eagle-themed cast iron federal building elevator panel added to bldg. 51 museum

the bldg. 51 museum recently acquired an exceptional, copper-plated ornamental figural cast iron elevator panel and full-bodied eagle (the latter is an attribution) rescued from henry ives cobb's downtown chicago chicago federal building (1898), prior to its demolition in 1965. the single-sided eagle panel was originally apart of an elevator door bedecked with neoclassical design motifs. the three-dimensional figural finial is comprised of two sections (i.e., rectangular-shaped post supporting full-winged solid cast iron eagle) fastened together with oversized flat head machine screws. both the elevator door and finial were painted (black and green respectively) at the time of their extraction from the building shortly before demolition.

note: the elevator door with centrally located eagle is well-documented, but the interior/exterior cast iron figural finial remains an attribution until further research is done).  

elevator panel with largely intact copper-plated finish, executed by the winslow brothers foundry, chicago, ills.

like many buildings constructed during the late 19th and early 20th century, the ornamental metalwork used in the cobb's federal building was executed by the notable chicago-based winslow brothers foundry, who's president, william winslow worked closely with several chicago school architectural firms, including, but not limited to, adler and sullivan, burnham and root, and holabird and roche.

the interior/exterior full-bodied eagle remains an attribution.

the non-extant beaux-arts style chicago federal building (1898-1905) was designed by notable chicago architect henry ives cobb. the floorplan consisted of a six-story greek cross resting atop a two-story base with raised basement. the building's most distinctive feature consisted of a centrally located gargantuan dome that held eight additional floors of office space (within its drum), giving the structure a total of sixteen floors. the topmost section contained a flashy gilt finish. the structure was home to federal courts, the main post office and other government bureaus. the federal building was built on the site of a post office, courthouse and custom house built in 1880.

the federal building was spearheaded by postmaster washington hesing with backing by civic leaders and the illinois' members of congress. the explosion of chicago's population, especially after the world's columbian exposition of 1893, strained the earlier facility beyond capacity. when the exposition began, the post office department in chicago employed 998 clerks and 935 carriers. by the time congress approved funding for a new building, the post office had expanded to 1,319 clerks and 1,096 carriers. other agencies housed in the building complained of poor planning and shoddy construction which resulted in crumbling plaster, broken plumbing and flooding. congress passed a bill in late 1894 that president grover cleveland signed on february 13, 1895, appropriating $4 million to demolish the existing structure on the site and erect a new one. the 1880 building was considered dangerous and it was inadequate to house all the federal agencies in the city whose offices consequently were spread among several buildings. on january 20, 1896, congress approved an additional $25,000 to employ a special architect. the chicago federal building was the first government structure constructed with the purpose of housing the post office.

demolition began on the old building in june 1896 after the post office relocated to a temporary building on the site now occupied by the 333 north michigan avenue building. foundation work began in august 1897 and was completed in september 1898 at a cost of $208,000. the foundation was supported by wooden piles driven 72 feet below street level. the basement and first two floors covered the entire site. on april 30, 1898, work for the superstructure was awarded to john pierce, a new york contractor, who submitted a bid of $1,897,000. the building took seven years to construct because government policy at the time was to appropriate only enough funds for each contract as it was awarded. there was no general contractor and over 100 separate contracts were awarded during the building's lengthy construction. the completed building reached a height of 297 feet and was dedicated by president william mckinley october 9, 1899, which happened to be the twenty-eighth anniversary of the great chicago fire. the areas for the post office were completed in 1904 and other agencies occupied their spaces in 1905.

the federal building was a steel frame structure with exterior walls of comprised of face brick sheathed with 500,000 square feet of gray granite quarried from mount waldo, maine. the roofs were covered vitrified tile and the dome was covered with gilt glass tiles. the plan called for the post office to occupy the basement and two lower floors. the sixth, seventh and eighth floors of one wing held the courts, judges, clerks and us marshal. the floors in the dome were reserved for the civil service commission, railway mail service and weather bureau with other agencies occupying the remaining space.

the base consisted of a central entry on each facade flanked by eight bays of windows. the bays were separated by corinthian pilasters with arches over the windows of the second floor. a cornice topped the base on all four facades. four corinthian columns extending from the third to sixth floor supported a pediment on the face of each armof the cross. the wings on the north-south axis held seven bays long while the wings on the east-west axis held five bays as the building was situated on a rectangular lot. the bays each held two windows grouped vertically and were separated by corinthian pilasters. the eighth floor was housed in shed dormers extending from the gabled roof. the dome was octagonal with a buttress at each corner of the drum. the buttresses were topped by corbels supporting a large double cornice encircling the sixteenth floor with a large eagle perched atop the corbels. the windows of the ninth through twelfth floors were set into three arches supported by more corinthian style columns. between the eagles, were three circular windows with elaborately carved frames and above, another circular window pierced the midpoint of each face of the dome.

after construction was complete, more than $2,000,000 remained for interior decoration of the chicago federal building. the four wings met under the dome to form an octagonal rotunda, inspired by imperial roman architecture, that was open to the ninth floor. the rotunda's 100 foot diameter made it larger than that of the united states capitol in washington, d.c.the federal building was also the tallest capitol-style building constructed in chicago, with the exception of the 1893 world's columbian exposition buildings, all of which were demolished. under the dome was a large public space surrounded by the floors containing office space.

interior details were accented with terra cotta and scagliola. doors were oak with brass doorknobs containing "us" monograms. mahogany wood was used in courtrooms and other offices. marble from tennessee, vermont, maine and italy was used in corridor floors, wainscoting and stairways. floors in the rotunda were marble accented with mosaic tile while railings and elevator grilles throughout the building were comprised of iron. the ceilings were framed by classical egg-and-dart mouldings. the four courtrooms on the sixth floor contained a series of murals depicting historical moments in the development of law.

when the district and circuit courts and several agencies relocated to the newly-built dirksen federal building across dearborn street the building was demolished in 1965. the 45-floor kluczynski federal building and loop postal station, designed by ludwig mies van der rohe, were built in its place.

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