facade restoration work on holabird and roche's chicago school marquette building

while i have touched on the importance of photo-documenting archival material, sullivan ornament and workers cottages, lately my focus has expanded to late 19th and early 20th century chicago school buildings undergoing historic renovations in downtown chicago. a number of facades are worked on each year, with little public attention to the craft and care involved in the restoration process.

notes on images:

june 10th, 2019: terra cotta restoration work being done on holabird and roche's 16-story marquette building. the reddish-brown terra cotta frieze panels with alternating pattern of interlocking anthemions, flowers and scrollwork are located above the large storefront windows. the panels along the east facade have been removed for repair or replacement.
the chicago school building was built in 1895 by george a fuller, with northwestern terra cotta executing the exterior ornament. 

august 4th, 2019: marquette building facelift. i've repeatedly visited holabird and roche's marquette building (1895) over the past few months, documenting restoration work on the facade. the latest images show workers on swing stages repointing masonry joints.

august 21, 2019: marquette building (1895) facade restoration in progress. the 17-story chicago school building was designed by holabird and roche and built by the george a. fuller construction company. the terra cotta ornament was fabricated by the northwestern terra cotta company, chicago, ills.

though i have worked on similar projects in the past (including documenting the sensitive and historic restoration of the chicago athletic association building, congress theater, cook county hospital, tribune tower, jewelers building and the restoration of a gage building cartouche, my inspiration was truly reignited by facade restoration work on holabird and roche's marquette building (1895).

previous efforts last year included three major renovations of historic structures. the first was the commercial national bank building at 125 s. clark street, which just last year underwent a major adaptive reuse project. the 20-story office built in 1907 has been transformed to attract tenants and tech companies, ceasing to be the cps headquarters (its most recent iteration). the building’s major claim is being the oldest surviving high-rise commercial bank in the loop, and its classical revival facade typifies the monumental revival-style structures designed by famed d.h. burnham and company after the world’s exposition of 1893. according to developers, the building has been overlooked, veiled by dirt in its century of exposure to pollutants, and prior renovations have only served to conceal the building’s noteworthy elements. restoration included historic touches from different eras, creating an amalgamation of styles instead of drawing only on its original appearance. the lobby incorporates tile from the original manufacturer in 1907, for instance, but other areas of the building are restored to later eras. in particular the façade’s cleaning and patching are a significant undertaking which should be observed and recorded more closely.

the second building that garnered my attention is the old main post office, which has been completely vacant for two decades, and gained a permit just last march for a massive restoration to the interior (which will purportedly conclude in 2020). multiple fires, neglect, and time have worn on the structure, necessitating a genuine overhaul. back in 2011 i was able to explore the interior and gain a rare glimpse of the building’s impressive, albeit dilapidated, art deco lobby and gigantic vaults. the building will be turned into modern offices with elaborate exterior adaptations like a 3-acre rooftop garden and landscaping along the riverfront (not to mention major interior mechanical and electrical systems, etc.). the massive former-post office was built in 1921 (designed by graham, anderson, probst, & white) and expanded nine years later. it was the world’s largest post office when it opened but through the decades struggled to remain efficient, and it seems the building’s mammoth size has, until now, stymied a series of redevelopment schemes. restoration will be anchored to its early 1930’s appearance.

lastly i directed my attention to photographing the distinctive jewelers building at 35 e wacker. built in the mid-1920’s by joachim giaver and frederick dinkelberg, the jewelers building is so called because it originally housed the city’s diamond merchants, and formally went to great lengths to protect its tenants wares by use of an auto elevator that transported them directly from vehicle on the ground to offices as high as the 22nd floor). another of the building’s historical quirks was its use as a rooftop lounge and speakeasy run by al capone during prohibition. the building has been in the process of an elaborate multi-year renovation entailing the interior be re-built floor-by-floor, while preserving the historic facade and structure. the building is now reconfigured and modernized while historic aspects are being meticulously restored. on the facade, the 26th floor roof was replaced in recent years, and scaffolding cloaked the turrets and dome for two years while the building conducted maintenance (from 2014 to 2016). the building’s website indicates its facade repair program will likely be ongoing.

architectural restorations provide a great opportunity to see how historic chicago buildings are being altered or preserved. the seemingly routine work happening behind scaffolding should attract in-depth attention from the public, as restorations are more than just a shift in commercial occupants, they are ambitious processes meriting up-close documentation. transition points may let us understand a building’s life story and evolution, and archive those changes for the future.