It was an all-star commercial property lease in November 1967. The Univac division of Sperry Rand (now known as Unisys), then a manufacturer of mainframe computers, signed a ten-year, $1.5 million lease with Marina City.

Sperry Rand was represented in negotiations with Marina Management Corporation by Arthur Rubloff & Company. Arthur Rubloff (1902-1982) was a developer who in 1947 named a stretch of North Michigan Avenue the “Magnificent Mile.”

Univac was moving from a location, oddly enough, on Michigan Avenue. Its data processing and federal systems divisions would occupy space on the west side of the office building.

(Left) Univac sign is visible in lower left corner of west face of office building at Marina City, in an area presently occupied by BIN 36 restaurant. (Above) Chicago real estate developer Arthur Rubloff.

Shopping Bag Bandits rob Marina City

While his brother, Charles, was busy running the Chicago Housing Authority, Morris Swibel was in charge of the rental office at Marina City.

On the morning of September 21, 1968, Morris was robbed of $500 by two men he described as well-dressed and carrying a flowered shopping bag that contained a sawed-off shotgun.

Swibel said the men strolled into the rental office on the lower level, called him by name, and asked him to look in the bag. “They were very calm and almost polite,” he told the Chicago Tribune. “It all happened in about 60 seconds. They weren’t interested in checks, just cash.”

The men motioned him toward a desk drawer that contained cash, and ordered him to hand over the money. They stuffed the bills into the shopping bag, then told Swibel to walk toward the elevators of the east residential tower. After the men fled through the State Street entrance, Swibel called police.

Earlier in the year, two burglars made off with $5,000 in jewelry and other valuables from the east tower apartment of a research scientist at Marina City. They ran a vacuum cleaner to cover the noise of breaking into the apartment. A neighbor who got suspicious saw the men as they fled the building.

But on January 13, 1969, Marina City became the crime scene of its first murder. A retired government employee shot his 88-year-old mother in her 46th floor apartment, then killed himself.

Vernon Meyer, 60, telephoned police to report the crime, then shot himself with a .38 caliber revolver. He left a note saying he was dependant over health issues of both himself and his mother, Lydia Meyer.

Bob Gibson’s demons

Bob Gibson (1931-1996) was a folk singer who lived at Marina City in the late 1960s. His songs have been recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary, Simon & Garfunkel, The Byrds, The Smothers Brothers, and The Kingston Trio.

His career was interrupted by drug addiction. On August 14, 1969, he was arrested in his 45th floor apartment, charged with drug possession. His girlfriend, 26-year-old Patricia Stron, was charged with possession of marijuana.

At the time, Gibson was performing at the Quiet Knight, a club on North Wells Street that was at the center of Chicago folk music in the 1960s and 1970s.

Sober in 1978, he attempted a comeback but the musical scene had changed. He died in Portland, Oregon, of a rare brain disorder.