Marina City Towers
Bertrand Goldberg imagined the Marina City towers would look like two trees, with the central columns (containing elevators and stairways) functioning as the trunks. The twin towers, as familiar a component of the Chicago skyline as any buildings, may soon become official landmarks. Tomorrow, the Commission on Chicago Landmarks will recommend Marina City be given landmark status.
The 587-foot, 65-story towers have identical floor plans. They were completed in 1964 at a cost of $36 million. Some other notable facts and figures about Marina City follow.
- Marina City By The Numbers
- Market value: $197 million
- Residents: 929
- Original rent (efficiency apartment) $115
- Concrete used during construction: 16,000 tons
- Glass installed on the exterior: 200,000 square feet
- Cost of a cocktail at the Ship’s Bar & Lounge at 5:30 p.m. in 1964: five cents (tipplers were informed of the daily special by—what else—the ringing of a ship’s bell)
Location: 300 North State Street, Near North
