CHICAGO
Sears Tower
History
The City of Chicago's Department of Buildings is responsible for the enforcement of the Chicago Building
Code governing the construction, rehabilitation, and maintenance of approximately 450,000 structures
located in the City of Chicago.
The Department of Buildings was originally created in response to the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.
One of the factors that contributed to the Great Fire's rapid spread and devastation, was the lack of a
city building code in Chicago, which otherwise would have created professional standards controlling
the construction and maintenance of buildings. In fact, after the Great Chicago Fire, no insurance
company in the United States was willing to insure any building in Chicago until the City first legislated
a comprehensive municipal building code, and then created an enforcement agency-today's
Department of Buildings.
The Department's primary function, is to guarantee that all structures located within the City of Chicago,
are built correctly to insure the life, health, and safety of its citizens in the built environment. The
Department recognizes that proper construction and safety is best promoted by voluntary compliance of
building codes and the good faith efforts of responsible property owners. The Department of Buildings
is a primary resource that landlords and managers should utilize to ensure that their properties are
safely maintained, managed profitably, and promote community health and stability.
In April, 2003, the responsibility for issuing Building Permits was moved to a new city agency, the
Department of Construction and Permits (DCAP). However, new construction inspectors from the
Department of Buildings still perform inspections to ensure that work conforms to permits that have been
issued. Also, DOB inspectors conduct daily and annual inspections of commercial and residential
structures boilers, elevators, electrical signs, canopies, and other appurtenances.
There are several divisions responsible for enforcing various ordinances within the building
codes, and they are:
*Preserving the housing stock through building inspections
*Strategic Inspections Task Force-Drug/Gang House Ordinance Inspection Team.
*Demolition-Demolishing of vacant/abandoned structures.
*Technical-Inspection of elevators, building construction, plumbing, electrical, etc.
*Licensing-Testing and issuing licensing for tradesman-electricians, masons, etc.
Attractions
Lakefront and Navy Pier
Twenty-nine miles of lakefront parks and beaches
provide the perfect setting for outdoor activities
such as swimming, beach volleyball, cycling, rollerblading,
sunbathing, picnicking, golfing and jogging. The
free-admission Lincoln Park Zoo, Buckingham Fountain
and magnificent outdoor sculptures are among the
attractions located in Chicago's parks.
Navy Pier is Chicago's playground on the lakefront.
Take a ride on the Navy Pier Ferris Wheel or board a
Lake Michigan boat cruise for a spectacular view of
Chicago's world-famous skyline. Don't miss Navy Pier's
Crystal Gardens, large-screen I-MAX theater and Skyline Stage.
Tours and Sightseeing
As the birthplace of the modern building and home to
three of the world's tallest skyscrapers, Chicago is a living
museum of architecture. Explore the buildings designed by
architectural geniuses including Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Sullivan,
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Helmut Jahn on an
architectural or sightseeing tour of the city. Tours of Chicago
are available by foot, by bus and by boat. The Chicago Architecture Foundation offers more than 50 tours of the city's
architectural landmarks.
Performing Arts
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Lyric Opera of Chicago and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago are among the
world-class performing arts organizations offering a wide range of entertainment options to Chicagoans
and visitors alike. Chicago's theater community presents diverse and innovative performances at dozens
of venues. Visit the Hot Tix Ticket Centers located at 78 W. Randolph Street and inside the Water Tower
at 163 E. Pearson Avenue, for half-price day-of-performance theater tickets.
Chicago's Architecture
Visitors from around the world come to Chicago, the birthplace of the modern building, to view its
architectural marvels. From historic landmark buildings to contemporary technological masterpieces, Chicago
is home to unique and innovative designs that have shaped American architecture.
Daniel H. Burnham, creator of the famous Chicago Plan of 1909, counseled city leaders with an important
view of the future: "Make no little plans, for they have no magic to stir men's blood.... Make big plans. Aim
high in hope and work." Burnham helped chart the future of the city that gave the world its first skyscraper,
developed the iron skeleton and the floating foundation, created the "Prairie" style of design, and became
the site of the tallest building on earth. Big plans, indeed!
The Hotel Burnham --formerly the Historic Reliance Building, one of Chicago’s most significant architectural
landmarks-- is a premier product of Daniel H. Burnham’s architectural style known as “the Chicago Style.”
