Day 104: Old Chicago Main Post Office

Posted on April 15, 2011 by eaj81

Built in 1921, the Old Chicago Main Post Office is a nine-story-tall building in Chicago designed by Graham, Anderson, Probst & White. The official address of the Old Post office is 433 W. Van Buren, Chicago, IL.  The original structure was a brick-sided mail terminal building, still sited just east of the main building that engulfs Eisenhower Expressway as it turns into the Congress Parkway. Major expansion in 1932 added a total of nine floors for 2.5 million square feet of floorspace and as initially designed, it would have blocked the proposed Congress Parkway extension. As a compromise, a hole for the Parkway was reserved in the base of the Post Office and utilized twenty years later. In 1966 the Main Chicago Post Office came to a virtual halt when a logjam of 10 million pieces of mail clogged the system for almost one whole week. With Chicago rated worst in postal deliveries, a new Main Post Office was proposed for right across Harrison Street. In 1997, the old building was vacated in favor of the new, modernized facility. A February 2006 report by the General Accounting Office stated that it costs the government $2 million a year to maintain the retired building. In mid-2009 the building went up for bid and was sold to Bill Davies who now is the official owner.  The building was added to the National Register of Historical Places in 2001.

This photo was taken on Harrison Street facing West.

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Day 103: Chicago Life

Posted on April 14, 2011 by eaj81

I snapped this shot when I was wandering around downtown one weekend.  I feel that the photo captures the life of the city: the old water tower, the water tower shopping center, the John Hancock building and the city skyline, a stop light and a No Turn on Red sign.  Pretty much covers it all.

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Day 102: Peeking Sun

Posted on April 13, 2011 by eaj81

This was taken from Chicago Ave and Lakeshore Drive (Gold Coast/River North neighborhood) of the sun peeking through the buildings on a foggy day.  It was later in the afternoon and the fog was still hovering around much of the city, providing many great opportunities for photos!

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Day 101: The Dearborn Station

Posted on April 12, 2011 by eaj81

The Dearborn Station, originally completed in 1885, with its 12 story Romanesque clock tower sets off the southern view of Dearborn Street and Polk can be seen from many blocks away. Its walls, hand made of red pressed brick and pink granite gave it a functional, strong personality-built during a time when U.S. railroads were powerful and sought to confirm their economic might by creating structures in the neo-classic style.

In 1971, passenger service left the Station. After years of neglect, it began a new life in 1986 as a commercial office/retail center, helping to revitalize Printers Row District of Chicago. It remains one of the oldest railroad stations in the US and is the last remaining early downtown train station in Chicago.

It was designated a Chicago Landmark on March 2, 1982.

Information Credit
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Day 100: 100 Years Of Service

Posted on April 11, 2011 by eaj81

As this is my 100th post of the year, I wanted to post a picture of a firehouse that has served over 100 years of service.  Engine Company 98 Firehouse was designed by architect C.F. Hermann and was built in 1902 and finished in 1904.  It was designated a Chicago Landmark on June 10, 1981.  On November 2, 2002, this firehouse held a dedication ceremony for its 100th anniversary of service.

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Day 99: Foggy Day

Posted on April 10, 2011 by eaj81

As the warm weather hit Chicago this weekend, the mix of the weather and the humidity created a blanket of fog throughout the city.  Here is a picture from along the lakefront path heading north from Chicago Ave.

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Day 98: Rusted Beam

Posted on April 9, 2011 by eaj81

This photo is a little more abstract than the ones that I post.  I came across this rusted beam from lower Randolph street and it caught my eye.

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Day 97: Willis Tower (aka Sears Tower)

Posted on April 8, 2011 by eaj81

The Sears Tower (as I will always call it) was officially renamed in 2009 as the Willis Tower. Although Sears’ naming rights expired in 2003, the building continued to be called Sears Tower for several years. In March 2009 London-based insurance broker Willis Group Holdings, Ltd., agreed to lease a portion of the building and obtained the building’s naming rights. On July 16, 2009, the building was officially renamed Willis Tower.

Here is a photo of the Willis Tower that was taken from the River North Neighborhood of the building nestled in with the skyline.  This is just one of the many shots I hope to capture of this amazing building.

