Multifamily Encore
The historic C.W. Shumway & Sons Foundry-where the original mold for the Academy Awards' Oscar statuette was cast in 1928-is being demolished to make way for a mixed-use development with stores and multifamily housing. The Batavia, Ill. City Council unanimously voted to tear down the foundry, which is structurally unsound and proved too costly to save, according to comments made to the Chicago Tribune by developer Dan Stellato, president of Batavia, Ill.-based Batavia Enterprises. Demolition is expected to take approximately one month. In addition to the Oscar, the Shumway foundry contributed to casting the molds for the Vince Lombardi trophy and Emmy Awards statuettes.
Jurassic Starts
Ground breaking at a residential development north of San Diego was briefly halted in mid-June when developers uncovered the fossilized bones of a Mastodon, a prehistoric animal similar to the wooly mammoth that stood 3 meters high and roamed North America some 220,000 years ago. The bones, including two tusks, an upper jaw fragment with three teeth, and several vertebrae, were donated to the San Diego Museum of Natural History. Development of Windmill, a master-planned community of single-family homes and affordable apartments, is back on and scheduled for a mid-2008 sales launch.
Nice Tan
Students lucky enough to land a room at the Suluki Pointe student housing complex at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Ill., can forget about the notorious Midwest winters. While the snow falls, they can hit tanning beds and work on their base coat. In addition to providing indoor rays, Memphis-based Education Realty Trust, which is developing the housing center, will also offer amenities such as a traditional clubhouse, a swimming pool, fitness center, study center, movie theater, and basketball and volleyball courts.