The Hotel Burnham is a 122-room European-style hotel located at 1 W. Washington Street (at State Street).
Today, thanks to the genius of Burnham, Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe,
Helmut Jahn, and hundreds of others, Chicago is a living museum of architecture. To fully appreciate the
rich foundations of design on which Chicago was built, take one of the many guided tours which include
architectural and historical information. Several companies offer narrated bus tours of the city, most of
which include architectural attractions. Guided “Loop Tour Trains,” scheduled on Saturday afternoons
during the summer, offer a striking view from the city’s elevated trains.
A view of the city's buildings by boat offers a unique perspective. Visitors to Chicago may take one of many
architectural river cruises to experience the preservation of ageless architectural styles in classic and
modern structures along the Chicago River.
For a more detailed look, the Chicago Architecture Foundation offers more than 50 walking or bus tours,
conducted by very knowledgeable guides. Located in the historic Railway Exchange
Building at 224 S. Michigan Avenue, the foundation’s bookstore, gift shop and the Chicago ArchiCenter,
which is designed to raise public interest in Chicago’s magnificent architecture, heightens the architectural
experience for visitors.
For those who prefer a self-guided tour, visitors can pick up a free street map at one of the official Visitor
Centers or stop by the Chicago Architecture Foundation to purchase a map of the Chicago buildings
featured on its tours. Visitors can also purchase one of the many guidebooks to architecture and landmarks
at local bookstores or newsstands. A self-guided tour might begin by marveling at the work of Ludwig
Mies van der Rohe at the Federal Center and Plaza (Jackson Boulevard and Dearborn Street). A few
blocks away, the 1886 Rookery Building (LaSalle and Adams Streets) designed by Burnham and Root
with a lobby remodeled by Frank Lloyd Wright is a Chicago landmark. An excellent example of
Wright's Prairie School of architecture is the Robie House (5757 S. Woodlawn Avenue), near the
University of Chicago.
The Chicago Cultural Center (78 E. Washington Street), completed in 1897 and designed by
Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge, serves as Chicago's free-admission public center for culture. Designed in
the Beaux-Arts style, the Cultural Center recalls several periods of classical architecture. Lush detailing
is present throughout the interior, particularly in the two intricately constructed domes, each made of
richly colored glass, including the world’s largest Tiffany dome. Free tours of the Cultural Center are offered
weekly, departing from the Randolph lobby on the first floor.
The 1889 Auditorium Building (Michigan Avenue and Congress Parkway), designed by Louis Sullivan
and Dankmar Adler, is still visited by many Chicagoans and visitors because it houses the Auditorium
Theatre, which ranks as one of the city's finest performance spaces. Sullivan's penchant for ornamentation
can be seen in the grillwork on the Carson Pirie Scott store (1899), 1 S. State Street. Ornamentation from
the Art Deco era is on display at the must-see Chicago Board of Trade Building (LaSalle Street and
Jackson Boulevard), a 1930 work of Holabird and Root. William Le Baron Jenney designed the world's
first "skyscraper" in Chicago in 1885: the Home Insurance Building, which was at the northeast corner
of LaSalle and Adams Streets. Jenney's technology, in which a thin outside skin was applied to an
iron-and-steel frame, made possible the structures that make Chicago home to three of the world's ten
tallest buildings.
Sears Tower (bounded by Wacker Drive, Jackson Boulevard, Franklin Boulevard and Adams Street) is
one of the world’s tallest buildings, topping off at 1,450 feet. Designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill
and opened in 1974, Sears Tower consists of black aluminum and bronze-tinted glass on a structural
steel frame, and it encompasses 101 acres of floor space. The skydeck, which was renovated in 2000,
offers a multi-media presentation and spectacular view of Chicago and beyond.
Chicago's second highest building is the 80-story AON Center, formerly the Amoco
Building (200 E. Randolph Street), which also opened in 1974. Designed by Edward D. Stone with
Perkins and Will, the slender building stands out on the skyline and dwarfs its neighbor, the Prudential
Building. The John Hancock Center (875 N. Michigan Avenue), another Skidmore, Owings and Merrill
project, opened in 1969 and is distinguished by the steel cross-braces which make huge X's on each side.
Three states, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, are visible from the observatory on the 94th floor.
