Serving the Loop and Near North neighborhoods of downtown Chicago

October dates in Marina City history

October 3, 1961 – Bertrand Goldberg Associates files a request for a permit to construct the 16-story office building on the north edge of the Marina City site.

October 1962 – Chicago’s first commercial television station, WBKB (now WLS-TV), announces it will erect a 426-foot tower (285-foot mast supporting a 140-foot-six-inch antenna) on the west tower. 969 feet above ground, the top of the tower would be the highest point in Chicago.

October 14, 1962 – The first tenants move in to the east tower. A large construction crane is still on top of the tower and only the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd floors are finished.

October 29, 1963 – Welders cutting an opening for an elevator accidentally start a small fire in the east tower. It is extinguished by the time the fire department arrives.

October 1964 – WFLD, channel 32, announces plans to construct a 1,000,000-watt TV station at Marina City.

October 9, 1965 – A 35-foot cabin cruiser, “The Unbearables,” explodes at the Marina City marina, injuring six people, including two fire fighters.

October 30, 1981 – Leon Washington is found guilty of the murder of deputy police superintendent James J. Riordan at Marina City. He is sentenced to 35 years in prison.

Chicago Sun-Times

October 3, 1990 – The Chicago City Council approves a proposal to build a two-story retail building near the east tower over space then occupied by a skating rink – and convert the upper floors of the office building into a hotel.

October 8, 1992 – About 80 condo owners at Marina City and attorneys for a long list of involved parties attend an informal court meeting to discuss, what Judge Lester Forman calls, “a financial nightmare.”

October 8, 1997 – Marina City architect Bertrand Goldberg dies.

October 15, 2006 – A black 1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass is propelled by pressurized air cannon off the 17th floor of the parking ramp for an Allstate TV commercial.

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