ORDINANCE
Illinois Bell Building 225 W. Randolph Street
WHEREAS, pursuant to the procedures set forth in the Municipal Code of Chicago (the "Municipal Code"), Sections 2-120-620 through -690, the Commission on Chicago Landmarks (the "Commission") has determined that the Illinois Bell Building (the "Building"), located at 225 W. Randolph Street, Chicago, Illinois, as more precisely described in Exhibit A, attached hereto and incorporated herein, satisfies three (3) criteria for landmark designation as set forth in Section 2-120-620 (1), (4), and (5) ofthe Municipal Code; and
WHEREAS, the Building is a representation of the reinvestment in downtown Chicago, the Loop area in particular, by corporations in the 1960s. In contrast to many other American cities, Chicago saw a significant increase in downtown development by private entities during this time period; and
WHEREAS, the Illinois Bell company was a major employer in Chicago, and Illinois as a whole. At its zenith in the early 1970s, the company employed roughly 36,000 people in the Chicago area alone and made important contributions to the advancement of technology in the telephone industry; and
WHEREAS, Chicago, and Illinois as a whole, has been on the forefront of telephone technology since the invention of the telephone. Chicago was one of the first major cities to have telephones, just one year after Alexander Graham Bell's invention; and
WHEREAS, Illinois Bell's research and development arm was critical in developing systems that are still used today, such as call waiting, speed calling, call forwarding, and three-way calling; and
WHEREAS, the Building is one of very few known examples of New Formalism as applied to a skyscraper in Chicago; and
WHEREAS, the marble and granite facade materials of the Building are unique and key elements of the New Formalist style, which embraced the use of rich building materials as part ofthe nod to Classical architecture; and
WHEREAS, the Building is distinguished from ...
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