This land is a special place.  It housed the Edgewater Beach Hotel and was torn down to make way for Park Tower.  While the original vision was for there to be three towers such as ours, only one was built.  That makes us the tallest building in Edgewater, at 55 stories high!  Park Tower has a lot of history, such as all the different shops originally located in the mall, like a pharmacy, hair salon, and a restaurant.  I remember taking the red line train from the suburbs to downtown Chicago and how I always admired this distinct building.  Little did I know at the time that I would eventually be living here.

As in life, we have had our ups and downs.  We have had fires.  We lost electricity and needed a generator.  We have seen children grow up and become adults.  We have seen our family and neighbors pass away.

I moved into Park Tower in 2004.  My significant other, Chuck O’Bringer, introduced me to this building.  The building offers million dollar views at affordable prices.

The owners here are amazing.  For example, many owners volunteer their time to help put together our annual Independence Day celebration, volunteer their time to sort packages, and serve on several important commissions such as rules & regulations, social, health club, new residents, home improvement, and budget & finance, among others. Drawing from my education at Loyola University Chicago, I have learned to serve others and do the right thing.  I try to do this in my volunteer work for Park Tower.

In addition, we are grateful to our staff, Management, Maintenance, Front Desk, Garage and Security, for their dedication and high level of skills they bring to our building to make it and our lives better every day.

We have improved our branding.  For example, when discussing the sign in the circle drive, a proposal was to simply be an address, but as an owner, I spoke up at a Board meeting and said that I want to be known as Park Tower, not the building located at 5415 N. Sheridan Road.

We have an excellent website with a wealth of information.  I have not seen any other condo association have such an extensive website on news and updates, thanks to our excellent General Manager Tim Patricio.  We have adopted a new logo and are eliminating the patchwork of signs with new signs for a consistent, classy look.  I love it that Betty Terry-Lundy said she recently took a taxi, gave the name Park Tower, and the taxi driver referred to it as a luxury building.

As our building gets older, I see us making improvements and doing necessary replacements.  We are in the process of refreshing all hallways and putting lights on the roof to set Park Tower apart from all other buildings.  We continue to follow our reserve study to replace items that have exhausted their useful life.  We want to be proactive rather than reactive.  Finally, I hope we continue to be financially responsible so that we continue to have the status of “never a special assessment.”

We would like to unveil the commemorative plaque to remember this day.  It says Park Tower Condominium.  Built in 1973, celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2023.  Designed by SCB – John Buenz, Architect.  Plaque commemoration Friday, September 8th, 2023.  Following a special 50th anniversary logo, it states “A vibrant community these past 50 years, our residents have been inspired by the building’s lakeside location, distinct footprint, and modern design.  Here’s to the next 50!”

Thanks to Sheldon Atovsky and the entire social commission for their hard work in putting this celebration together.  It’s been an amazing 50 years, and let’s toast to another 50 wonderful years.