Never forget the Chicago Spire Hole. Don’t miss it, but don’t forget it, either. If you had vacation plans for late this summer to check out the infamous chasm but wanted to wait for the DNC chaos to subside, you’re too late. Other than a few tiny remnants, the cofferdam is history.

A whole bunch of photos of construction activity and progress at 400 Lake Shore from August 22, 2024:

Enjoying the photos? Metra and CTA rides (and Amtrak trains to Milwaukee), Zipcars, Divvy Bikes, camera lenses, domain fees, snacks & energy drinks, and comfortable walking shoes add up. You can help offset expenses by making a greatly-appreciated donation to Building Up Chicago.

Sure, that headline might seem fake. But stand up on Lake Shore Drive (the safe level, where there’s a sidewalk. Don’t stand in the roadway) and have a look at all the passersby stopping to check out construction at 400 Lake Shore, and you’ll insist this was their destination.

You’ll think all those people were in town just to see the famous Chicago Spire Hole for one last time, bringing their children along to explain to them what might have been. Sure, they took the requisite photos at The Bean and Navy Pier, and watched a lap or two of the NASCAR street race, since that coincided with their visit. But the ultimate purpose of their being here was obvious: See the Spire.

LR Contracting and BOWA Construction have darn near brought the concrete core clean up out of the old cofferdam; it helps considerably that they’ve been shaving layers of steel and concrete off for the past few weeks. You don’t need a drone anymore to see what’s going on inside, and soon they’ll be no sign of the cofferdam at all, as excavation around it continues. What you see at the “surface” of the cofferdam now is the lowest sub-basement concrete floor, above which the rest of the 72-story tower will rise.

Fare thee well, Chicago Spire Hole. Like Howard Cosell and SCTV before you, we’ll find ourselves ashamed for not appreciating you more when you were still with us.