35 East Wacker

35 East Wacker, also known as the Jewelers' Building, is a 40-story historic building in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois, United States, located at the intersection of Wabash Avenue and East Wacker Drive, facing the Chicago River. It was built from 1925 to 1927, and was co-designed by Joachim Giæver and Frederick P. Dinkelberg. At the time of its completion in 1927, it was the tallest building in the world outside New York City. Formerly the Pure Oil Building and North American Life Insurance Building, 35 East Wacker was listed in 1978 as a contributing property to the Michigan–Wacker Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places, and was designated a Chicago Landmark on February 9, 1994.

For its first 14 years, the building had a car lift that served the first 23 floors, later converted to office space. There was no access between the offices and the parking garage, except at the Lower Wacker Drive level, where drivers would leave their cars with an attendant.

Currently, the French-American Chamber of Commerce in Chicago is a tenant, and the showroom of architect Helmut Jahn was atop the building inside the dome, which was also once a restaurant called the Stratosphere Club, often erroneously said to be run by Al Capone. (In reality, the Stratosphere Club opened in 1937, long after Capone was imprisoned and too late for the building to have been an illegal speakeasy.) The building is currently being renovated, by Goettsch Partners, and the façade is being maintained, but the interiors converted into a more modern configuration. Both the Chicago chapter of the American Institute of Architects and the City of Chicago have recognized the renovation project with awards.

Tenants

*Mercury Records (1950–1973)
*Feeding America (1999–2003)
*Sigma Chi fraternity headquarters (1932–1951)
*SmithGroup (Suite 900)
* Serge Bertucci
* Clayco (Suite 1300)
* CRG (Suite 1400)
* Ventana (Suite 1400)
* Lamar Johnson Collaborative (Suite 1500)

In popular culture

*The building was featured in the TV series '' Bob''.
*The building is featured in scenes of the 2005 film ''Batman Begins''.
*The 2011 film '' Transformers: Dark of the Moon'' features a climax set atop the building, which is heavily damaged, along with most of Chicago, in the giant robot battle that ensues.
*In 2012, episode 2 of the first season of ''United States of America'' on the American History Channel featured the building's historic elevator, made by the Otis Elevator Company.
*The building is shown in the TV series ''The Good Wife'' as the location of the law firm Lockhart/Gardner.
*'' Emergency Call Ambulance'' (Sega 1999), Arcade racing videogame. The player drives by this building in the third case. In the game however, a burning gas station that has no relation to reality, is located at the bottom of this building.
*The building is a prominent landmark within the fictional city of Lost Heaven in the video game Mafia, and appears also in the remake Mafia: Definitive Edition.

Gallery

File:333 North Michigan, 360 North Michigan and 35 East Wacker.JPG , 333 North Michigan, 360 North Michigan, Mather Tower and 35 East Wacker
File:20070530 35 East Wacker Entrance.JPG, Wacker Drive entrance.
File:20070530 35 East Wacker Clock.JPG , Clock on the northeast corner
File:35 East Wacker Building 4.JPG , Dome atop the building
File:Jewelers Building lower level floor plan.png , Original plan showing car elevators

References

Notes

External links

Official website

{{Chicago Landmark skyscrapers

Chicago Landmarks
Skyscraper office buildings in Chicago
Office buildings completed in 1927
Historic district contributing properties in Illinois
Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Chicago
Chicago school architecture in Illinois
1927 establishments in Illinois
Pure Oil