
– December 1959 Service Employee, published for members of BSEIU
Bordered by North State Street, West Kinzie Street, North Dearborn Street, and the Chicago River, the lot was empty except for a 34-foot-wide strip of railroad tracks that ran through the north half of the site and extended west to Merchandise Mart.
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(Left) Abandoned railroad tracks, photographed in 2007, barely visible in the ground at lower right, extending east and west directly below a private driveway at Marina City. The grating at right is the driveway entrance from State Street. |
Goldberg initially recommended it as a location for a new headquarters for Building Service Employees International Union, but the union decided that it would be too expensive. As a housing project, however, it made more sense.
1959 marched on as the union, represented by Swibel, negotiated with L.J. Sheridan & Company, agents for Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, owner of the property. Swibel, president of the mortgage banking firm, Marks and Company, met with Frank Wells, who represented L.J. Sheridan & Company.
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The railroad wanted $3 million. Swibel got it down to $2.5 million.
(Left) 1959 map by Bertrand Goldberg Associates of their proposed Marina City site north of Chicago Loop. |
On December 17, 1959, at 9:30 a.m., BSEIU president William L. McFetridge showed up at the site with a railroad spike and a check for $250,000. The check was a down payment. The spike was a symbol of the railroad tracks being relocated to make the land available for construction. McFetridge signed a contract with Clyde Fitzpatrick, president of the railroad.
That was on a Thursday. On the following Tuesday, December 22, 1959, in the 111 West Washington Street offices of Chicago Title and Trust Company, which had done a title search and insured title to the property, a check for the balance was presented to close the sale. Marina City was Chicago Title and Trust Company’s five millionth title insurance policy.
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(Left) Photo from January 1960 Local 46 Union News. Left to right: Charles R. Swibel, William L. McFetridge, Paul W. Goodrich, Clyde J. Fitzpatrick, and Leo J. Sheridan. |
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