilbao casati gallery, Chicago David Castillo Gallery, Miami Beach Edward Cella Art & Architecture, Los Angeles Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables James Cohan, New York CONNERSMITH., Washington, DC Corbett vs. Dempsey, Chicago Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montreal Luis De Jesus Los Angeles, Los Angeles Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago galerie frank elbaz, Paris, Dallas Flowers Gallery, London, New York Forum Gallery, New York Honor Fraser, Los Angeles Gagosian, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, Paris, Rome, Athens, Geneva, Hong Kong Hilario Galguera Gallery, Mexico City Galerie Gmurzynska, Zrich, St. Moritz, Zug Galerie Laurent Godin, Paris Graphicstudio, Tampa Alexander Gray Associates, New York Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago, New York Garth Greenan Gallery, New York GRIMM, Amsterdam Kavi Gupta, Chicago Hackett Mill, San Francisco HDM Gallery, Beijing, Hangzhou Richard Heller Gallery, Los Angeles Nancy Hoffman Gallery, New York Rhona Hoffman Gallery, Chicago The Hole, New York Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York, Zrich MARIANE IBRAHIM, Seattle Jenkins Johnson Gallery, San Francisco, New York Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York Anton Kern Gallery, New York Tina Kim Gallery, New York KNIG GALERIE, Berlin Alan Koppel Gallery, Chicago Galerie Lelong, New York, Paris Library Street Collective, Detroit Jane Lombard Gallery, New York Diana Lowenstein Gallery, Miami Luhring Augustine, New York Maccarone, New York, Los Angeles Maison Gerard, New York Matthew Marks Gallery, New York, Los Angeles Maruani Mercier, Brussels, Knokke Mario Mauroner Contemporary Art, Vienna, Salzburg McCormick Gallery, Chicago moniquemeloche, Chicago THE MISSION, Chicago Gallery MOMO, Johannesburg, Cape Town Anne Mosseri-Marlio Galerie, Basel David Nolan Gallery, New York Gallery Wendi Norris, San Francisco Richard Norton Gallery, Chicago Claire Oliver Gallery, New York ONE AND J. Gallery, Seoul Karla Osorio Gallery, Braslia, So Paulo parrasch heijnen gallery, Los Angeles Peres Projects, Berlin Perrotin, New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo Galerija Gregor Podnar, Berlin Praz-Delavallade, Paris, Los Angeles PROYECTOSMONCLOVA, Mexico City R & Company, New York ANDREW RAFACZ, Chicago RONCHINI, London rosenfeld porcini, London Salon 94, New York Eduardo Secci Contemporary, Florence Carrie Secrist Gallery, Chicago William Shearburn Gallery, St. Louis Jessica Silverman Gallery, San Francisco SIM Galeria, Curitiba Sims Reed Gallery, London Galeria Filomena Soares, Lisbon Sous Les Etoiles Gallery, New York STANDARD (OSLO), Oslo Louis Stern Fine Arts, West Hollywood Allan Stone Projects, New York MARC STRAUS, New York Hollis Taggart Galleries, New York Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York, Singapore, Hong Kong Tandem Press, Madison Galerie Tanit, Beirut, Munich Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris, Brussels Paul Thiebaud Gallery, San Francisco T raywick Contemporary, Berkeley Vallarino Fine Art, New York Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, Los Angeles Von Lintel Gallery, Los Angeles Weinstein Gallery, Minneapolis Zolla/Lieberman Gallery, Chicago Pavel Zoubok Gallery, New York David Zwirner, New York, London

For all EXPO Chicago exhibitors including special sections, click here.

Read more from the original source:
Gagosian Returns to the Midwest, Joining EXPO Chicago After Long Absence From the Windy City - artnet News

The Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers will meet in the NBA Finals. This is not a recording. But maybe it should be. Because we'll almost certainly play it again next year.

After the Warriors added Kevin Durant last summer, many believed another meeting between the Warriors and Cavs was predestined before the season even began. And unless something crazy happens to sap the strength of either team before next season, it seems likely the cycle will repeat until their respective core players either fall off or break apart. Even with some potential blockbuster offseason moves, it's unlikely any NBA team can assemble the necessary talent to rival either the Warriors or Cavaliers. The NBA, until further notice, is a league of two teams.

In terms of win shares, the Warriors' roster has produced .194 win shares per 48 minutes in the 2017 NBA playoffs, the most this postseason. The Cavaliers are a close second (.190) before a huge drop off to the other teams making it past the first round, such as the Houston Rockets (.116), San Antonio Spurs (.109) and Washington Wizards (.106). That's roughly the same as having a roster full of First-Team All-NBA center Anthony Davis (.196 win shares per 48 minutes) playing against a team made up of Seth (not Steph) Curry clones (.109). Postseason performance is preferred here due to how lackadaisical the Cavaliers were during the regular season - their net rating of 2.9 has since exploded to plus-16.1 in the postseason, despite concerns about their depth and defense before the playoffs began. It seems reasonable to conclude that the Cavaliers' performance we're witnessing now is closer to the "true" Cavs.

