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Cultural Awakening of Chicago's Bridgehouses
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Our Happy Hour Speaker Series continues Thursday 7/23 with Preserving and Reactivating Chicago’s Bridgehouses for Community. Chicago’s historic bridges and their tender houses are among the city’s most recognizable civic landmarks, standing as enduring symbols of engineering innovation and the river that shaped Chicago’s growth. Yet many of our bridgehouses remain vacant and underutilized, disconnected from the communities that surround them. Join Preservation Chicago Executive Director Ward Miller and Tender House Project founder Mejay Gula for a conversation about preserving and reimagining these remarkable bridge operator buildings for future generations. It’s hosted by the McCormick Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum, a prime example of how these buildings can be repurposed for the public good. This speaker series is free and open to the public. Complimentary beverages will be available and the event occurs on the Bridgehouse Museum plaza at Michigan and Wacker on the Chicago Riverwalk. Seating is limited and will begin at 4:30pm. Join us!
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Thank you so much for learning about the Chicago River with us last night out of @chicagoathletichotel! 🐟 👟Guide @chelseygrassfield led runners through sites along the river that have been built, rebuilt, or reimagined, showcasing the ways the city and its partners have actively worked to convert the formerly industrial waterfront into public access and a healthier river habitat. 🎤 After the route, we heard from Mejay Gula, architect and founder of @tenderhouseproject, an initiative dedicated to preserving and culturally activating Chicago’s historic bridge houses as civic infrastructure along the Chicago River. 🙏 Thanks to our volunteer team @gorky081295, @gbmcgann, @cynthxchen, and @tahnee_runs_on_donuts. 🍪 Huge thanks to @levainbakery for the delicious post-run cookies! BUT THE JURY IS STILL OUT: Would YOU swim in the Chicago River? 👙 ➡️ Next up: See you Saturday, March 7 for our Running Tour of West Loop Women out of @madstreetbooks for International Women’s Day. Tickets in bio!
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✨Meet the speaker: Mejay Gula This Wednesday, we meet Mejay Gula, AIA, a licensed architect and the founder of the Tender House Project, an initiative dedicated to preserving and culturally activating Chicago’s historic bridgehouses as civic infrastructure along the Chicago River. With more than twenty years of experience in architecture, urban design, and planning, her work advances adaptive reuse and civic design strategies that strengthen community agency and public value. Mejay also serves as Studio Director of Development, Culture, and Engagement at Site Design Group in Chicago. She is a frequent lecturer on civic design and cultural stewardship and serves on the boards of the Chicago Architectural Club and the McCormick Bridgehouse Museum. ➡️ Ready to meet Mejay? Join us at @chicagoathletichotel this Wednesday, February 25 for: 👟 A 3.5-mile guided route with @chelseygrassfield 📚 50% off The Chicago River: A Natural and Unnatural History thanks to @siupress 🍪 @levainbakery cookies and @fizzyjanesbeverages Tap the Events link in bio to grab one of last two tickets!
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📣 TICKETS OPEN TONIGHT! 🎟️ We explore the Chicago River on ✨Wednesday, February 25✨! Join us at @chicagoathletichotel for: 👟 A 3.5-mile guided route with @chelseygrassfield 📐Q&A with architect and @tenderhouseproject founder Mejay Gula 📚 50% off The Chicago River: A Natural and Unnatural History thanks to @siupress 🍿Light bites & sips Whether you’re a regular river runner or someone curious about how Chicago’s waterfront is changing, you’ll leave with a better understanding of the river and a deeper connection to the physical spaces we call home. ❤️ 🎟️ Tickets for this event open to non-members via our newsletter TONIGHT, Monday, February 9–link in bio to subscribe if you’re not already! Any remaining tickets will release to the general public on Wednesday at 8pm—tap the ‘Events’ link in bio to purchase.
