The ones who moved in between October 14, 1962, when apartments 2124 and 2135 in the east tower were first occupied, and December 23, 1964, when the last unit to be occupied, apartment 6004 in the west tower, may not have felt so lucky.

To get to their apartments, residents of the west tower walked across muddy wooden planks lit by bare lightbulbs.

Newspapers coated the cold hallway floors that were also damp from the wet concrete that had not yet cured. (Left) A party in the east tower at Marina City in January 1964 captured in a Kodachrome print by an unknown photographer.

The common areas were heated using butane tanks, and on February 14, 1963, one of the butane tanks exploded and set fire to five other tanks. No one was injured and damage was minor but 50 people were evacuated.

There was no laundry room, or storage areas. Mail was delivered to each apartment because there were no mailboxes. The management office was in one of the apartments. Elevators were sometimes manned by construction workers in hard hats.

Still, original residents, the first to occupy their Marina City apartments, agree they were appreciated and there was excitement in the cold, damp air.

“Everyone talked on the elevators with great enthusiasm about the latest addition to our home,” recalled Ruth Voss in 1980. She had moved to Marina City on a typical cold, five-degree Chicago day on January 24, 1963.

“We enjoyed being pioneers and had a feeling of warmth and spirit of camaraderie with our neighbors much like what the early settlers of Chicago must have experienced,” she said. (Left) Elevator lobby of west tower from 1965 film This Is Marina City.

There was no John Hancock Center, or Lake Point Tower, or Harbor Point. Marina City, said Voss, “was the high-rise apartment building.”

When Betty Hogeorges, then known as Betty McFarlane, the catering manager at nearby Executive House, moved in on January 31, 1963, she received a dozen red roses, a free subscription to the Chicago Tribune, a frozen turkey at Thanksgiving, and a set of salt and pepper shakers at Christmas.

“From my office windows I could see what was going up across the river,” she recalled in 2009 from her home, still at Marina City, “and was intrigued by the two strange-looking round structures. Later, of course, when I learned they were to be residential buildings, I was interested in the idea of living so close to work.” (Left) Betty with baseball legend “Yogi” Berra.

She looked at the model apartments on West Randolph Street, submitted an application, and was approved for a one-bedroom apartment on the 24th floor of the east tower.

(Right) These cardstock notices (five inches wide by 1¾ inch tall) were given to residents in the mid-1960s to let them know a parcel was waiting for them. The graphic to the left of the text is an aerial depiction of the complex.

Marina City was the place to live, she recalls, at least in the beginning. Its wealthy residents and overall trendiness were at odds with Marina City being intended as affordable housing for middle-income workers.

Original residents included Kathleen “Katie” Calhoun, who worked as a graphic artist for the Chicago Sun-Times for more than 30 years. Adrian Da Prato played violin for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for 50 years. Richard Flader was a former president of Marina Towers Condominium Association. Helen Kern, at age 54, moved into the east tower two weeks and three days after it opened and lived there for more than 40 years. Dolores McCahill was a religion reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times, retiring from the newspaper in 1984 after 34 years.

(Above) More original residents, the first to occupy their apartments, and still living at Marina City on May 18, 2003. (Left to right) Adrian Da Prato, Helen Kern, Sylvia Linta, Betty Hogeorges, Yolanda Flader, and Richard Flader. There were just 19 original residents remaining on that date. Those not pictured include Kathleen Calhoun, Milka Kovacevic, Dr. Vivian Lipman, Thomas Lueck, Dolores McCahill, Gertrude Rubin, and Dr. Theresa Southgate.

In 1963, you could rent an efficiency apartment at Marina City for $125 per month, a one-bedroom unit for $165, or a rare two-bedroom unit for $210. Adjusted for inflation, that would be closer to $1,281 per month for an efficiency, $1,691 for a one-bedroom, and $2,152 for a two-bedroom unit in 2024.

Parking was $30 per month and boat storage was $140 per month.

In time, there would be carpeting in the hallways and more amenities. A laundry room opened on the 20th floor of the east tower. A small grocery store opened sometime between May 30 and April 2, 1963.

They would be followed by a drug store, liquor store, gift shop, florist, barber and beauty shops, travel agency, and more. (Left) Grocery store at Marina City from 1965 film This Is Marina City.