CBS-Site Skyscrapers Sidelined

It looks like plans for a pair of skyscrapers at the location of the former historic CBS Building (630 North McClurg Court) aren't going to develop.

The 1922 building, which served as a horse stable and a skating rink before hosting the world's first televised presidential debate, was razed last year and is now nothing more than a flat field of crushed brick and mortar.  CBS has since moved its radio and television broadcast studios to Block37 (22 West Washington Street).

There have been long-standing plans for two residential towers to sprout at this location, filling in a gap in the dense Streeterville skyscraper forest.  One was going to be 625-feet-tall, the other 695.  Both towers would be built atop a 10-story parking and retail podium.

The process has started to change the zoning on this block to "Downtown Mixed Use District," which likely means that any towers built here would not exceed 35 stories, not the 53 and 56-stories previously planned for this location. (It is possible we've miscalculated this.  Corrections are welcome.)

Alderman Reilly's office states that the plot is going to be sold, so it remains to be seen what the new owner will do.

In our opinion, the property would better serve the immediate community as a part.  Or as at least half of its surface area reserved for public access greenspace.  Streeterville continues to suffer from a dearth of neighborhood greenspace, and this summer's heat has left many longing for a local option for a little outdoor peace, instead of having to slog it out with the tourists and visitors from other neighborhoods who clog the lakefront.

Follow Up: Who Is Fitzgibbons?

Some eagle-eyed readers of our article about the demolition of the old CBS Studios Building in Streeterville noticed some writing in the rubble and asked what it says.

The writing is stenciled letters about two-feet tall on a giant tank in the basement of the CBS Building.  It reads "The Fitzgibbons Boiler."

We don't know who Fitzgibbons is, or why he has his own boiler.  But we've sent an e-mail to WBBM and if we get a response, we'll let you know.

Keep Your Eye On The Rubble

If you blinked, you missed it.  It didn't take long for demolition crews to converge on the old CBS Building in Streeterville after the eye network moved to its gleaming new home at Block 37 in The Loop.

All that's left now is a pit of debris and the cranes emptying it.

For those of you who don't know, this building had quite a history.

• It was originally the headquarters and stables of the Chicago Riding Club.
  
• It then became an ice skating rink.
• It was then used as a roller skating rink.
• Then it became the home of WBBM, WBBM-TV and WBBM-FM, along with the Midwest headquarters of CBS News and CBS Newspath.
• This was where the Donahue talk show was produced for a time after it moved out of WGN-TV's north side studios.
• This is where the Siskel & Ebert movie review show was first produced.
• But most importantly -- in 1960, this was the location of the world's first televised presidential debate.  It was between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy.  It is a debate that is still studied by journalism and media students to this day for many reasons that are beyond the scope of this humble blog.