Chicago Spire Hole Ideas Unveiled, Announces Contest Winner

Chicago - How would you fill the 76-foot-deep hole meant for the Chicago Spire?

The bad economy had to put that project on hold.

A few months ago, the Chicago Architectural Club called for entries in a contest called "Mine the Gap". The Chicago Architectural Club received submissions from all across the globe.

One Ohio State Student, Ryan Connolly, who entered in the contest said, "It was just fun to do. We're here because we love architecture."

Connolly and some of his Ohio State classmates paid the entry fee of $50 to submit their idea. It didn't win, but they came to Chicago for the announcement of the winners anyway.

Some of the top ideas for the spire hole were a temporary cabbage field, a bungee jump into the scar, a solar heated halo of water from the hole, a water park, and a fundraising wishing well.

A panel of jurors picked the winner and the grand prize of $3500 went to Alex Lehnerer, a professor and his team from the University of Illinois at Chicago for their idea called the 'Second Sun'.

"It's always great to win," Lehnere said.

His winning idea is simple. It's a giant yellow ball made to compliment the Chicago skyline and instead of hiding the hole, it’s highlighting it.

"We love the hole. We would like to have the hole there forever," Lehnerer said.

Lehnerer is hoping to either re-invest the prize money into other projects for the school or for another one of his ideas.

His idea is to temporarily do something with the spire hole, either until the skyscraper project moves forward or is called off completely. He hopes to talk to the City of Chicago about his plans in the near future.