The incredible shrinking marina

1,000 boats in 1959. 700 boats in 1961. And in 1963, the estimate for number of boats the marina at Marina City would accommodate was down to 500.

Still, on November 6, 1963, Phillips Petroleum Company (now ConocoPhillips Company) signed a multi-million dollar 20-year lease to operate the marina. Phillips operated a “Pier 66” in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and planned to call this marina Pier 66, also. They eventually settled on the name “Phillips 66 Marina.”

Six large slips would be built to move boats to and from the water. A concrete and steel seawall, built by Chicago and North Western Railway when they owned the land, kept water away from the slips while they were constructed. Later that month, divers removed the 280-foot bulkhead, allowing water into the marina.

Dynamite was used to do this. A barge was tied up alongside the seawall and closest to the State Street bridge. Large mats were placed over the area being blasted to limit noise and debris. Windows were reinforced on the restaurant being constructed above the marina. Water was pumped into the slips behind the bulkhead to equalize pressure.

More than 80 pounds of dynamite were used to break up the reinforced concrete. Holes were drilled into the concrete, into which sticks of dynamite were placed and then detonated. After rubble from the blast was hauled onto the barge, a diver then cut away the steel at the bottom of the seawall. (Left) Photo in Chicago Tribune on November 28, 1963 shows Malcolm Ball (left) and Charles Swibel (right) looking at rubble left by the dynamite. Ball was president of Precision Blasting Company of St. Charles, Illinois. The blasting was done over a few days, beginning on Wednesday, November 27, 1963,

Former resident Earl Meech was home in the west tower when the seawall was blasted. “Since my balcony was directly over the river, I had a good view. I had guests at the time and we were sitting in the living room when hearing and feeling the first blast.”

He says the mats muffled the sound, “but we knew it was close.”

(Left) Marina City in 1963, photographed by Larry Dodson for Cameo Greeting Cards, Inc. (Below) Closer detail of seawall.

Marina at Marina City. State Street bridge in distance (being repaired in summer 2007).

A Marina City newsletter from 1964 says a boat could be launched in five minutes “with a casual flip of a switch and push of a button.” At left, a 27-foot Chris Craft owned by Marina City resident Roy Fried is lowered into a slip.

A special mechanism was installed to keep water from freezing in the slips in winter. It sent warmer water at the bottom of the river to the surface.

Boats would be stored at the marina during either the summer or winter season, and owners would pay rent based on the size of their boat. The minimum would be $180 for summer storage and $100 for winter storage.

Tom Dollnig was manager when the marina opened on June 1, 1964. He expected a sales showroom to be completed by mid-July. (Left) Dollnig operates an electric hoist capable of lifting a craft weighing six tons. (Below) The hoist control, photographed in 2007.