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In the immortal (!) words of Andrew Lloyd Weber, “A new day has begun.”

At 10am on Tuesday morning, August 7 2018, Joan Lewis led the first tour, Historic Treasures of Chicago’s Golden Age, departing from the new Chicago Architecture Center. Brava Joan! We are more than two weeks in, and reports are glowing. Amidst construction noise, a fascinated public, and the hustle of a busy location, our tours are going out on time, well-attended and staffed by a psyched-up docent corps.

For those of you who have led a tour or just popped in to check things out: isn’t the new Center just great? Every day brings something new. For instance, after the first thrill of signage marking our territory, now the CAC-red west wall of what will be a two-story Race to the Top skyscraper exhibition is installed. Docents can tell their guests to “meet at the Eiffel Tower.” What a kick!

Merchandise in the new shop is very impressive and highly alluring. Have your credit card on you at your own risk. And though the new library and adjacent community kitchen are still off limits, I did make a trip down there to keep my yogurt cold and can report that the refrigerator works well. And don’t get me started on the glory of the new high-tech bathrooms. Note to people who have already stopped there: how long did it take you to figure out how to make the forced air dryers work???

A special thanks to the group of you who have (or will) take a shift hanging out around the Box Office, helping answer questions, direct traffic and orienting fellow docents to the initial pre-tour drill. I have done several shifts myself and can report that it was a lot of fun. First of all, it gave me a chance to meet a lot of you whom I don’t see often or ever. Made a lot of new friends. Another highlight has been the opportunity, during down times, to get to know the Guest Services Volunteers (GSVs) and professional Box Office staff. Boy, do these people know their stuff. And they are so, so patient. Caroline has sent out a schedule, and I encourage you to sign up for a shift between August 30th and September 3rd.

Also going on have been several 2-day training sessions for the new Exhibition Hosts. Caroline told me that there are currently about 15 docents who have enrolled in the training already. Some of the techniques docents have learned pop up in this training, but it presents a new pedagogy that is adapted from the most current thinking in the museology/experience realm. Moreover, it opens the focus of architecture to the international stage – putting our wonderful city into context and proving all over again that CAC is an international destination. More training will be happening all the time for those of you who are tempted.

Finally, I am sure you all heard from Lynn that there are still some last-minute gremlins wreaking havoc on the master schedule. Our preview has been postponed to a “postview” that will still include all the hoopla of an opening (yes, food and drink as well). That date is Wednesday, September 5th, starting at 5:30pm.

One of my best moments last week was running into a docent with whom I trained in 2008 who said: “You know, I have to confess I was really worried about all this – new location, new routes, starting over. But already I love it.”

See you on September 5th!

Constance