 

Designed by the architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and completed May 3, 1973, Willis Tower rises to a height to 1,450 feet and is one of the most recognizable landmarks in the Chicago skyline and in the world. The building held the record for the world’s tallest building for 25 years until the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia were built in 1998.

In 1982, the antennas added to the building increased its total height to 1,704 feet. In 2000, one of the building’s antennas was extended to 1,729 feet, making it the world’s tallest building to the tip of its antenna. The building held this title until early 2009 when Burj Dubai topped out at over 2,600 feet, making it the tallest man-made structure ever built.

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Day 96: Ogilvie Transportation Center

Posted on April 7, 2011 by eaj81

Taken from Canal St and Washington

The Richard B. Ogilvie Transportation Center (OTC) is an intriguing blend of the old and the new, long serving as the terminus for some of Chicago’s most celebrated train routes but now connected to the sleek lobby of a modern glass skyscraper.

The OTC station is bounded by Clinton, Canal, Madison and Randolph and has been a rail station since 1911. It was designed by Frost and Grang under the influence of the Renaissance Revival style. When the terminal opened, the head house featured an immense waiting room with a three-story barrel-vaulted skylight, as well as dressing rooms, baths, nurses and matrons rooms, and a doctor’s office. Tracks were on the second level, above a mail substation and other facilities.

The old head house was razed in 1984 to make way for the 42-story Citigroup Center, which was completed in 1987 and now serves as the main station entrance. It also houses a ticketing area as well as a food court and other retail shops, restaurants and amenities.

The passenger platforms and adjoining facilities were renovated starting in 1992, after Metra bought them from Chicago and North Western. The station was renamed the Richard B. Ogilvie Transportation Center in 1997 after the former governor who championed mass transit and was the major architect of legislation that established the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA).

OTC now serves as the terminus for three Metra routes operated by Union Pacific (UP), which bought the Chicago and North Western in 1995. The UP North, Northwest and West lines bring more than 40,000 commuters to the station each weekday.

The unused area under the tracks has been transformed into MetraMarket, a restaurant and shopping destination featuring a French market, a drug store, a coffee shop and other retail shops, restaurants and amenities.

Besides the main entrance, there are entrances on Clinton, Canal and Washington. This photo was taken near Canal and Washington just South of the Canal Street entrances. 

Information Reference
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Day 95: Firehouse on Illinois

Posted on April 6, 2011 by eaj81

If you guessed the Firehouse located at 228 Illinois in River North, you were right.

This is 228 W. Illinois Avenue and Franklin Street. The firehouse was built in 1887, and was initially the home of Engine 42- Squad 1- Salvage Squad 1. They ran out of the station for just over 80 years (1887 to 1968). Salvage Squad 1 is no longer in service, but E42 and Squad 1 are very busy companies in the city today. In 1964, Engine 42 had to be relocated to 202 E. Chicago (Eng. 98’s quarters, which was built in 1904) for a short period of time due to a fire in a building next door. Squad 1 was moved to 1044 N. Orleans and called SS1, before it was moved years later to Engine 13 house, 259 N. Columbus where it was again called Squad 1 before moving to 55 W. Illinois. (Squads were additional manpower that carried special tools and responded to all still alarms in their district.) The firehouse was fixed and remained open until November 1, 1968. Engine 42 and Squad 1 were moved to a brand new firehouse at 55 W. Illinois Street, and they are still there today. It’s the largest firehouse in the city. After they moved, “228” became a garage for the Dept. of Streets and Sanitation. The building is now privately owned and currently up for lease.

There are many interesting things about this firehouse.  First off, it is one of the few Chicago firehouses that had three floors.  Second, there are no records of anything else built on the lot that this firehouse lies on.  The lot itself was bought in 1860 (before the Great Chicago Fire of 1871). Many of the Chicago historical people call this building a mystery because they do not know why this lot sat empty for 27 years (1860 to 1887) before the firehouse was built. Finally, one of the things that really draws me to this fire station is that it is one of the last fire stations to use the accordion-style wooden doors.

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