Chicago never stops building or challenging the architectural world and the public. One of the boldest of
the city's newer structures is the spectacular James R. Thompson Center, 100 W. Randolph Street, which
has won both praise and criticism for architect Helmut Jahn. The massive red and blue, glass and granite
structure houses 50 departments of state government and one of the most dazzling atriums found
anywhere. Riding on the building’s glass elevator to the top floor is a must. An Illinois Artisans Shop
and numerous restaurants are also found here.
The Harold Washington Library Center (400 S. State Street), one of Chicago’s many Public Libraries,
was designed by Hammond, Beeby and Babka and opened in 1991. This building encompasses all
that is unique to Chicago architecture within a single structure. Combining the grid patterns of the early
Chicago skyscrapers, the neoclassical details of the great white structures of the 1893 World's
Columbian Exposition and references to Daniel Burnham's grand plan, the library is a lesson in Chicago
architecture. The Harold Washington Library houses approximately two million books and includes the
world's largest children's library, a public restaurant and a winter garden.
Other remarkably conceived modern buildings include the NBC Tower, designed by Adrian Smith;
190 S. LaSalle Street, by Philip Johnson; 333 W. Wacker Drive, by William Pederson; the serpentine
River City, by Bertrand Goldberg; and 900 N. Michigan Avenue, housing Bloomingdale's and a shopping
mall, also by William Pederson.
Even as the future is planned, so is the past being preserved. Architecture buffs will want to visit the
restored (1836) Henry B. Clarke House (Chicago’s oldest), and the (1887) John J. Glessner House.
Both buildings are located in the Prairie Avenue Historic District south of downtown. Oak Park, just west of
Chicago, is the site of Frank Lloyd Wright's Home and Studio, along with many homes he designed.
Excellent tours are available. Buildings listed here constitute only a tiny fraction of what captures the
attention and imagination of Chicago's visitors and residents.
Chicago: A Galaxy of Museums
Chicago is world renowned for its amazing collection of museums. Most are open everyday, some
offer free admission and many have weekly free days.
Visitors to Chicago should plan to spend a day at the Museum Campus. The family friendly park-like
atmosphere conveniently joins the Adler Planetarium, Shedd Aquarium, and The Field Museum at
Roosevelt Road and the Lake.
The John G. Shedd Aquarium/Oceanarium offers the world’s largest indoor collection of aquatic
mammals, reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates and fish. Totaling more than 750,000 gallons of water,
the Shedd's Wild Reef exhibit allows guests to have an intimate encounter with more than 30 sharks,
one of the largest and most diverse shark exhibits in North America, and a coral reef exhibit housing
more than 500 aquatic species demonstrating the crucial role coral reefs play in the health of
oceans. Also, the museum’s magnificent Oceanarium is the world’s largest marine mammal pavilion. The Oceanarium is
home to Beluga whales, dolphins, Alaskan sea otters, seals and penguins in habitats replicating their natural environments.
Guests are allowed to watch one of the Aquarium’s daily feedings in the newly renovated exotic Coral Reef exhibit, where a diver
hand-feeds the fish and describes the different species of fish. There is a set fee for both exhibits.
After exploring the oceans, visitors can gaze up at the heavens in nearby Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum. The museum
allows guests to lean back and relax as the Planetarium sky show takes them on a journey into outer space. The Sky Pavilion
and StarRider Theatre shows transport visitors to planets, moons, and distant galaxies, and cover the latest topics in space news.
Mummies, Egyptian tombs, Native American artifacts, dinosaur skeletons and more than 16 million other specimens for the fields
of anthropology, botany, geology and zoology are on display at The Field Museum. A recent addition to the museum is Sue, the
largest, most complete, and best-preserved Tyrannosaurus rex fossil yet discovered.
The city’s oldest cultural institution is the Chicago History Museum (North Avenue and Clark Street). Through artifacts,
photographs, paintings and video presentations, the museum tells the story of Chicago, from the early frontier days to the
present. Museum highlights include the Hands-On History Gallery with “please touch” artifacts; an exhibit and film on the Great
Chicago Fire of 1871; and the American History Wing that documents American history from the revolution to the aftermath
of the Civil War.
