When was marina city built

A degree open-air roof deck lies on the 61st and top story. The buildings are accessed from separate lobbies that share a common below-grade mezzanine level as well as ground-level plaza entrances beside the House of Blues. Originally rental apartments, the complex converted to condominiums in Marina City apartments are unique in containing almost no interior right angles.

On each residential floor, a circular hallway surrounds the elevator core, which is 32 feet 10 m in diameter, with 16 pie-shaped wedges arrayed around the hallway. Apartments are composed of these triangular wedges. Bathrooms and kitchens are located nearer to the point of each wedge, towards the inside of the building.

Living areas occupy the outermost areas of each wedge. Each wedge terminates in a square-foot Because of this arrangement, every single living room and bedroom in Marina City has a balcony.

He worked for BGA from to Ed Center was an administrator, working with contractors to manage building materials, costs, construction methods, etc. Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers were foundation engineers. Severud Associates were the structural engineers. They were founded in New York in One of their other projects was Gateway Memorial Arch in St. Chicago-based Case Foundation Company was in charge of the caissons.

Case started as a local drilled shaft contractor and is now a full-service deep foundation specialist. Ryerson provided reinforcing steel. Founded in as Joseph T. Kaiser Company. View site plan as Adobe Acrobat Document. Updated Apr Tweet. Next story: Brighton Construction Company. General Not on a mobile device? The Investor William L.

The Developer Charles R. Below Another view of Bertrand Goldberg Associates, circa Ben Honda from above photograph. Many unit owners will remember as the year the condo board at Marina City went to war with residents. In November , the sometimes-stormy relationship of former Illinois legislator Ellis Levin and Marina Towers Condominium Association came to an end.

An ancient conflict between two extraterrestrial clans came to the Chicago River in , and Marina City was in the middle of it. Marina City kept busy in Some of the best bowlers in the world rolled into Marina City in for the first Professional Bowlers Association tour event held in Chicago since Jennifer Hudson helps Rahm get elected. Deborah Harry brings her timeless cool to HOB. It is and Marina City has an eye for talent. In , refugees from four Chicago bands named their new group after Marina City.

Go backstage at House of Blues, minute by minute, as six nice suburban kids from Plainfield, Naperville, and Joliet transform into bad boys of rock and roll. Marina City was everywhere, it seemed. Small electric boats are introduced to the Chicago River by the company that sells million-dollar yachts out of Marina City. Bogus was the claim in that the rap duo L.

He was described as handsome, smart, honest, kind, and gentle, but for more than 20 years Gabriel Mitchell, who died from a fall from his 59th floor apartment, suffered from mental illness. Working top to bottom, the condo association at Marina City was busy installing doorplates in August that included a map of the stars and planets as they appeared on November 22, , the day ground was broken and construction of Marina City started.

In , the condominium association at Marina City embarked on a long-overdue project to renovate the residential lobbies of both towers. The project would conclude significantly over-budget and lead to the resignation of the residential property manager and an overhaul of the condo board.

It was the year Marina City was filmed for two movies and a TV show, Fiats drove by on the Chicago River, Tortoise Club and two renovated lobbies opened, Marina City was featured in a comic strip and hosted midget wrestling. What the store lacked in competitive prices, it more than made up for in convenience and personal service from Alex Espinoza, who ran the store almost single-handedly.

A plan for an story cylindrical apartment building at Wolf Point was clearly intended to build on the success of Marina City four blocks east. Another Marina City mystery. Evidence of its day-to-day involvement remains elusive. A book contained more than two dozen early photographs of Marina City. When compared with more recent images, the evolution of Marina City and its neighborhood is dramatic.

Earl Meech lived at Marina City from to His photographs, taken in the mids, artistically show the living room, dining area, kitchen, and patio of his one-bedroom west tower unit, as well as balcony views looking east, south, and west.

Four accomplished musicians. Two network news anchors. The first female disc jockey at WLS. And a Lollapalooza chef. His career may have been controversial, but Charles Swibel was undeniably influential in getting Marina City built and steered in the right direction.

His son, Howard, spoke in about what he remembers about Marina City, its close call with being stuck with a different name, and how Chicago should remember his father. They are everywhere. In two concentric circles of each tower, in the parking ramps, the marina, in the lobby of Hotel Chicago.

