It is not hard to imagine why they got the nick name of Corn Cobs.
Marina City was the first planned development project in Chicago, and the first and largest federally-insured downtown housing project in the country. When they were completed in 1963, the residential towers were the tallest reinforced concrete structures in the world. Marina City was also Bertrand Goldberg’s career-defining commission, catapulting him onto the world stage and solidifying his reputation as one of the most innovative architects of the twentieth century. [chicago.gov, p4]
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| Street View, Aug 2019 |
It is getting harder and harder to get 3D views of buildings near the loop because other tall buildings block the view. So I'm going to capture this view while I can.
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| 3D Satellite |
When I saw the sightseeing boats with the crowds on them, I checked the date. 2018 was the year before they could not run because of COVID-19.
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| Street View, Jul 2018 |
In the above photo, the bridge blocks the part were they can store boats. It really is a marina. And it has a restaurant with a riverside view.
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| chicago.gov, p36 |
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| Historic Chicago posted |
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| Thomasmall Small shared his post |
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| Dennis DeBruler commented on Thomassmall's post Since the progress of construction of the posted photo is less than this one, and this one is dated 1961, I'd put the date at 1961. |
This looks like a different view taken at the same time.
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| Historic Chicago posted Get this amazing print for free, simply go to www.shopcitymerch.com/marinacity Historic Chicago posted again |
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| Elin B Papciak posted Chicago River, 1962 Ian Ross: One of the boats reminds me of the DC Everest. It used to run between the pulp and paper mills, like Marathon, on the north shore of Lake Superior, down to the lower lakes and places like Chicago, hauling rolls of newsprint for the big city dailies. Doug Dewey shared Found in another group. Anybody know the boats? William Lafferty: Lachinedoc to the west, Sarniadoc aft. The Calgadoc, Torondoc, and Coteaudoc laid up that brutal winter at Lake Calumet. Each had storage cargoes of newsprint for the Sun Times and Daily News. Doug Dewey: William Lafferty paper boats owned by the Sun Times? I know Tribune owned their boats at one point. William Lafferty: Owned by N. M. Paterson & Sons., Ltd., Fort William, Ontario. The Tribune's boats were owned by its wholly owned subsidiary Quebec & Ontario Transportation Co., Ltd., Montréal. |
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| Historic Chicago posted Marina Towers under construction. (1963) |
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| chicago.gov, p44, By a photographer at the Chicago Daily News, circa 1961. |
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| Ben Kotowicz posted Marina Towers 1963 My father worked at the First National Bank as an elevator mechanic. This photo was taken from the old First National Bank building. It was twenty stories. My father took me to the roof where I took the photo. It was summer of '63. Eighth grade was next. John Czerwiec: Wow! The contrast between the modern and much older buildings could not be more stark! As things in the greater North Loop we’re still kind of seedy into the 80s it’s interesting to see this as the “break with the past”… |
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| Historic Chicago posted State Street (1960s) Russ Burgos: Taken between June 29 and July 19, 1962. Both pictures, "Bon Voyage!" (starring Fred MacMurray and Jane Wyman) at the State-Lake and "The Notorious Landlady" (starring native Chicagoan Kim Novak and Jack Lemmon) at the Chicago, opened Friday, June 29. "The Music Man" opened at the Chicago on July 20. |
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| Historic Chicago posted Construction of the Marina Towers. (1960s) |
A 1959 view showing that it was built over the C&NW State Street Railyard and it was surrounded by warehouses.
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| [chicago.gov, p7] |
This source puts the date of the photo as 1950.
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| marinacity.org-tracks via marinacity.org-history The 135,000 sq. ft of C&NW land was bought for $2.5m, $500,000 less than the asking price. |
The saddle-shaped theater was the last element of the city-within-a-city (residential, office, hotel, commercial, parking, etc.) complex and it was completed in 1967.
