Century Building (Chicago)

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Century Building
Century Building, Chicago 2 (cropped).jpg
Century Building (Chicago)
Part of Loop Retail Historic District (ID98001351)
Building details
General information
Architectural style Chicago School
Location202 S. State Street, Chicago, Illinois
Coordinates 41°52′45.6″N87°37′40.8″W / 41.879333°N 87.628000°W / 41.879333; -87.628000
Completed1915
Height185.45 feet (56.53 m)
Technical details
Floor count16
Design and construction
Architect(s) Holabird & Roche
EngineerHenry J. Burt [1]

The Century Building is a high rise office building in Chicago's Loop. It was designed by Holabird & Roche, and was built in 1915. [2] [3] It is a contributing property to the Loop Retail Historic District. [2] The building is representative of the transition of Chicago high rise design from the Chicago School to Art Deco, and its north and east facades feature Neo-Manueline ornamentation. [2] [3] It is owned by the United States Federal Government and administered by the General Services Administration. It currently sits vacant. [4]

Contents

In 2022, the building was proposed to be demolished, with $52 million earmarked for tearing down both the Century Building and the neighboring Consumers Building.

History

Originally known as the Buck & Rayner Building or the Twentieth Century Building, the building was completed in 1915. [1] [5] [2] [6] Buck & Rayner was a Chicago chain of drug stores, and commissioned the construction of the building. [2] [7] [8] It occupied the corner store and basement. [5] In 1917, Lake and State Savings Bank signed a twenty-year lease for the building's second floor. [2] [6] The bank's name was changed to the Century Trust and Savings Bank, and the building's name was changed to the Century Building. [2] [6]

Home Federal Savings and Loan purchased the Century Building in 1950, and moved its headquarters into the building on June 30, 1952. [9] Home Federal occupied the first five floors, as well as the two floors below street level. [9] The building's name was officially changed to the Home Federal Building. [10] In 1958, Home Federal Savings and Loan purchased the Republic Building across State Street. [11] The Republic Building was demolished and a new 16 story building was constructed. [12] Home Federal Savings and Loan moved its headquarters to the new building on December 17, 1962. [12]

The building has also served as home to the headquarters of the Gideons International, [13] [14] Local 66 of the Elevator Operators and Starters Union, [15] the main offices of Sterling Cleaners and Dyers, [16] the Audit Bureau of Circulations, [17] [18] [19] a Liggett's drug store, [20] Family Loan Corporation, [21] May Jewelers, [22] Romas Restaurant, [23] [24] the Illinois Migrant Council, [25] [26] the National Alliance of Black Feminists, [27] and the local office of the Guardian Angels. [28]

Jesse Jackson's Chicago headquarters were in the Century Building during his 1984 presidential campaign. [29]

In 2003, Marc Realty Co. purchased the building from Mitchell Macks for $1.25 million. [30] In 2005, the General Services Administration used eminent domain to seize the Century Building, also acquiring other nearby buildings, citing the need for increased security around the Dirksen Federal Building. [31] [32] In 2011 and 2013, Preservation Chicago listed the Century Building and the nearby Consumers Building as one of Chicago's 7 most endangered buildings. [2] [33]

In 2017, CA Ventures reached an agreement to purchase the Century Building, the Consumers Building, and the two smaller buildings in between, for $10.38 million. [34] The Century Building and Consumers Building would have been converted to apartments, as part of a $141 million redevelopment project, while the historic Streamline Moderne storefront of 214 South State Street would have been restored and incorporated into a 25,000 square-foot structure built between the taller buildings for retail and commercial use. [34] Under the terms of the agreement, the City of Chicago would purchase the buildings from the federal government and then immediately sell them to CA Ventures. [35] However, the City of Chicago backed out of the agreement in December 2019, citing security concerns at the nearby Dirksen Federal Building. [35] [33]

