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Crain Communications Building

Skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois

Crain Communications Building
Summary

Skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois

FieldValue
nameCrain Communications Building
imageCrain Communications Building in Chicago, May 2016 (2).jpg
captionCrain Communications Building in 2016
location150 N. Michigan Av.
Chicago, Illinois,
United States
coordinates
start_date1982
completion_date1983
opening1984
tip582 ft
floor_count39
floor_area709,998 ft2
architectA. Epstein and Sons
ownerJohn Hancock Real Estate Asset Management

Chicago, Illinois, United States The Crain Communications Building is a 39-story, 582 foot (177 m) skyscraper located at 150 North Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago, Illinois. Also (previously) known as the Smurfit–Stone Building and the Stone Container Building, it was originally going to be named "One Park Place" before it opened as the Associates Center, named after the initial tenant of the building, the Associates Commercial Corp.

Construction of the building began in 1982 and was completed in 1984. The building, noted for its uncommon slanted top facade, was designed by Sheldon Schlegman of A. Epstein and Sons. It has 39 floors of tenant space and the two spires at the top cover the main roof and serve as mechanical rooms for HVAC equipment.

History

Crain Communications Building
Crain Communications Building at the northwest corner of Grant Park

Although the building looks as though it is split down the middle, the two sides are only slightly disjointed all the way to the top, where there is a gap between them. At times, its flat but slanted and "cut" roof—which has been likened to a skyscraper pared with a knife—displays local sports slogans on its face, such as "GO BEARS" and "GO SOX". It also displayed "VOTE 2008" during the 2008 election day rally at Grant Park.

At the time of its construction, the Associates Center was considered to be a smart building, with sophisticated environmental and security controls. Three years after its completion, the building played a role in the Touchstone Pictures film Adventures in Babysitting. It was also the location of Patrovita's office in the 1986 film Raw Deal. The building is also modeled in EA's SimCity 4, as well as being destroyed in the film Transformers: Dark of the Moon and in the videogame Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2. The building name was changed to the Crain Communications Building in March 2012, after Crain Communications moved its headquarters there.

It is popularly referred to as the Diamond Building or the Vagina Building (from the locally popular but apocryphal story that, with its prominent vertical slit up the front, the building was designed to be a yonic counter to the phallic nature of most skyscrapers).

Tenants

  • Crain Communications
  • Consulate General of Sweden Chicago
  • German American Chamber of Commerce of the Midwest
  • Wells Fargo: Insurance Services
  • United Airlines: previously maintained a ticketing office in this building.

References

References

  1. "Smurfit–Stone Building, Chicago, U.S.A.". [[Emporis]].
  2. Allen, J. Linn. (February 23, 1993). "Not that Stone Container Building, this one—got it?". [[Chicago Tribune]].
  3. Abernethy, Samantha. (March 17, 2009). "The Chicago Skyline's Wardrobe Changes". [[Gothamist]].
  4. (October 28, 2005). "It's a White Sox world Observations from around Chicago and from fans of the South Siders". [[Daily Herald (Arlington Heights).
  5. "Chicago Architectural Info". Chicago Architectural Info.
  6. Exoo, Thales. (May 16, 2007). "Ask Chicagoist: Feminist Icon or Random Building?". [[Gothamist]].
  7. "Crain Communications to move to 150 N. Michigan in 2012".
  8. "Imprint".
  9. "Contact Wells Fargo Insurance Services".
  10. "Information on United Flights 93 and 175 United City Ticket Offices". [[United Airlines]].
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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