P2: HISTORY AND PHYSICAL CONDITION

P2: HISTORY AND PHYSICAL CONDITION

HISTORY OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD: WEST LOOP, CHICAGO CHICAGO Chicago is one of the nation s largest multicultural cities, prominent for its diversity and eclectic mix of neighborhoods. The city currently serves as a home to 77 distinctly unique neighborhoods. WEST LOOP For nearly a century, the West Loop was an industrial place, a market place for meat and produce, and a place of wholesale outlets. This neighborhood serviced food storage not just for the immediate Chicago region, but for a large portion of our country. Food products would be brought to Chicago and branched out. The first four blocks of this neighborhood housed meat and fish farms and all of the buildings housed storage spaces for thousands of pounds of food. All of them still exist. However, during the past few decades, many of these factories were closed down and re-purposed into loft condominiums, restaurants, bars, night clubs, art galleries, and some retail. The neighborhood is still in this process of conversion from an industrial, market type place into an art-edgy, eclectic neighborhood which is becoming one of Chicago s hottest areas to visit. Within the past 15 years, some of the city s trendiest art galleries and chicest, vibrant restaurants have opened serving prominent guests such as Oprah Winfrey and Michael Jordan. Majority of the residences have paralleled in development and are still on the rise due to the neighborhood s easy access and proximity to the city center, also referred to as the Loop. RIVER NORTH WEST LOOP LOOP

HISTORY OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD: WEST LOOP, CHICAGO FULTON STREET Fulton Street is still remaining as the tie to this neighborhood. Along this street one can witness a stark contrast of activity depending on time of day and seasons. This street is where most of the eggs, butter, and poultry come through. In the past, by early morning hours on a typical day, the street was as crowded as the city s major department store in the days leading up to holidays. Live poultry was unloaded from trucks. At times, bystanders could witness escaped poultry being chased down the street and brought back into the building premises for slaughter, cleaning and packaging. Even local Mafia men roamed this neighborhood collecting poultry feathers to be sold at the nearby mattress companies. Today, some things have changed. However, the loading trucks with meat and produce are still in action from early morning hours until dawn with workers hurriedly transporting these products into and out of buildings. Beginning with early evening hours, people visit the street to enjoy a few cocktails and dine However, even at present, meat odors can be sensed as docks with trucks loaded with meat and produce share space with these upscale restaurants whose sophistication creates quite a startling contrast. FULTON MARKET COLD STORAGE CO At the corner of Fulton and Morgan Streets is the neighborhood s dominating edifice, the Fulton Market Cold Storage Co. It was designed and constructed in 1912 by an architectural and engineering firm Gardner & Lindberg. The building is not only dominating in volume, but is situated within the heart of the district, replacing the previously prominent South Water Street produce market. The building consists of 10 stories and a basement. In plan it measures to 125 x 300 and its stories are all 12 feet floor to floor, except at the ground level which measures 14 9 along with the north half of the basement containing the engine room. The building s envelope has very few openings as its sole purpose is to house coolers and freezers for the meat industry. Railroad tracks passed just one block north of Fulton, and one track led directly into the warehouse s receiving area, where men pulled boxes of meat and other foods off railcars and pushed them all on dollies into a large elevator. The building still operates as a cold storage facility and the upper 8 levels are kept at below freezing temperatures.. FULTON STREET

FULTON MARKET COLD STORAGE: IN PHOTOS

SITE CONTEXT: NEIGHBORHOOD SCALE RIVER NORTH SITE CHICAGO RIVER WEST LOOP LOOP MILLENIUM PARK Scale: NTS

TRANSPORTATION MAP: RAIL + INTERSTATE KEY Scale: NTS Interstate Highway Metra Rail Line (commuter train to suburbs) L Rail Line (intracity electric train) L Rail Stop

TRANSPORTATION MAP: PEDESTRIAN - BUS ACCESS KEY CTA Bus Stop Scale: NTS

BING MAPS: AERIAL VIEWS EAST ELEVATION NORTH ELEVATION WEST ELEVATION SOUTH ELEVATION

BING MAPS: PHOTO ELEVATIONS EAST ELEVATION NORTH ELEVATION WEST ELEVATION SOUTH ELEVATION Scale: NTS

VIEWS OF SITE: FROM RAIL LINES KEY L Rail Tracks Metra Rail Tracks

VIEW OF SITE: FROM SEARS TOWER SKYDECK

PANORAMIC VIEWS: NEIGHBORHOOD AND THE CITY OF CHICAGO WEST LOOP FULTON MARKET COLD STORAGE CO. S ROOFTOP FULTON MARKET COLD STORAGE CO. S STREET LEVEL

IDEAL VIEWS TO THE CITY: LEVEL NORTH SOUTH EAST WEST

BUILDING VIEWS: FACING NORTH LEVEL 10 LEVEL 2 LEVEL 1

BUILDING VIEWS: FACING SOUTH LEVEL 10 LEVEL 2 LEVEL 1

BUILDING VIEWS: FACING EAST LEVEL 3 LEVEL 10 LEVEL 2 LEVEL 8 LEVEL 1 LEVEL 6

BUILDING VIEWS: FACING WEST LEVEL 10 LEVEL 3