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📣 The Winter 2026 season lineup is here! You voted, and we listened! After asking our community last summer to help design our Winter 2026 season, these are the winners: 👟 Saturday, January 24: Book Club Run of Three Girls From Bronzeville with author Dawn Turner and @blackgirlsreadchi @ King Branch, CPL 👟 Wednesday, February 25: Running Tour of The Chicago River with Mejay Gula of Tender House Project @ Chicago Athletic Association Hotel 👟 Saturday, March 7: Running Tour of West Loop Women @ Madison Street Books P.S. We’re kicking off the season with author Dr. Eve L. Ewing out of @buildcoffeeandbooks on Saturday, January 3 at 9am! No RSVP required—just show up. Ready to join? 🫂Members: A reserved spot at every event is included in your membership! 🎟️ Non-members: Tickets for the January 24 event release in our newsletter on Monday, January 12—link in bio if you’re not already subscribed! Let’s get out of the house and onto Chicago’s streets to learn history, honor stories, and spend time with fellow Chicagoans who love to read, run, and support indie bookstores, libraries, and small businesses. ✨
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Do you know what tender houses are? Tender houses are the buildings next to bridges where the “tenders” or bridge operators were responsible for lifting bridges so boats could safely pass. In Chicago there remain 70 bridgehouses, spanning 13 miles of Chicago River branches, connecting with 15 neighborhoods. If you start to pay attention, you’ll soon notice them everywhere! 👀 Last year, Mejay Gula of @tenderhouseproject spoke to readers and runners on the running tour of the Chicago River from the Loop’s Riverwalk to Chinatown. Though bridges used to see constant traffic, our changing world and ways of commerce means that these bridgehouses are unoccupied 95% of the year. @tenderhouseproject aims to revitalize these small buildings into cultural and community spaces. The McCormick Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum is a great example of that! ➡️ Learn about tender houses and more on our LAST EVER running tour along the Chicago River with @chelseygrassfield this Wednesday 3/29! Link in bio to learn more and save your spot. #tenderhouse #tenderhouseproject #mccormickbridgehousemuseum #thechicagoriver
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✔️Chicago River Run Part 3 The third run in our series of Chicago River-themed tours inspired by Libby Hill’s 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒈𝒐 𝑹𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓: 𝒂 𝑵𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑼𝒏𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝑯𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 took us from the downtown riverwalk to Ping Tom park in Chinatown. We learned about fish hotels, development proposals, a 78th neighborhood and more. Thank you so much to all the runners who spent last night with us—so glad we had new and old friends! And very special thanks so our speaker Mejay from @tenderhouseproject. Next river running tour is on Thursday, Oct. 20 around Bubbly Creek–see you then! . . . #runningtour #routesbuiltbystories #chelseygrassfield #thechicagoriver #readandrunchicago #libbyhill
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::Team No Sleep:: Reimagining public spaces #Chicagobridgehouses #communityradio #dreamteam 🌈✨ @giroscopios @tamarabecerravaldez @tenderhouseproject @letspassnotes @eliseisugly420 @nick__wylie @ger.szo @lumpenradio
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::Communities Amplified:: is a multilingual radio initiative on the WLPN @lumpenradio airwaves. 🔊 #CoAmp @ South Ashland Bridgehouse @tenderhouseproject #popupradio 📻 (October 16 & 17, 2021) CoAmp trains new radio producers from communities in Chicago and expands multilingual programming - in Spanish & Cantonese - on Lumpen Radio; opens doors and builds a growing network of radio producers, hosts, and talent across Chicago. This project aims to reach a multicultural, immigrant audience to further develop a community that incorporates multiple immigrant experiences. Thank you to all the people who participated during that beautiful weekend!! ✊🏽🙏
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This Giving Tuesday, gift a membership to the Design Museum of Chicago to yourself AND another creative in our community. ⁠⁠ ⁠⁠ Your membership includes an exclusive gift, access to creative jobs and talent pool, special events, and the opportunity to do your part in making Chicago’s creative community more equitable. Pay it forward!⁠⁠ ⁠⁠ Link in bio to sign up. (https://www.designchicago.org/membership)⁠⁠ ⁠⁠ #designmuseum #Chicagodesign #GivingTuesday #payitforward #designequity #creativeequity #Chicagocreative #localartists #designswag #designmug ⁠⁠ ⁠⁠ @designmuseumchi @aleue @wealllivehere @tenderhouseproject @jon.veal @alt_chicago @srahz @ashleyraelukasik @tannerwoodford @kevinmichaelreader @mur.mur.ring
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It was really hard to sleep last night, yesterday’s news really hit me in an unexpected way. As much as you plan and pray, you can never be ready for loss. I always feel like we, (as in creatives) have so much time to make change but that’s not the case at all. Truthfully, I often feel like I’m not doing enough. There are so many needs to serve. Design isn’t just aesthetic, it’s the wade in the water. Design is the pathway of progress and Abloh used his platform to break down the rhythms of the algorithm. Now we honor that. I’m humbled to announce that I’ve joined the Auxiliary Board for the @designmuseumchi Along with my colleagues we are focused on designing a more equitable, safe and beautiful city. At least as much as we can. In the time I have, I am committed to fighting for black people. For the west side. This is another opportunity to open that door ya dig? I recently had an interview released for @iitdesign about design in more detail. It’s open source, link in bio.
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Talking about the need to reconnect with our water, and forging a deeper connection to bodies of water rooted in care and gratitude for this life giving source so that we appreciate and take care of water. Steel mills and industrial plants line the shores of Lake Michigan and the Chicago River. The direction of flow was manually reversed in 1900. This is a relationship based in hubris, domination, and chauvinism. Can we use our creative muscles and imagine something different? Yes. We can. 📸: @mapnerdo
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