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Thursday, February 24, 2011

Mid-East meets Midwest

My husband and I were walking down the street one our way to Trader Joe's to get some of our favorite goodies when we walked past a building we have walked passed many times before.

But this time something caught my eye. I tugged on my husband's arm to get him to slow down and pointed to the main entrance. "Look!"


"Yeah Bloomingdales. We don't need anything" He replied as he started walking again.

"No. Look at the writing around the entrance. That's arabic. Look at the detail. It's all Arabesque. It's beautiful."


We stood in awe for a few minutes before the freezing weather forced us to be on our way.

On our walk home we let our imaginations run wild with all the possibilities of how that building got there. Who built it? Why here in the heart of the city? How did it become a Bloomingdales of all things?


After all our pondering and speculation I was surprised to find out the real history of the building. It was built by the local Shriners group in 1912 and was an auditorium that the circus would preform in.

I find that I smile to my self as happen past this building again and again. It seems to bring me memories of the sun and palm trees of the Middle East every time I walk by.

My little piece of the Middle East right here in Chicago


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

That's such a fantastic story and I love the history behind it in the Wiki article! Any idea what the inscription means?