The Museum of Science and Industry (57th Street and Lake Shore Drive) is one of the city’s most popular attractions. With
exhibits including a full-scale, working coal mine, a 3,500 square foot railroad exhibit of The Great Train Story, and a pulsating
sixteen-foot model of the human heart, the museum is a Chicago classic that should not be missed. The museum’s Henry
Crown Space Center allows visitors to blast off in a simulated space shuttle ride and view the Apollo 8 spacecraft.
Additionally, the National Time Museum, which opened January 26, 2001, is currently located in the Museum of Science and
Industry’s North Court. This museum includes hundreds of exquisite timepieces from the collection of Seth Atwood, featuring
timepieces that date back to ca. 800 BC, which come in many shapes and sizes.
Also in the Hyde Park neighborhood is the DuSable Museum of African-American History, located at 740 East 56th Place. This
museum is dedicated to the collection, documentation, preservation and study of the history and culture of Africans and Americans
of African descent. Performances of music and dance, film presentations, and educational seminars are also offered.
The cultural diversity of Chicagoans has created a unique demand for neighborhood museums that focus on a particular ethnic
heritage. Mexican, Polish, Lithuanian, Swedish, Greek, and Jewish residents and visitors can find collections featuring their
histories.
With the world’s largest Polish population outside of Warsaw, it is not surprising that Chicago is home to the Polish Museum of
America (984 N. Milwaukee Avenue) featuring art archives, costumes and a 30,000-volume library. Other neighborhood museums
include the following: the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture (6500 S. Pulaski Road), the Swedish American Museum Center
(5211 N. Clark Street), Hellenic Museum and Cultural Center (168 N. Michigan Avenue) and the Ukrainian National
Museum (721 N. Oakley Boulevard).
The Midwest’s first and the nation’s largest Mexican museum is located in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood. Admission is
free to the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum (1852 W. 19th Street). After a recent expansion, the Museum now offers 68,000
square feet of Mexican culture through a variety of art exhibits, art classes, theater, and music and dance events.
Chicago is also proud to be home to the new National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum (1801 S. Indiana). The collection includes
more than 500 works of art, including paintings, drawings, and sculptures, created by more than 95 artists from around the
world, all of who served in the Vietnam War. An audio-visual presentation and artifacts of war are also on display.
Chicago’s visual arts selection is dazzling. The Art Institute of Chicago (111 S. Michigan Avenue) is one of the world’s leading
art museums with a renowned impressionist and post-impressionist collection of works by Monet, Renoir, Degas, Van Gogh
and others. Visitors can study classics such as Sunday Afternoon on the Isle of La Grande Jatte (Seurat), as well as later
masterpieces such as Nighthawks (Edward Hopper), or Inventions of the Monsters (Salvador Dali). The Kraft Education Center
helps young visitors appreciate art from around the world with interactive computers, videos and games.
The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum of the Chicago Academy of Sciences (2430 N. Cannon Drive) is the only museum that
specializes in the ecology and natural history of the Midwest, from the Great Lakes to the prairies, natural to the urban areas.
The Nature Museum offers six permanent exhibits examining the relationship between people and nature and the impact humans
have on their environment.
Several Chicago museums explore particular aspects of the visual arts. The objective of the Museum of Contemporary
Photography (600 S. Michigan Avenue) is to display the many roles of photography throughout history. The Terra Museum of
American Art (664 N. Michigan Avenue) features the art of the U.S. with works by artists including Whistler, Cassatt, Sargent,
Chase, Hopper and Wyeth. A more unusual form of visual art can be viewed at the Museum of
Holography (1134 W. Washington Street) where visitors can be amazed by the three-dimensional images created by lasers.
The work of local and emerging artists is frequently featured in the galleries of the Chicago Cultural
Center (78 E. Washington Street). Located in a landmark building boasting the world’s largest tiffany stained-glass dome,
broad marble staircases, and colorful mosaics, the Cultural Center offers free programs daily, including concerts, films,
lectures, and dance performances. It is also home to the free-admission Museum of Broadcast Communications, featuring
the Radio Hall of Fame and a large collection of archives highlighting some of America’s greatest moments in radio and
television. Guided tours of the Cultural Center take visitors through galleries with changing exhibits, theater and a concert hall.
Chicago offers a number of museums that cater to visitors with specific interests such as the International Museum
of Surgical Science, 1524 N. Lake Shore Drive.