Any title contender has a tough task - and there simply aren't enough players available via free agency or trade that can push a team into contention in one off season while also adhering to the salary cap.

It is even uncertain if the San Antonio Spurs - largely considered to be the closest team to joining the NBA's top two - are able to take the next step with a healthy Kawhi Leonard and some additional all-star help.

Leonard was producing a league-high .316 win shares per 48 minutes in the playoffs before getting injured, and the Spurs were still far behind the talent level of the Cavaliers and Warriors. Even adding pending unrestricted free agent point guard Chris Paul, rumored to be interested in joining the Spurs next season, might not be enough to bridge the gap.

Let's say the Spurs are able to add Paul, who would be an upgrade at the point over the injured and aging Tony Parker and Patty Mills. The team would likely have to say goodbye to Pau Gasol, who produced the second-most win shares per 48 minutes on the team last season, in an effort to create cap space.

The Celtics, who rank seventh in postseason win shares per 48 minutes (.080), are expected to make a big leap this summer, thanks in large part to owning the rights to the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming draft plus enough flexibility to create cap space to sign one of the prominent free agents on the market, like Utah Jazz forward Gordon Hayward or Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin. They could also use future draft assets, such as next year's unprotected Nets pick, which is likely to be another high lottery selection, to acquire someone like Indiana Pacers forward Paul George or Chicago Bulls forward Jimmy Butler.

Let's assume the Celtics take University of Washington guard Markelle Fultz with the top pick overall in the 2017 draft. In the lottery era, four guards have been selected No. 1 overall: Allen Iverson, John Wall, Kyrie Irving and Derrick Rose. That group produced .072 win shares per 48 minutes during their rookie season and .111 during their first year of postseason play. Let's also look at the best-case scenario for Boston this offseason, which would include it acquiring both Hayward and Butler for next year's playoff run. And finally, let's assume point guard Isaiah Thomas is completely healthy and available for the entire second round of these past playoffs, increasing the baseline of their win shares per 48 before adding the new players. Even with all that, the Celtics' postseason roster would produce .088 wins shares per 48 minutes, leaving them seventh overall, just by a smaller margin.

One caveat, because adding those players would make the Celtics undeniably better: Their win shares this postseason could be skewed because they suffered some completely lopsided losses when they dropped games. Much as we used postseason win shares per 48 because it better identifies the Cavaliers' true ability, using the regular season win shares per 48 for the Celtics gives them a starting point of .117, which would be boosted to .131 by the additions of Butler, Hayward and Fultz. That would certainly push the Celtics closer to competitive territory with the Cavs and Warriors in the win shares category, but they're still a distant third.

Maybe advanced stats like win shares aren't your thing, but we can see the same trend in terms of shooting talent. The Warriors are producing an effective field goal percentage of 57.3 percent, while holding their opponents to a below-average rate of 46.7 percent, giving them the highest net eFG% differential since 1983, the first year data is available. The Cavaliers have the second-highest differential in that span (59.8 and 50.8 percent, respectively). This postseason, no other team comes close with only three others, Houston, Boston and the Milwaukee Bucks, shooting better than their opponents.

It's quite possible it takes a miracle (or significant injury) for a team to dethrone one of the two NBA powerhouses. Or at least a player (or two) that decides winning a title is more important than money, offering a discount to a contender for a chance at winning an elusive NBA championship. Until that scenario materializes however, the NBA can probably get a jump on printing up some Cavaliers-Warriors 2018 NBA Finals gear.

Read the original here:
The Cavaliers will face the Warriors in the 2017 NBA finals. And 2018. And 2019 - Chicago Tribune

Leyden High School District 212 officials purposefully included both current and future Leyden students in groundbreaking ceremonies on May 18, as the district prepares for a historic construction project.

"These projects are looking to the future, and it was important to us that we recognizee the impact they will have on our local elementary students when they come to Leyden," Superintendent Nick Polyak said afterward.

District school board members, administrators and others gathered in the ceremony in the inner courtyard at West Leyden High School, 1000 N. Wolf Road, Northlake.

The ceremony signals "the beginning of a historic construction project that will benefit generations of Leyden students," officials said in their announcement. District plans call for an estimated $55 million project at East Leyden, at 3400 Rose St., in Franklin Park; and a roughly $25 million project at West Leyden, with the goal of "enhancing students' educational experience," officials said, announcing the project.

