Ice House

The weather was anything but “icy,” today, but I made the effort to walk a few extra blocks and check out the chutes that used to dispense ice blocks at the Crystal Ice building.


Hat, Charlotte Russe. Vest, AC-3998 (cut from a thrifted jacket). Dress, Prabal Gurung for Target. Shoes, Kelly and Katie. Necklace, Banana Republic. Sunglasses, Toms.


As I was finishing my outfit photos, a gentlemen returning to his car in the parking garage gave me a hot photo tip: the old Crystal Ice building is about to be renovated into a business space and the old ice chutes, in the alley between R and S, will be demolished. When he was a kid, they’d drive to the chutes, deposit coins in the slot, and retrieve the big block of ice that was dispensed. It sounded so much more exciting than picking up ice at the corner market. The ice must have made a terrific racket as it slid down the chute and crashed into the metal basket.

This will be one of the last photos of these chutes. No ice remains and the coin boxes are gone. The closest chute still has the rubber streamers that once kept the warmer, outside air from the icy insides. The alley was hot and smelled of urine. But I could imagine walking up to the wall in cleaner days, dropping my coins, and feeling the whoosh of cold air as the ice came rushing out.