Page 54 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Chicago

52  CHIC A GO AREA B Y AREA

0 Sullivan Center the upper floors of the old
building were supported on jack
1 S State St. Map 3 C2. Tel (312) 675-
5500. q Monroe; Washington (Red screws and the lower stories
Line). Open 10am–8pm Mon–Sat. demolished. The ground floors
Closed Easter, Thanksgiving, Dec 25. of the Reliance Building were
∑ thesullivancenter.com completed and in 1894, when
the leases expired, the upper
It is appropriate that such an floors were demolished and the
architectural gem as the Sullivan steel framing for 13 more stories
Center (formerly known as the completed, in 15 days.
Carson Pirie Scott Building), The new building, officially
which, until 2007, housed one opened in March 1895, was
of Chicago’s oldest department considered revolutionary
stores, rests at Chicago’s ground- because of its steel frame and
zero address of State and unusual two-story-column
Madison, the starting point for the design, allowing for the masses
city’s street-numbering system. In of windows which give the
2012, the City Target store chain building its modern look.
opened shop in the building. The building’s design was
The upper floors of the building undertaken by John Root of
are finished in white terra-cotta, Burnham and Root. Charles
but it is the ornamental metal- Atwood completed it upon
work on the first two floors that Root’s death in 1891.
give this building, designed by The building was in serious
Louis Sullivan in 1899, its The Reliance Building, precursor to the disrepair in the mid-1990s, until
distinctive character. modern skyscraper the City of Chicago purchased
A particularly noteworthy it and began an exterior
feature of the exterior is the q Reliance Building renovation, which involved
corner entrance pavilion, which 32 N State St. Map 3 C1. Tel (312) 782- the replacement of 2,000 pieces
extends 12 stories to the top of 1111. q Washington (Red Line). of terra-cotta. In 1995, it was
the building and has ornamental Open 24 hrs daily. 7 h See Where designated a Chicago landmark.
cast-iron motifs. Along with to Stay, Hotel Burnham: p144. In 1998, a hotel company
intricate botanical and geometric bought the building,
forms, Sullivan’s initials, L.H.S., The Reliance Building’s two- undertaking a $27.5-million
can be seen above the corner stage construction (1891–95) refurbishment before opening
entrance. While this is the showy was as unusual as were the the Hotel Burnham in 1999.
heart of the building, it is worth structural-support techniques Root’s original bronze and
taking a walk east along Madison used. The leases for the upper granite design of the first floor
Street to take time to admire floors of the original building has been re-created and the
the metalwork and Chicago on the site did not expire until 20-ft- (6-m-) high elevator
windows from a far less busy 1894, so when work on the new lobby reconstructed using
vantage point. Reliance Building began in 1890, Italian marble, ornamental
metal elevator grills, and
elaborate mosaic floor tiles.
w Macy’s
111 N State St. Map 4 D1. Tel (312)
781-1000. q Washington (Red Line).
Open 10am–8pm Mon, Thu–Sat;
9am–9pm Tue & Wed; 11am–6pm
Sun. Closed Easter, Thanksgiving,
Dec 25. 7 8 0 h See Shops
and Markets: p159.
∑ visitmacyschicago.com
No other retail establishment
is, perhaps, as important to
Chicago’s cultural history as
Marshall Field’s department
store, which became part of the
Macy’s chain in 2006. The original
Marshall Field plaques remain on
The red bull’s eye logo represents City Target, a popular store at the Sullivan Center the building but, despite protests

052-053_EW_Chicago.indd 52 13/07/16 2:59 pm
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2.6)
Date 12th July 2013
Size 125mm x 217mm