The work is to be done without the need for a tax referendum, Polyak has said. Working with the district's financial partners, District Business Manager Thomas Janeteas suggested use of a debt certificate as a financing tool that would allow officials to spread the project cost over 20 years, with payments made annually out of the district's operating budget/capital improvement fund.

The work is to include new classrooms and practice rooms for band and choir, a new cafeteria/commons, an enclosed inner courtyard, a preschool and day care facility, and a new aquatic center, Polyak said when he was first announcing the project. Renovated spaces at East Leyden will include a new wrestling room, girls locker room, additional classrooms and a maintenance area, he said.

At West Leyden, an addition is to be built inside a portion of the inner courtyard, he said. The first floor will be a cafeteria/commons addition and a kitchen renovation, Polyak said. The second floor addition will be a new library and media center, he said.

Renovated spaces will include new classrooms, as well as reorganized office spaces, student support areas and more, the superintendent said. He said the additions will result in new cafeterias and common areas "that all of our students will use every day."

Construction is starting first at West Leyden, and the work at East Leyden will begin next school year. The projects are scheduled to be complete for the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year, officials said.

Along with the future users, "I would also like to thank our current students and staff members for their patience as we live through construction for the next two years," Polyak said following the groundbreaking.

"The end result will be worth it, and it will provide opportunities for generations of Leyden Eagles," he added.

Originally posted here:
Leyden School District 212 breaks ground on construction project ... - Chicago Tribune

Ive now walked three times through the 1961 Scottish Rite Masonic Temple on Wilshire Boulevard, that block-long, travertine-wrapped crypt of a building designed by architect and artist Millard Sheets.

During a first visit in fall 2014, about a year after Guess Jeans founders Paul and Maurice Marciano bought the temple for $8 million with the goal of turning it into a museum, I was struck by the deep weirdness of its architecture inside and out. It occurred to me that the building had been not just a container for various Masonic rituals but also since those rituals were performed in private, deep within a nearly windowless temple, by an all-male group wearing elaborate costumes a fascinatingly complex architectural symbol of the relationship between masculinity and civic culture in postwar Southern California.

The second time after Kulapat Yantrasast, the Marcianos architect, had finished redesigning the temple but before the art had been installed I was unhappy to discover that much of that weirdness had been banished in favor of the sort of antiseptic, perfectly rational galleries you can see at any art fair on almost any continent. Yantrasast, I concluded, had sanitized the building in an effort to update it. He had White Cubed it!

My final visit during Thursdays media preview for the building, officially rechristened the Marciano Art Foundation managed to temper some of those worries. Now that the temple is filled with pieces from the Marcianos collection, the gallery walls seem less insistent in their newness and whiteness, the original architecture less marginalized or cowed by the additions.

It seems clear that Yantrasasts goal has been to create a series of spaces where visitors can disappear into the collection before reemerging to consider the building itself. Its not hard to imagine why the Marcianos, who after all bought the temple so theyd have a place to introduce their art to the public, would push their architect in that direction. The brothers also deserve credit for opening an important L.A. landmark to the public for the first time.

Yet I still found myself wondering what might have been: what Yantrasast and the Marcianos might have created if theyd seen the eccentricity of Sheets temple truly one of the oddest but also most emblematic buildings of 1960s Los Angeles not as something to keep in check but instead to grapple with, spotlight or even exaggerate.

Buildings that advertise their private-ness have a long history in American architecture. The secret societies at Yale, designed by prominent architects including Bertram Goodhue and McKim, Mead and White for an all-male membership, are among the best known examples of this contradictory building type, with its conspicuous, even vain, brand of introversion.

Sheets take on this tradition was perfectly suited to postwar Los Angeles. The L.A. of 1961 was a city embracing its private side, discovering the independence and elbow room made possible by a growing freeway network and a sprawling collection of residential subdivisions.

Masonic lodges had already been built all over Southern California, of course, and most were similarly windowless and tomb-like. But the scale of Sheets temple the way it was perfectly positioned to be seen by a car speeding by on Wilshire, the way it took on the size and self-importance of a courthouse or other public building suggested the extent to which Los Angeles was transforming itself.

There was something about the city of that moment that made private buildings like the temple want to flaunt their inaccessibility (think of the Case Study houses, designed for hard-to-reach hillside lots but also for magazine covers) and civic or cultural buildings (think of Dodger Stadium) to shrink from public view.

The temple also mixed architecture and sculpture in way that perhaps Sheets alone could have managed. Born in 1907 in Pomona, he became the head of the art department at Scripps College while also maintaining a career as a painter, designer, mosaicist and architect. His main client in the last category was Home Savings and Loan, for which he designed more than 40 branches.

