Wright Chat

[flwromanza]

Does anyone know what is currently standing on the original site once occupied by the Larkin building? Also, the square block or so that Midway Gardens once sat on? Photos?

[pmahoney]

The site once occupied by the Larkin Administration building has been occupied by parking lots since the 1950's. About ten years ago the last remaining piece of the building left standing was conserved and an interpretive panel placed noting the relationship of the piece to the whole.

[SDR]

Is the Larkin Company (or a successor firm) still operating on the surrounding properties ?


SDR

[Paul Ringstrom]

"the company ceased operations in the 1940s"

http://www.monroefordham.org/projects/larkin/history.htm
_________________
Owner of the G. Curtis Yelland House (1910), by Wm. Drummond

[pmahoney]

It is not accurate that the company ceased operations in the 1940's.


The company continued until the early 1960's, although it steadily declined. Much of the complex had been sold off, including the main factory complex (around 2 million sq ft.) which was acquired by the Federal Government for defense purposes during the Second World War.

[Roderick Grant]

In 1939, Larkin converted the lower 3 floors into the Larkin Department Store, a wholly-owned subsidiary. The 4th and 5th floors retained a "much diminished" mail-order business. The company scrambled to find ways to stay in business, but by 1943, once all creditors had been paid off, all that was left of the property in Larkin's ownership was the administration building, on which $85,000 in back taxes was owed. That year the building was sold to a Pennsylvania contractor in a thwarted effort to offset taxes on profits that he owed. From that point on, the Larkin Co., however long it limped on, was not on the original premises. The building languished through several attempts to recycle it, until it was demolished in 1950.

This fine building has received a lot of attention, even 63 years after its demolition. Another factory building, still standing, also with a Darwin Martin connection, the E-Z Polish Factory in Chicago, could conceivably be salvaged, but nothing much is said about it. True, it's a far cry from Larkin as a great work of architecture, and it's in a bad part of town, but it should get a bit of recognition while there is still time.

[flwromanza]

Thanks for the info. Anyone know about what is on the Midway Gardens site?

[outside in]

you can probably google earth it
Cottage Grove and 60th st. in chicago

[outside in]

appears to be a parking lot - note Loredo Taft's fountain of time monument to the upper left of the photo

[jmcnally]

The Midway Gardens site is not far from the Robie house

I tried to track it down, but the location was always stated as an intersection, and I couldn't figure out if the Gardens occupied a particular corner. Can anyone help?

[DRN]

In another thread, I asked the same question: On which corner was Midway Gardens situated? The consensus of Chatters was that the site was the southwest corner of South Cottage Grove and East 60th, where some housing buildings now stand. The lower left quadrant of the posted GoogleEarth image with the "pink" midrise building is the site. Midway Gardens measured 600' feet along both street frontages, occupying the whole block.

[Roderick Grant]

That's correct, DRN. Maps in Paul Kruty's book on Midway shows that on pages 7 and 8.

[jmcnally]

Thanks. I can quit taking pictures of the field now!

[Patryko]

We went and visited the site where Midway Gardens was originally situated a year ago. It made us feel empty that everything was demolished. Wish we could have visited when it was thriving!

[krietzerjak]

Here is a picture of the gas station on the corner where Midway Gardens was.



Andy