35 East Wacker Explained

35 East Wacker should not be confused with Jewelers Building (1882).

35 East Wacker, also known as the Jewelers' Building,^[2] is a 40-story 523feet historic building in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois, United States, located at the intersection of Wabash Avenue and East Wacker Drive, facing the Chicago River. It was built from 1925 to 1927, and was co-designed by Joachim Giæver and Frederick P. Dinkelberg.^[3] At the time of its completion in 1927, it was the tallest building in the world outside New York City.^{[4] [5]} Formerly the Pure Oil Building and North American Life Insurance Building,^[6] 35 East Wacker was listed in 1978 as a contributing property to the Michigan–Wacker Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places, and was designated a Chicago Landmark on February 9, 1994.^{[7] [8]}

For its first 14 years, the building had a car lift that served the first 23 floors, later converted to office space. There was no access between the offices and the parking garage, except at the Lower Wacker Drive level, where drivers would leave their cars with an attendant.^[9]

Currently, the French-American Chamber of Commerce in Chicago is a tenant,^[10] and the showroom of architect Helmut Jahn was atop the building inside the dome, which was also once a restaurant called the Stratosphere Club, often erroneously said to be run by Al Capone. (In reality, the Stratosphere Club opened in 1937, long after Capone was imprisoned and too late for the building to have been an illegal speakeasy.)^[11] The building is currently being renovated, by Goettsch Partners, and the façade is being maintained, but the interiors converted into a more modern configuration. Both the Chicago chapter of the American Institute of Architects and the City of Chicago have recognized the renovation project with awards.^[12]

Tenants

• Mercury Records (1950–1973)
• Feeding America (1999–2003)
• Sigma Chi Fraternity (1932–1951) ^[13]
• SmithGroup (Suite 900)
• Serge Bertucci
• Clayco (Suite 1300)
• CRG (Suite 1400)
• Ventana (Suite 1400)
• Lamar Johnson Collaborative (Suite 1500)

In popular culture

• The building was featured in the TV series Bob.
• The building is featured in scenes of the 2005 film Batman Begins.
• The 2011 film features a climax set atop the building, which is heavily damaged, along with most of Chicago, in the giant robot battle that ensues.^[14]
• In 2012, episode 2 of the first season of United States of America on the American History Channel featured the building's historic elevator, made by the Otis Elevator Company.^[15]
• The building is shown in the TV series The Good Wife as the location of the law firm Lockhart/Gardner.
• Emergency Call Ambulance (Sega 1999), Arcade racing videogame. The player drives by this building in the third case. In the game however, a burning gas station that has no relation to reality, is located at the bottom of this building.
• The building is a prominent landmark within the fictional city of Lost Heaven in the video game Mafia, and appears also in the remake .

References

Notes

External links

• Official website

Notes and References

1. Web site: Emporis building ID 117142 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304185122/https://www.emporis.com/buildings/117142 . usurped . March 4, 2016 . Emporis.
2. Web site: Everything East Wacker. 2023-12-28 .
3. Web site: 35 East Wacker Drive Building . Chicago Landmarks . City of Chicago . 2023-12-28 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231228043858/https://webapps1.chicago.gov/landmarksweb/web/landmarkdetails.htm?lanId=1233 . 2023-12-28.
4. Web site: 35 East Wacker Building . City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development, Landmarks Division . 2003 . November 21, 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090630144711/http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Landmarks/numbers/35EWacker.html . June 30, 2009 . dead . mdy-all .
5. As with many claims of record height, definitions are important, and the claim for 35 East Wacker ignores the Chicago Temple Building's steeple.
6. Book: Saliga, Pauline A. . John Zukowsky . Jane H Clarke . The Sky's The Limit: A Century of Chicago Skyscrapers . New York . Rizzoli International Publications . 1990 . 0-8478-1179-4 . registration .
7. Web site: National Register Information System . January 23, 2007. National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service . November 21, 2010.
8. Web site: National Register of Historic Places Inventory — Nomination Form. Michigan–Wacker Historic District. February 3, 1978. Robert . Wagner. National Park Service. December 31, 2015. March 5, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160305072033/http://gis.hpa.state.il.us/PDFs/200181.pdf. dead.
9. . 1926 . Jewelers Building of Chicago . The Elevator Constructor . Philadelphia, Pennsylvania . 23 . 6. 5–21 . 2027/uiug.30112078161897?urlappend=%3Bseq=243 .
10. Web site: Chicago . SkyTeam . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090129111654/http://skyteam.com/go/chicago/business.html . January 29, 2009 . January 31, 2009.
11. Web site: Al Capone and the Jewelers' Building . Mysterious Chicago Tours . June 2, 2016 .
12. Realty and building, Volume 197, Issues 14-26, page 30
13. Web site: Headquarters | the Sigma Chi Historical Initiative . January 16, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190117013437/https://history.sigmachi.org/international-headquarters . January 17, 2019 . dead .
14. Web site: Welcome to Chicago, Just Don't Kill Us. July 1, 2011. June 22, 2011. The New York Times. Murphy, Mekado.
15. Web site: Moving On. May 15, 2012. May 15, 2012. The History Channel.