You may notice them at first, and then they disappear. The eight-sided columns are still busy bearing loads throughout Marina City. The cover of its menu showed what Viennese Coffee Shop, one of the first restaurants at Marina City and arguably its most colorful, aspired to look like. Considered an iconic image of Chicago, Marina City starred in many postcards in the s. Even when it was part of the skyline, Marina City stood out as the tallest structure north of the Loop, in a time when the postcard rate was four cents.

How much it cost to rent an apartment at Marina City in , and before you think it was cheap, the amounts adjusted for inflation. It is not until the last 66 minutes of the film that the action moves to Chicago but once there, most of the story takes place along the main branch of the Chicago River.

Marina City shows up numerous times, both real and imagined, from many angles. October 8, Jun Slowing the suburban exodus The post-war exodus to the suburbs was a trend no little plan could fix.

June 22, Jun Groundbreaking It must have been fun. November 22, Jun Laying the foundation As complex as Marina City was above ground, it was going to be challenging underneath, too.

August Jun story plunge The first fatalities during the construction of Marina City. January 9, Jun First fires, and Marina City sinks its first bridge Residents of Marina City in have to put up with construction throughout the complex and the occasional small fire. February 23, Jun Seven injured in second accident In it was not safe, not legal, but not uncommon for construction workers to ride hoists intended for lifting materials.

August 3, Jun Another worker falls William Jones was a year-old plasterer who had been working at Marina City for about five months. He was married and had two children, and he was the fourth construction worker to die while building Marina City September 24, Jun National Design Center signs lease Before Merchandise Mart became paradise for professional decorators and the do-it-yourself crowd, Marina City was where they went.

October 14, Jun Star map buried Two years to the day after the groundbreaking ceremony, on Thanksgiving Day, November 22, , dignitaries gathered again at Marina City. November 22, Jul The pioneers 3, people wanted a slice of Marina City but only pie-shaped apartments were available. January 31, Jul Desperate burglars steal doorknobs Burglary reached new heights.

November 28, Dec Bertrand Goldberg on the architect, in his own voice What did Bertrand Goldberg sound like? October 9, Dec Polyphony II foot sculpture on the plaza. November 23, Dec Ten-year-old boat thief foiled before reaching Cleveland William Blasio steals a boat after school but does not get far. December 1, Dec You Live Better Electrically A two-page magazine ad that appeared in the December 24, , issue of Life magazine included a photograph taken from the living room of a west tower unit.

December 24, Dec Marina City: The Brochure In , the property manager printed a brochure about Marina City that it sold to the public for 25 cents. January Dec Skating around Marina City In the s, shopping malls were becoming not just retail centers, but places of recreation. October 12, Jan Flying down with the garbage Think your job is tough? November Feb Snapshots of What a year was. August 14, Feb Back safe from Vietnam Seven friends gather at Marina City in to celebrate a safe return.

September 5, Feb 69 stories. September 25, Feb Tax scandal of In October , there was concern that some buildings in Cook County were being given unfair property tax breaks, and one of those buildings was Marina City. April 28, Feb Happy times, happy people A German polka band helps us see how much the riverfront has changed since Police are suspicious.

March 25, 5-Dec Sweaty burglar spills the keys In late , just before Christmas, a rash of burglaries had residents worried and management stumped. September 15, Mar Welcome to Marina City.

September 21, Jun 10 stories. May 27, Mar Dear Mr. November 18, 7-Jun Bankrupt commercial owners forced to sell At a. November 22, 7-Jun Meet Ilene F. September 27, Jul Residents help down-on-its-luck neighbor A concrete column supporting a main beam under one of the ramps onto the property is seriously cracked. September 14, Jul Nancy Goldberg, restaurateur Equestrian. October 8, Jul New use for the skating rink The design may have had some admirers but they were not at Bertrand Goldberg Associates.

April 15, Jul Renaissance The office building is gutted in preparation for a new room House of Blues hotel, to complement the concert venue that had been in business for about a year. Spectacular city and river views helped to achieve the goal of luring people to live in the city. A marina for personal watercraft takes advantage of the buildings' waterfront location. Parking was an important part of the plan to entice people to live in the buildings. The buildings exude mid-century Modernist aesthetics.

Goldberg's curvilinear forms created unique, pie-shaped living spaces. The theater building is now home to the House of Blues restaurant and nightclub. Architect Bertrand Goldberg.