Location and Facilities
The Chicago School for Piano Technology is located in the Fulton-Carroll Center in near west Chicago. This is a large factory loft building re-designed in the 1980's as an incubator for startup businesses and now housing over 80 different small enterprises. CSPT has approximately 5000 square feet of space including the current space of Music of the Spheres Pianoworks, a full piano restoration business used as an adjunct classroom for repair and rebuilding classes; this school shop has virtually every tool necessary to restore pianos. CSPT also has unlimited access to a full conference and seminar suite which seats up to 50, with all of the audio-visual equipment necessary for presentations, and with room to roll in multiple pianos. Connected to it, for ease during seminars, is a kitchenette and washrooms. In the same building complex is a piano refinisher, as well as welders, woodworkers, and other useful craft businesses.
The administrative office of the CSPT is in Suite 227 and directly accessible. All student records are maintained in that office and are fully accessible to students as needed. All Suites (C227, C229, and C233) are adjacent and students may move freely between them with no obstruction. The main classrooms have a full library, including books, tapes, and DVDs, and space for students to store personal items. Adjacent to the main tuning classroom is a full kitchen and lounge area for students to relax, and eat lunch or dinner. Near the CSPT classrooms are restroom locations for both genders. There is ample parking around the building close to entrances that, for security purposes, can only be accessed by key code. Students are entrusted with keys to the entire facility and classrooms, and may come and go freely at any time of day or night. Even during class times, the facilities are available if students will check the schedules closely.
The equipment of the school includes seats, workbenches, and pianos of varying sizes, quality, and type including grands, uprights, consoles, and spinets. High-end action models for both upright (3-key models) and grands (12-key models) are available for regulation and repair classes. High-fidelity audio equipment is in place for studying voicing and developing a voicing "ear", and a video camera, DVD player and monitor add to the teaching process. As well, two computers with all of the current programs for technicians (customer data base, string scaling, action geometry, etc.) and the complete PTG Journal on CD are immediately available to students in the library area of the classroom, as well as up-to-date hardcopy editions of the Journal. The classroom computer may at some time be wirelessly connected to the Internet as well. There is a WiFi connection that is available to students who have laptops no matter what.
Provision has been made for students practicing tuning (which requires isolation from outside noise). There are six acoustically isolated studios off of the main tuning classroom with a variety of pianos available for practice. Currently, five of the six practice room pianos have been "master-tuned", their tunings recorded with an electronic tuning device, and a scoring system for students to "self-test", then see and print out the results. The scoring system is identical to that used during the actual tuning tests.
General communication with students is by several modes, among which is a log-in link through this website which is accessible only to students with user passwords (provided at the time of enrollment). This part of the website will contain additional instructional material and recommendations for outside of the classroom, as well as an interactive forum for students, and a section personalized to each student for instructor/student exchange. In the main classrooms, there is a library of books, references, videos, and other resources for students to use as they wish.
Yahoo Map of Area and Driving Directions
(At the entrance of 2041 W. Carroll there is a keypad; press *03--star zero three--for admittance.)
Housing and Transportation
As a potential student for The Chicago School for Piano Technology and currently living outside the Chicago metropolitan area, you may have a need for housing in the city and closer to the school. The following information has been gathered as a service to you.
CSPT is located on the near west side of Chicago, centrally located in the city proper, and within 15 minutes of downtown. We are relatively near the elevated trains, and very close to public surface transportation, and to expressways.
You will have no problems getting around Chicago either by car or by public transportation. The city is laid out generally in an easily understood grid plan with north and south sides and equivalent numbering systems. The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) has many handy tools available for deciding the best ways to get around the city. E.g. go to http://www.transitchicago.com/maps/tripplanner.html to find out how to get from one place to another as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Much depends on whether you will have a vehicle available to you when you arrive in Chicago. While there are bus stops close to the school, realize that you will be carrying all of your tools regularly to classes. Also, travel times can be difficult to predict as there is random road construction, and all, but particularly public transportation, travel times expand during winter. As you might already know, temperatures in Chicago can dwell below freezing for long periods of time. We strongly suggest that you attempt to have a car; parking is always available close to one of the entrances of the building in which the school is located. Similarly, we recommend that you not try to commute from far distances unless there is no other option.
CSPT is housed in a large building which is part of the Industrial Council of Nearwest Chicago (ICNC). They publish a directory of businesses which contains a service map of the surrounding area and neighborhoods. Neighborhoods in the areas to the north and northwest, and to the southeast are reasonably close to CSPT. You can call ICNC for the directory (312/433-7655), or, when you apply, we will send you the directory as a supplemental part of the packet.
Housing Resources
The University of Illinois Chicago has off-campus housing available to students. The following website will give you some information: http://www.housing.uic.edu/offcampus/. Click Students, then ID: ocean, Password: shore. Two views are available: Landlord or Student. The Landlord view mainly shows apartments available to rent around UIC (about 15 min from CSPT) whereas Student view is a list of students looking for roommates to share the apartment, and the location of apartments is more varied. Contact Mary Jones at UIC for any questions regarding off campus housing: 312/355-6300. Be sure to mention CSPT in your conversations with her.
Also check Craigs List for Chicago (http://www.chicago.craigslist.org). This is a website designed to provide a large referral service for housing, jobs, and much more.
Hostels are another choice for housing. There are three in the Chicago area; two of them are more convenient to CSPT than the third. The following website is for a hostel located in Downtown Chicago, at Wabash & Congress (about 20 min by car from CSPT) Hostelling International Chicago: www.hostels.com/en/availability.php/HostelNumber.1853. Their address is 24 E. Congress Parkway, phone 312/692-1560.
Another hostel is Hostel Arlington located on the near north side of Chicago, Clark & Fullerton (about 30 min by car from CSPT): www.hostels.com/en/availability.php/HostelNumber.1804. Their address is 618 W. Arlington Place, phone 773/929-5380. The manager is Louis Garcia. Be sure to mention you are a student at CSPT and you will receive a discount.
Another option for housing is staying at a YMCA. The closest YMCA is located in Oak Park (western suburb of Chicago, about 15 min from CSPT by car). Their address is: 255 S. Marion, corner of Marion and Randolph, (Marion is east of Harlem Ave.)
There are also two real estate companies in the area of CSPT that are available to locate apartments to rent. Both have no service fee. The average cost for a one-bedroom apartment starts at $650.00 per month. A two-bedroom apartment starts at $800 per month. Usually these are unfurnished apartments, but have a stove and refrigerator. Most require a signed full year lease. The first company is: The Sokol Group, 312/421-2525; you may speak with Kate Brooks. The second company is Midwest Real Estate, 312/666-0072.
