(Above) Photo (circa 1961) showing both Marina City and the Dearborn Street Bridge under construction.

60 feet north of the Chicago River and 60 feet down, water was leaking into three of Marina City’s caissons. Along with tons of soil, the water had to be pumped out. Unfortunately, this drained an area under the north side of the Dearborn Street Bridge that was being constructed, causing it to sink eight inches, disclosed city engineers on February 20, 1962.

Engineers were afraid the foundation at 320 North Dearborn (now The Westin Chicago River North hotel) might be affected, too. This was despite a schedule being worked out between the two construction projects a year earlier.

City Engineer Dick Van Gorp (left) asked Bertrand Goldberg Associates to stop pumping and find another way to finish the caissons. He was worried utility lines and a cofferdam (used to create a dry work space) near the bridge would be in danger if the pumping continued. It was the latest problem for the new bridge. Already a year late, work had stopped three times and the city finally stopped guessing when it would be finished.

First fire out before fire department arrived

The first fire at Marina City was reported in the evening on August 30, 1962. Smoke was seen coming from near the top of the west tower. However, by the time Engine 13 arrived from two blocks away, the smoke was gone. A construction company spokesperson said wooden crates had been burning on the 45th floor.

There were no injuries and damage was minor, but crowds were treated to bigger smoke on September 18, 1962. Scrap lumber from concrete forms caught fire on the 61st floor of the east tower. It was extinguished with water that was pumped up through the building.

The first fire in an occupied apartment happened on February 5, 1963. It was a small fire in the east tower apartment of J.A. Thompson that was put out by firefighters who carried hand pumps by elevator to the 31st floor.

No one was injured, and damage was estimated at only $500, but just nine days later, on February 14, 1963, 50 residents of the west tower were evacuated as firefighters extinguished several butane tank fires. The tanks supplied heating units that were drying new concrete. At about 10:56 p.m., a tank in a west tower stairwell exploded and set fire to five other tanks.

(Above) The headline the next day in the Chicago Sun-Times.

Residents on floors 21-28 of the west tower were evacuated for about a half-hour to the east tower. One of the tanks was thrown into the Chicago River while the others were left near the river to burn out. Damage was to the elevator lobby and stairway on the plaza level.

On October 29, 1963, welders cutting an opening for an elevator accidentally started a small fire in the east tower. A resident on the 43rd floor smelled smoke coming from the trash chute and called the fire department. But by the time they arrived, the fire had been extinguished.