August 6, 2008 – The web site of Marina Towers Condominium Association is hosting a video of the June 16 landmarking meeting that was covertly recorded by four web-quality cameras.

(Above) A frame from the 1 hour 14 minute video recording of the June 16 meeting to discuss landmarking.

The resulting 742 MB video file was uploaded on July 2 to mymtca.com, a domain registered to John Janiec, Service Coordinator for Marina Towers Condominium Association. A link to the video is offered on the web site of Landmark Marina City Now, a not-for-profit corporation formed, according to the site, “by Marina City condo owners desiring to protect their ownership of a Chicago icon by the granting of official landmark status for Marina City.”

That domain, landmarkmarinacitynow.org, is registered to MTCA Secretary Ellen Chessick.

Despite a 2003 agreement with commercial owners prohibiting MTCA from supporting landmark designation of Marina City – and a denial by Chessick’s husband, Ken, of any connection to the MTCA board of directors – the renewed effort to seek official landmark status has been dogged by coincidence. According to public records with the Secretary of State, Landmark Marina City Now was incorporated by Waveney G. Cameron, who works in the same building and on the same floor as MTCA President Donna Leonard.

A sampling of people who attended the June 16 meeting was surprised to learn they were videotaped. Mounted high near each corner of the meeting room, cameras facing each other do not show a tripod or any sort of camera that would suggest temporary use. Although the quality of the video and audio can only be described as poor, the four cameras fairly document both the board and audience members. There has been no mention of the cameras at any board meeting in the past year.

At the June 16 meeting moderated by Ken Chessick, about 50 people, mostly unit owners at Marina City, heard from three experts on the landmarking process.

Meanwhile, the current status of the landmarking effort is not clear. The “news” page on the Landmark Marina City Now web site is empty. 42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly will decide what the next steps might be, but a message left with his office on Tuesday was not immediately returned.

 Landmark Marina City Now, Inc.

 Direct link to video on mymtca.com