Slowing the suburban exodus

During World War II, Chicago was a center for war-related industrial production and its population swelled. The trend did not continue immediately following the war. Between 1945 and 1959, 77 percent of all housing starts in the Chicago area were in the suburbs and most of them were single-family homes.

Most high-rise apartments being built in the city were in areas such as Lincoln Park, north of downtown. Urban construction stagnated. The Inland Steel Building, completed in 1957, was the first building constructed in the Loop in almost 30 years.

The federal government was investing more than $3,000 for every person living in the suburbs, and about $85 per person in the city. And while the city received round-the-clock services, it must have seemed like it was only being used 40 hours a week. Writing for the Chicago Daily Tribune on April 30, 1961, Marina City architect Bertrand Goldberg said downtown areas were being turned into “canyons of glass and steel, teeming with office workers during weekdays but deserted nights and weekends.”

Goldberg believed that people wanted to live downtown. A 1959 survey by the Real Estate Research Corporation of inner-city housing needs concluded that demand would increase for apartment space within walking distance of the Loop.

Meanwhile, William McFetridge, president of the Building Service Employees International Union (now known as the Service Employees International Union), was concerned about his union members not being able to get jobs in the suburbs. He wanted to persuade people to live in town, where wages would be higher.

“Marina City from the start,” said McFetridge in 1963, “was planned as a model of how modern living facilities can be provided in the heart of a great city as a means for strengthening and maintaining the central business district as a vital part of a growing metropolitan area.”

According to Howard Swibel, son of Marina City developer Charles Swibel, all William McFetridge knew was that he wanted to invest his union’s pension fund not so much in stocks and bonds, but in something progressive – something that would help people. When he mentioned this to Charles Swibel, he suggested the union invest in housing. Specifically, housing for working people.

(Left) This view of the Chicago River from LaSalle-Wacker Building was captured by Charles W. Cushman on December 21, 1944. Image provided by Charles W. Cushman Photograph Collection. The bridge at the bottom of the photo is the Dearborn Street Bridge, with the State Street Bridge to the east. Marina City was constructed over the rail yard seen at left. Wrigley Building and Tribune Tower in distance at upper left. (Below) This view on August 29, 2005. Marina City and 330 North Wabash at left. State Street Bridge at lower right.

(Above) A 1958 plan to develop the riverfront includes “Fort Dearborn Plaza” at left, the light-gray buildings where Marina City was built a few years later. Federal buildings would be built at right, according to this illustration by Harry D. Newman, released by the Chicago Plan Commission on August 22, 1958. The illustration looks east from the LaSalle Street Bridge. In 2000, a “Dearborn Plaza” was built at 401 North Dearborn Street. (Click on image to view larger version.)