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former morton salt building undergoing demolition

by eric j. nordstrom and ornament chicago

the five story concrete flat slab constructed 1958 building designed by graham, anderson, probst & white at 110 n wacker has been undergoing demolition for the past several weeks. thousands of loop office workers have been able to witness this large scale operation unfold as the former headquarters of one of chicago’s oldest companies, the morton salt company (1848), crumble to the ground.

in recent years the building was occupied by the real estate company formerly known as general growth propeties, which was renamed ggp in 2017.

a 51 story office tower is slated to replace the mid century modern architecture building, although supposedly the exterior steel panels will be preserved and reincorporated as part of the new structure. plaques along the new property and river will also commemorate the site of the morton salt building.

in recent decades the former morton salt building has offered stark contrast to the continued construction of monolithic and uninspiring towers that have been erected all around it, but reflecting on the structure’s lifespan its important to remember this building served as a link to the past in terms of the neighbors it enjoyed during the decade it was built.

plans for the building were announced by morton in february, 1956. at the time the 110 n wacker location was a parking lot. the original plan for the building estimated costs at 4 million dollars and work was expected to be completed in january of 1958.

morton salt's plan was  to occupy the river level, top floor, and part of a topmost “penthouse” level and lease the middle floors. executives  from 120 s la salle, sales personnel from the merchandise mart, and morton chemical company subsidiary employees would all move to the new wacker location.   the deal involved leasing the lot from parking lot operator ben alpert, inc., for 99 years.

in april of 1958 a ceremonial planting of trees and shrubs was directed by clarence e. godshalk, director of the morton arboretum, and daniel peterkin jr., president of the morton salt company.  the morton arboretum was established in 1922 by joy morton, founder of the morton salt company, and godshalk served as the first superintendent of the arboretum. godshalk was also in charge of landscaping for the newly constructed building.

godshalk and peterkin at the ceremonial planting, april, 1958.

on jun 3rd of 1958 the 110 year old morton salt company formally debuted chicago’s newest office building with opening festivities which were attended by some 2,000 business, civic, and government officials, including sterling morton, chairman of the company.

visitors marvelled at the modern stainless steel and indiana limestone constructed building with 588 windows hung with drapes in shades of beige, orange, green, and yellow.

photo courtesy of the Hedrich Blessing Collection, the Chicago History Museum

at the time of its opening the morton salt building was surrounded on the north by historic buildings. on the northwest corner of wacker and randolph the lind block, built in 1852, still stood. the five story lind block which had been occupied by druggist messrs. fuller & fuller, had incredibly survived the great chicago fire of 1871. holabird & root’s ten story 1954 sinclair oil building occupied the northeast corner of randolph and wacker drive. both buildings have since been demolished. the lind block destruction represents one of the greatest losses to chicago history of the 20th century.

commerce, 1949. the parking lot operated by ben alpert, inc. that was to become the site of the morton salt building. the civic opera building is visible to the north and the lind building to the south.

the interior of morton salt represented changing times and placed an emphasis on art. interior designer, a. dudley kelly, justified the cost of the design by stating that “businessmen are receptive to new ideas in office decor…which bring improved efficiency in the form of reduced turnover, less absenteeism, and a pride in keeping offices in top condition.”

photo courtesy of the Hedrich Blessing Collection, the Chicago History Museum

four large murals were selected by kelly. the first, which used 20 delicate shades of white glass by mexican mosaicist alfonso pardinas, suggested piles of salt. the pieces were glued to paper backing and pardinas’ mexico city studio, cut into small number sheets which were sent to chicago and reassembled. a second translucent plastic mural represented an abstract representation of salt crystals. the third presented five life sized figures dramatizing the important of salt through the ages and the fourth was a large scale map of the united states displaying morton properties.

photomurals, wood blocks, etchings, and paintings also decorated the morton salt building which was a noticeable departure from the previous mindset of uniform, bland office colors of the time.

the morton salt building was a prime example of the mid century modern movement.  while structures of this type are not the focus of my primary research, this building’s destruction represents yet another low rise structure that will free up space for a stark, bland tower to control the landscape and erase the sky from our view.

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