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| chicago.gov, p21 |
Goldberg exploited the opportunity to build with curves using concrete. This style of using curves is called "the Expressionist Style within the Modern Movement in Architecture." [chicago.gov, p38]
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| chicago.gov, p36 |
This view shows the side of the office building that was on the north side of the development. Goldberg viewed that building as a 16-story "fence." During a meeting in 1993, he called the office building his “visual barrier, blocking out the slum property to the north.” [marinacity.org-fence via marinacity.org-history] The radio antennae is a reminder that this was a tall building in the early 1960s.
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| bertrandgoldberg.org |
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| Historic Chicago posted Marina City towers at dusk on 300 North State Street. (1965) |
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| Historic Chicago posted Marina Towers at night. (1967) Growing up in Chicago posted 1967 - Marina Towers at night. |
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| Bill Layton commented on the second post Years later. |
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| Edgar Ramirez commented on Historic Chicago's post |
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| Historic Chicago posted, cropped Marina City (1972) John Davis: I remember when they were selling them as condo units, $26,000 for studio apartment, $41,000 for 1 bedroom. But you could buy a three flat for that in those days. Kenneth Gholar: John Davis but it was about the only place to live downtown at the time. |
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| Historic Chicago posted The parking garage at Marina Towers. (1963) Rich Verson: Marina City. Never Marina Towers. Terri Kimball Hart: Lived there briefly in the mid 60s. Never saw the garage. They brought the car to me. Ab Cityguyabc: Terri Kimball Hart I believe they still do, it's not self park. [Some comments talk about the stunt of driving the car off the garage and into the river for the movie The Hunter. YouTube of the scene The stunt company must have got paid by the wreck. Unless you like watching gratuitous wrecks, skip to 2:31.] Juan Morales shared |
The target for the residents were singles and couples without children. It was the first circular apartment buildings in history.
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| SkylineArchitecture |
- Theater
- Gym
- Swimming Pool
- Ice Rink
- Bowling Alley
- 19-floor Parking Garage
- Retail Shopping and Restaurants
- Marina
- Laundry Facilities with Panoramic Views of the City360-Degree open-roof deck on top of each building
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| 2:23 video @ 1:59 |
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| Windy City Ballyhoo: Chicago's Moviegoing Past posted Chicago photographer Val Mazzenga recently passed away and it seems like a good time to celebrate his incredible work, like this exciting shot of Marina Towers being used in an iconic stunt for the Steve McQueen action film The Hunter (1980). Michael Kanalas: They destroyed and Eyemo camera ( a 35mm Bell & Howell ) and a 20mm Baltar lens to get the shot from inside the car, the problem was that the car was supposed to bounce up in the water, however it stuck in the riverbed muck and they had to kill off the guy in the car because originally he was supposed to escape in show up later in the film. The film magazine snapped off on impact and those who saw the footage said it was great. Jim Griffin: I was there that day. McQueen was watching in a boat on the river. Very cool. Mario C. E. Freese: low steel frames 6ft apart and two wires was all it took back then to form a railing barrier made to code preventing a 200ft drop to certain death. Greg Daunoras: McQueen passed later in 1980. Adam Carston posted Photo by Val Mazzenga Don Marshall: Very cool, I was there watching, they shot two versions of the scene. One car had an engine in it, the other did not.It made a big difference in the way the car flew into the river. |
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| Nathan McMuir posted 1980 Marina tower on location shooting the Hunter. Anthony Tony Halachoulis: Engine, transmission and gas tank had to be removed for stunt. Bill Oerke: Anthony Tony Halachoulis How did the shoot the car out that far then? Don Marshall: Bill Oerke They rammed it off of the edge using a tow truck, I was on set to watch that day. There was two takes, one take, had the engine in, one take did not, it changed angle of the cars diving into the water. David Fontanetta Jr.: The car actually went deeper into the muck on the bottom of the river than they anticipated. The camera inside was destroyed but the film canister survived. Megan Green shared a different exposure |
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| Xavier Quintana posted A sedan plunges from the 15th-floor level of Marina City's parking garage into the Chicago River in 1979. It was a stunt for the Steve McQueen movie, "The Hunter." (Vintage Tribune) |
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