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)