Peoria Landmark #269
Text from the Cache of an article about Lydia Moss Bradley (the actual web page wouldn’t load):
In 1858, Tobias Bradley, already a successful businessman with interests in banking, railroads, steamboats, distilleries and real estate, built an imposing brick residence which stands today at 802 W. Moss. Mrs. Bradley continued to live at this house until her death on January 16, 1908.
According to Bradley University’s website, the Markin Family Student Recreation Center will contain a jogging/walking track, swimming pool, weight training, aerobics and fitness facility, four basketball courts for intramural games, championship basketball court and a juice bar and café.
The Markin Rec Center is named after David Markin, current resident of Kalamazoo, Michigan and 1953 Bradley graduate who donated $1 million to help build Bradley’s David R. Markin Tennis Courts and $8 million towards this project; also from Bradley’s website:
David Markin received his bachelor’s degree in business in 1953. As a student at Bradley, he was captain of the tennis team and a co-founder and president of his fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Pi. Following graduation he joined his family’s business, Checker Motors Co. As its CEO, he expanded the company from a manufacturer of a single product to a major supplier to the automobile industry. On the national tennis scene, Mr. Markin served as president of the United States Tennis Association and piloted the development and building of the Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows, New York.
Mr. Markin is the only individual to twice receive Bradley’s President’s Award for leadership, service, and philanthropic support. He is a Bradley Centurion and was the 1999 recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award. He served on the Bradley Board of Trustees from 1992 to 2004 and is now an honorary member. The David R. Markin Tennis Courts, dedicated in 1998, were named in honor of his generous support to the University, and ground was broken for the Markin Family Student Recreation Center in the spring of 2007. The Markin Center is projected to be completed in the fall of 2008.
* Inside photos courtesy of an anonymous reader.
gargoyle (gär‘goil): waterspout used in medieval Europe to draw rainwater from church and cathedral roofs. Gargoyles were fashioned imaginatively in the form of human grotesques, beasts, and demonic spirits. This form of sculpture reached its peak in the Gothic period and declined with the introduction of lead drainpipes in the 16th century.
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Stephanie: “I believe this is located on a home near Bradley/Robertson Memorial Field House, but I can’t recall the name of the street.”
It’s mounted on the porch roof at 1613 N. W. Main St, directly across the street from what used to be Robertson Memorial Fieldhouse. Next time you’re driving on Main Street, look up and you’ll see the Gargoyle. Can’t miss it, really.
Gary: “I have a guess, and not because I’ve seen it there. It’s because I know where PI has been with a camera recently and it seems likely there would be one in the area.”
Gary is referring to this video I made:
(N)IMBY
A couple of beautiful homes in the Arbor District.
Does the EPA need to send an inspector to check the pollution level?
Josh Harris:
As described by the COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY in 1935, this station is the stack on the powerhouse at Bradley Institute, in the western part of the City of Peoria, located on the center of the building, about 120 feet W of the center line of S Glenwood Street, and about 60 feet N of the center line of Laura Street. The powerhouse was erected in 1918. The stack is very prominent. The powerhouse is a yellow brick building about 40 feet high. The stack is an ornamental yellow brick structure about 100 feet high with a collar about fifteen feet from the top and two collars around the top.
[...]Simply, it is the smoke stack on the building behind the Fieldhouse at Bradley.
Remind me to get ahold of Josh whenever I need to learn more about smokestacks. If he would be so kind as to provide me the link to his source, it would be greatly appreciated.
Bruce Alkire, executive vice president of The Finch Companies via an interview published in InterBusiness Issues: “In the years I was born, 1949, an N.E. Finch Co. mobile crane operated by Wayne Finch was used to erect Robertson Memorial Fieldhouse.”
The great irony would be if The Finch Companies were tearing it down also; a photo I have of the destruction crew says “American Demolition” on the arm of the Cat tractor. I guess N.E. Finch didn’t get the low bid.
My first YouTube video…
Chris is close; JW & Sage are right: A clusterf$@k at Main and Glenwood, with Robertson Fieldhouse visible in the background.
This is an IHSA game at the Fieldhouse on Friday night (Mar 9). I don’t recall who was playing, Richwoods I think.
Check out the length of the crossing light; that’s gotta be the shortest red light I’ve ever seen. I doubt you could run and get across the street before it turned green again. What a mess. I’d hate to have been driving down Main, especially eastbound, and accidentally run into this.