It wasnt just in architecture that he showed a knack for communicating the civic ethos of Los Angeles. His 1931 painting Angels Flight, showing a scene looking down from the top of Bunker Hill, sums up like few other artworks the dense urban landscape of Los Angeles between the world wars. (Its now owned by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.)

What Sheets created for the Masons is a building, at least on its exterior, whose architecture is largely made of sculpture and vice versa. Sculptures by Albert Stewart (a colleague at Scripps) of the great builders of history, including Christopher Wren and Egyptian priest and architect Imhotep, decorate the south-facing Wilshire facade; many of the figures are shown holding or standing in front of architectural models, buildings and cityscapes. That easy marriage of art and architecture continued inside, where mosaics by Sheets were a dominant element.

In some cases, Yantrasast (and his colleagues at the firm he founded in 2004, wHY) and the Marcianos have removed these examples of the exuberant quality of the original design, including a giant fresco overlooking the lobby that featured a history of the Masons in California. In other cases, theyve been covered, wrapped in protective glass or partially hidden behind new plaster walls.

Other design decisions spraying exposed steel beams with fireproof material, for example were essentially made for Yantrasast by code requirements. The result is a work of architecture whose personality has been muted, its rougher edges sanded smooth.

SIGN UP for the free Essential Arts & Culture newsletter

Given how useful IRS rules make museums of this kind to their patrons bottom lines, it also seems fair to say that a temple built as a vessel for ingrown fraternal rituals has been stylishly redesigned to hold a collection of tax breaks.

The entrance along Wilshire sadly isnt open in the buildings new configuration. Pedestrians as well as drivers who park in the two-level structure on the northern side of the temple are brought around to an attractive plaza and sculpture garden and then past a bookstore and cafe into the spacious lobby.

Behind a bank of elevators at ground-floor level is one of the foundations two show-stopping spaces. The old auditorium has been removed, opening up a massive gallery, covering 13,600 square feet, with ceilings 40 feet high. For the opening weeks, it holds a solo exhibition by L.A. artist Jim Shaw that makes ingenious use of the giant painted backdrops the Masons used for ceremonial stage productions.

This is at once the most dramatic space in the remade building and the one that strikes the most effective balance between old and new. Along its periphery, in a ghostly pattern etched in the concrete, you can see where the raked floor of the auditorium was attached to the sidewalls.

From this lower level, stairs or one of the elevators take you to a mezzanine and then a second-floor space for special exhibitions. It now features a 49-minute video piece by Lizzie Fitch and Ryan Trecartin called Ledge. Much of it was filmed inside the temple before it was remade; pause here and watch for a few minutes if you want to get a sense of the oddness of the original architecture.

At the top of the temple is a vast, column-free gallery covering 12,800 square feet where the ballroom used to be, along with three smaller galleries. (In total the 110,000-square-foot building has 55,000 square feet of exhibition space.) A narrow terrace overlooking the parking lot and offering remarkable views of the Hollywood Hills runs along the temples northern edge.

Its on this level that the White Cube effect grows strongest: the combination of polished concrete floors and white plaster partition walls holding paintings by Christopher Wool, Wade Guyton and Takashi Murakami, among other artists can easily lull you into an Art Basel trance.

There are some reminders on this floor of the similarly column-free top level of the Broad museum downtown, by the New York firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro. This isnt simply because the Marcianos collection overlaps with Eli and Edythe Broads. Its also because the architectural priorities are the same, despite the fact that the Broad was purpose-built.

In both cases, the goal is a hermetic and visually efficient top-level space, with the distractions offered by the outside world kept to a minimum. Its really that hermetic, well-scrubbed quality that surprised me most when I first saw what Yantrasast had done with the temple. I wouldnt have thought it possible, given how singularly strange, how thick with history, this giant top-floor space appeared when I first visited.

On your way back down to the lobby, be sure to stop on the mezzanine to see whats labeled the Relic Room. Organized by Susan L. Aberth, a Bard College professor hired by the Marcianos to help catalog and preserve the fraternal objects found in the building, it is a miniature museum in its own right, holding photographs, fringed and embroidered banners, elaborate headgear and other memorabilia.

It collects the eccentricity that once filled nearly every square inch of the temple and stacks it neatly out of the way.

christopher.hawthorne@latimes.com

Twitter: @HawthorneLAT

ALSO

The art review: Marcianos outlandish special exhibition lends hope to an iffy museum collection

The profile: Kulapat Yantrasast, the architect behind the Marciano Art Foundation

The scene: The Marcianos opening gala

The sneak peek: Inside the Marciano Art Foundation

Read more here:
Temple loses some of its eccentric personality in stylish redesign for Marciano Art Foundation - Los Angeles Times