salvaging spread-winged limestone eagles from the 1920 bunte candy factory shortly before building demolished

the bunte candy factory salvage was a massive undertaking on a multitude of levels. the hulking structure was a 600,00 sq. foot factory, which included an administration building with a soaring water tank tower and its owns power plant building. the factory complex was considered one of the largest examples of a prairie school style commercial building. the brick and bedford limestone structure was designed by the architectural firm of schmidt, garden and martin in 1919, with hugh garden undertaking any and all interior and exterior design elements.

demolition and/or salvage of the bunte candy factory and administration building took place in early 2007, with the six hand-carved bedford limestone eagles extracted sometime in march. in addition to the full-figured eagles, two surviving strongly geometric gardenesque interior bronze grilles, elevator doors, and a staircase were saved before the building became infill for the sports field replacing it.

march 2007. administrator building and tower. a 26ft and two 12ft riveted steel tanks were concealed within the tower.

the bunte candy was converted into a high school - the george westinghouse career academy - in the 1960's.

eagle extraction underway.

pneumatic air hammers with chisels where used to break away the limestone ledges supporting the eagles.

the newly created cavities made between the pier caps allowed straps to be slipped under and around the eagles.

the hand carved spread-winged eagles were fabricated by the indiana limestone company.

full-page advertisement from a 1928 trade periodical. a few prominent dressed with the Indiana limestone company's stone are listed.

one of two large eagles strapped for extraction. the two eagles on the north facade were considerably larger than the four eagles on the east and west facades. no signatures or other distinctive markings were found on the stone sculptures.

background on the bunte brothers candy company:
in 1876, ferdinand bunte, gustav a. bunte, and charles a. spoehr started a candy manufactory on state street in chicago. after a few years, ferdinand's son theodore w. bunte took charge of the business. by the 1910s, when bunte bros. did annual sales of about $2.4 million, the company employed about 1,200 people. as late as the 1950s, it had over 1,000 workers in its chicago plants. in 1954, bunte brothers candy co. was purchased by chase candy co. of st. joseph, missouri, and a new firm, bunte-chase, was created. in 1961, the firm closed the chicago plant, dropped the bunte name, and returned to st. joseph.