August 25, 2008 – 42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly has started the formal process that will seek official City of Chicago landmark status for Marina City.

In an August 12 letter to Marina City residents – sent only to registered voters – Reilly says he has spent “a significant amount of time and effort exploring the possibility” of landmark designation for Marina City, which he calls “architect Bertrand Goldberg’s world-renowned 1959 vision.”

(Although planning for Marina City may have started in 1959, Marina City was not actually built until 1962 at the earliest, when the east residential tower opened. The west tower opened in 1963, the office building in 1964, and the theater building in 1968.)

42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly

“I am officially initiating the formal city landmark designation process in order to protect Marina City’s architectural integrity for the future and to secure its well-deserved status as an official Chicago Landmark,” Reilly writes.

Reilly says there is “overwhelming” support among owners and residents at Marina City for landmark status, a claim that has never been convincingly quantified. In May 2008, the Chicago Tribune reported that “over 100” residents signed a pro-landmarking petition, which would represent about seven percent of the population of Marina City.

The next month, at a meeting at which three experts explained the landmarking process, Ken Chessick, moderator of the meeting and husband of MTCA secretary Ellen Chessick, claimed this number had increased to “well over the majority of owners,” which would put the figure closer to 350 at a minimum. No exact amount was given, nor was there an explanation of how Marina City’s large segment of non-resident owners was contacted in such a short time. It is possible, of course, that Chessick meant to say “majority of residents.”

On the Marina City resident blog Marina Watch Dog Sound Off, discussion of landmarking over the past few months has been mixed, pro and con. Moderator Mark Ulaszek describes it as “an emotional response. They’re either vehemently for or against it, yet most people do not understand what landmarking is.”

Reilly writes in his letter that he has been told that landmark designation “will have no demonstrable impact on residential property owners or residents of Marina City.”

He adds, “as Marina City continues to flourish as a dynamic urban center, official landmark designation will ensure that all stakeholders in the Marina City complex will be held to a common standard that will protect the architectural integrity of the complex and benefit the entire community.”

Reilly wrote to Marina City residents previously on May 12, seeking input on the landmarking issue. “That letter met with hundreds of responses in support of landmark proceedings over a one-month response period,” said his Chief of Staff, Madeleine Doering, in an email on Monday.

 Brendan Reilly’s August 12 letter to Marina City residents