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Mike Kobluk was an original member of Chad Mitchell Trio, a popular folk music group in the 1960s known for social commentary, mostly in the form of satire.
Left to right: Mike Kobluk, his father-in-law, Lester Foran, and wife, Clare, on the Kobluk’s west tower balcony in May 1964. (Photographer unknown. Remaining photos of Marina City are by Mike Kobluk.)
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Born in 1937 in British Columbia, Mike moved to Chicago in 1963. He and his wife, Clare, lived in unit 4707 in the west tower at Marina City from 1963 to 1967.
(Right) View from State Street Bridge in June 1965. At left, Phillips 66 marina, Seay & Thomas Real Estate sign (owned by White Way Electric Sign & Maintenance Company, the same company that erected the beacon on the broadcast tower on Marina City’s west tower). Toward center, Marina City Restaurant, construction starting on the theater building.
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The trio got together in 1958. Highlights of their career include singing with Harry Belafonte at Carnegie Hall and a concert tour of South America as part of a cultural exchange program sponsored by President Kennedy.
The group had six albums that peaked in the top 100 on the Billboard music charts, including a 1964 album Reflecting that was recorded soon after the assassination. It included a medley of In the Summer of His Years and Rally ‘Round the Flag.
Kobluk continued to perform with the trio until 1968. He currently lives in Spokane.
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(Above left) Higher angle from Unitrin Building in June 1965, showing canopy leading to escalators down to concourse level.
(Above right) Marina City from Unitrin Building (August 1965).
(Right) View from the west tower, looking east toward Lake Michigan. In this image from December 1964, Equitable Building (completed in 1965, now known as 401 North Michigan Avenue) is still being constructed.
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(Left) Looking north from Unitrin Building in June 1965. Today, this view is dominated by 330 North Wabash and Trump International Hotel & Tower. |
| (Right) On the Chicago River in August 1965, the Michigan Avenue, Wabash Avenue, and State Street bridges are raised to allow passage of a freighter. Note the empty lot at the intersection of Wabash Avenue and Wacker Drive, where Seventeenth Church of Christ Scientist will be constructed in 1968. |
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(Left) Intersection of State Street and Wacker Drive, from west tower balcony in May 1964. On the east side of State Street is Fritzel’s, a restaurant owned by Mike Fritzel that operated from 1947 to 1972. A hotel, theWit, was constructed at that location in 2008.
On the west side of State is Shangri-La, a Cantonese restaurant that operated from 1944 to 1968. The site is now occupied by Renaissance Chicago Downtown Hotel.
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(Above left) Looking north between towers from west tower (May 1964).
(Above right) Looking down from west tower toward base of east tower (August 1963).
(Right) Aerial view of skating rink (February 1965). There is a logo on the base of the rink that is an aerial representation of Marina City.
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