Masonic Temple (Chicago)
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| Masonic Temple Building | |
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| Information | |
|---|---|
| Location | Chicago, USA |
| Status | Destroyed |
| Constructed | 1891-1892 |
| Destroyed | 1939 |
| Height | |
| Roof | 302 ft (92 m) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 22 |
The Masonic Temple Building was a skyscraper built in Chicago, Illinois in 1892. Constructed by early skyscraper pioneer, Daniel Burnham, it stood as the tallest building in Chicago from 1895 until 1899; when the clock tower was removed from the Board of Trade Building it became the tallest in the city.
Built at the corner of Randolph and State Streets by the firm of Burnham and Root, the building rose 22 stories. It featured a central court ringed by nine floors of shops with offices above and meeting rooms for the Masons at the very top. These meeting rooms also served as theaters, which contributed to the building's obsolescence; its elevators proved inadequate for these crowds, and the building rapidly fell from favor with commercial tenants.
Chicago's building height regulations, enacted in 1892, did not allow taller building until the 1920's. In 1939, The Masonic Temple was demolished, in part due to its poor internal services, but also due to the construction of the new State Street subway, which would have necessitated expensive foundation retrofitting. A two-story "taxpayer" was erected in its place, and the Joffrey Tower is under construction on the former site of this building.
Both the building's primary designer, John Wellborn Root, and the Mason's primary representative, Norman Gassette, died of unrelated causes during its construction.
[edit] Gallery
 Masonic Temple, 1900 |
 Masonic Temple with new Marshall Field and Company Building, 1911 |
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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