In 2022, Preservation Chicago listed the Century Building and the nearby Consumers Building as one of Chicago's 7 most endangered buildings, after a $52 million federal earmark to demolish the buildings was revealed. [36] [37] [38]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 Randall, Frank A.; Randall, John D. (1999). History of the Development of Building Construction in Chicago . University of Illinois Press. p. 293. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Preservation Chicago Unveils the 2011 Chicago 7 Most Threatened… The Century & Consumers Building", Preservation Chicago. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
  3. 1 2 "202 S. State Street - The Century Building, Chicago, IL", General Services Administration. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  4. ↑ Gallun, Alby. "Feds move to sell State Street buildings", Crain's Chicago Business . April 27, 2016. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  5. 1 2 "State Street's Newest Skyscraper", Chicago Tribune . January 26, 1915. p. 7.
  6. 1 2 3 "Lake and State Bank to Move to Adams Street", Chicago Tribune . March 13, 1917. p. 10.
  7. ↑ Drug and Chemical Notes", Paint, Oil and Drug Review. December 3, 1913. p. 25. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  8. ↑ "Leases and Loans", Chicago Tribune . November 16, 1913. p. 11.
  9. 1 2 Hampson, Philip. "Home Federal Move Viewed as Aid to Stores", Chicago Tribune . June 27, 1952. p. C7.
  10. ↑ "Real Estate Notes", Chicago Tribune . May 3, 1952. p. B5.
  11. ↑ Fuller, Ernest. "19 Story Loop Building Sold to Home Federal", Chicago Tribune . July 1, 1958. p. B7.
  12. 1 2 Gavin, James M. "$6,000,000 Unit Opens on Monday", Chicago Tribune . December 12, 1962. p. C7.
  13. ↑ "Put New Gideon Bibles in Many Chicago Hotels", Chicago Tribune . March 3, 1933. p. 14.
  14. ↑ "Open Gideons' New Quarters Here Next Week", Chicago Tribune . April 19, 1947. p. 9.
  15. ↑ "Elevator Operators Will Pay 25% Rental Increase", Chicago Tribune . March 19, 1939. p. 18.
  16. ↑ "Cleaners Plan 20 More Units For Next Year", Chicago Tribune . p. 11.
  17. ↑ Blue Book of Chicago Commerce . The Chicago Association of Commerce. 1924-1925. p. 711. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  18. ↑ Scientific Space Selection . Audit Bureau of Circulations. 1921. pp. 19-20. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  19. ↑ "Newspaper and Journalistic Organizations of U.S.", Editor & Publisher . January 22, 1921. p. 50. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  20. ↑ "Loop Drug Store Robbed of $1,000 by Two Gunmen", Chicago Tribune . p. 7.
  21. ↑ "Loop Bandit Kidnaps Girl; Is Captured", Chicago Tribune . August 10, 1948. p. 1.
  22. ↑ Chase, Al. "New State St. Shops to Cost a Half Million", Chicago Tribune . November 24, 1953. p. B7.
  23. ↑ "Boys Lunch With Cardinal", Chicago Tribune. December 18, 1963. p. A5.
  24. ↑ Remy, Harold; Mullen, William. "Insurance Executive Pabst Shot", Chicago Tribune . June 3, 1971. p. 1.
  25. ↑ "Illinois migrants get $1.1 million in U.S. aid", Chicago Tribune . April 3, 1977. p. B33.
  26. ↑ DeBartolo, Anthony. "A Time to Give", Chicago Tribune . December 18, 1985. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  27. ↑ "Black Feminists to open 3-day conference here", Chicago Tribune . October 17, 1977. p. 2.
  28. ↑ Zeleny, Jeff. "Guardian Angels Still Seek Wings", Chicago Tribune . March 10, 1997. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
  29. ↑ "Inside election battle stations", Chicago Tribune . March 21, 1984. p. N13.
  30. ↑ Corfman, Thomas A. "Germans put Burnett Building on market", Chicago Tribune . March 12, 2003. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  31. ↑ "Feds invade State Street", Crain's Chicago Business . November 14, 2005. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  32. ↑ "A Bright Future for Century and Consumers Buildings", Preservation Chicago. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  33. 1 2 Kozlarz, Jay. "State Street apartment plan derailed over security concerns at nearby courthouse", Curbed . December 16, 2019. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
  34. 1 2 Ori, Ryan. "$141 million project to bring 429 apartments to State Street", Chicago Tribune . June 1, 2017. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
  35. 1 2 Ori, Ryan. "$141 million State Street development halted over federal courthouse security concerns", Chicago Tribune . December 16, 2019. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
  36. ↑ "Century & Consumers Buildings – Most Endangered 2022", Preservation Chicago. March 9, 2022. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
  37. ↑ Channick, Robert. "Chicago's annual list of most endangered buildings includes two historic skyscrapers the federal government wants to demolish", Chicago Tribune . March 9, 2022. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
  38. ↑ Rodkin, Dennis. "These are the most endangered places in Chicago", Crain's Chicago Business . March 9, 2022. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
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