Tuesday Trivia: 10 Things You Probably Don't Know About Marina City

Yesterday we published a review of the new book Marina City: Bertrand Goldberg's Urban Vision.  Today, we present

Ten Things You Probably Don't Know About Marina City

1. You've heard of the retail and office complex at "Block 37" in the Loop.  Well, Marina City is on "Block One" of the City of Chicago plan.
2. The land Marina city sits on was formerly a rail yard.
3. Marina City was originally called Labor Center.
4. The original plan for Marina City called for two 40-story towers, and a third 10-story tower.
5. Marina City once had its own ice skating rink and supermarket.
6. Marina City's architect, Bertrand Goldberg, first experimented with curved concrete in the design he made for the city of Nashville's sewage treatment plant.
7. Marina City was built for the Chicago janitors' union.
8. Ten years before Marina City became a reality, its architect designed a smaller, but very similar, set of twin towers for a South Side motel that was never built.
9. The boatyard underneath the Marina City complex was once known as Phillips Pier 66, after the oil company.
10. What is now the House of Blues was called the Field Television Center at the time it opened, because WFLD Television had its studios there.

Tuesday Trivia: Heads of Commerce

Q: You probably already know that there are heads in front of the Merchandise Mart (222 West Merchandise Mart Plaza) representing the leaders of Chicago's industry from back when Chicago was an industrial leader.  But can you name them all?

A: Here is the Merchandise Mart Hall of Fame in alphabetical order:

• Marshall Field
• Edward A. Filene
• Julius Rosenwald
• George Huntington Hartford
• Aaron Montgomery Ward
• John Wanamaker
• General Robert E. Wood
• Frank Winfield Woolworth

Tuesday Trivia: Before There Was Illinois

Q: Can you name all the entities that have claimed jurisdiction over what we now know as Chicagoland?


A: 

• Illinois Country (borders undefined)
• Upper Louisiana (part of New France)
• New York (until 1782)
• Connecticut (until 1786)
• Northwest Territory (until 1800)
• Indiana Territory (until 1809)
• Illinois Territory (until 1818)
• State of Illinois (present)

There may be others, but these are the ones we found.  History buffs, feel free to post corrections below.

Tuesday Trivia: Odd Numbers on LSD

Recently we published a photograph of Lake Point Tower, which made me think of this trivia question.

Q:  Lake Point Tower (seen below) at 505 North Lake Shore Drive is the only residential building east of North Lake Shore Drive.  But it's not the only one with an odd house number.  What is the other building with a street address indicating that it is on the east side of Lake Shore Drive?

A: 999 North Lake Shore Drive.

This building should actually have the address 954 North Lake Shore Drive, but has been granted the vanity address of 999 Lake Shore Drive, even though it is on the west side of the street.

Tuesday Trivia: Starbucks Edition

Q: Which downtown Chicago Starbucks store is not furnished with the standard Starbucks corporate furniture?





A: Merchandise Mart. The Merchandise Mart Starbucks (222 West Merchnadise Mart Plaza) is kitted out with furniture by one of the furniture designers located in the 'Mart. Specifically, Ebel Incorporated in suite 15-121.  The 'Mart's Starbucks is such a landmark in the massive building that the eastern set of elevators are officially signed "Starbucks Elevators."

As an aside, I have changed my mind about which Starbucks is the world's coolest.  I used to think it was the one at Two ifc in Hong Kong (always written in lower case), where the chairs have an amazing panoramic view of Victoria Harbour.

Recently, however, I found myself in the Starbucks at the Columbia Center in Seattle.  It's in the 40th floor sky lobby with amazing views of the city and Puget Sound.

You can see more Hong Kong architecture at our sister site, Asian Architecture Info.
You can see more Seattle architecture at our parent site, Glass Steel and Stone.

Tuesday trivia: Tragic blimp accident edition

Q: What was the name of the blimp that caught fire, raining flaming wreckage on the Loop and killing people in a bank building?

A: The Wingfoot Air Express.

It happened July 21, 1919.  Read more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wingfoot_Air_Express_Crash

Tuesday Trivia: Baggage edition

Q: The World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago is credited with bringing what French luxury brand to America?

A: Louis Vuitton.

It was at the 1893 Columbian Exposition that George Vuitton met John Wanamaker.  Shortly thereafter, Wanamaker's department store in New York became the first store in America to carry Louis Vuitton merchandise.

Bonus trivia: The first Louis Vuitton store in Chicago opened at Water Tower Place in 1982.

Tuesday Trivia: The Civic Opera Building

Q: Which Chicago showplace was shuttered because the Civic Opera Building took away all the best shows?

A: The Auditorium Building on Michigan Avenue

Tuesday Trivia: The John Hancock Center

Q: What famous Hong Kong skyscraper was inspired by the design of Chicago's John Hancock Center.

A: The Bank of China Hongkong tower.

Tuesday Trivia: The Merchandise Mart

True of False?  The Merchandise Mart has its own ZIP code.

False.  Though many tour guides will tell you that it does, they are incorrect.  In 2008 the Merchandise Mart was forced to share its ZIP code with the surrounding neighborhood all the way up to Chicago Avenue.