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Auditorium Building

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Auditorium Building
Exterior of a multi-story stone building with arched and rectangular windows, in an urban setting
Building's exterior in 2012
Auditorium Building is located in Central Chicago
Auditorium Building
Location within Central Chicago
Auditorium Building is located in Illinois
Auditorium Building
Location within Illinois
Auditorium Building is located in the United States
Auditorium Building
Location within the United States
Location430 S. Michigan Ave.
Chicago, Illinois, US
Coordinates41°52′34″N 87°37′31″W / 41.87611°N 87.62528°W / 41.87611; -87.62528
Area67,699.5 square feet (6,289 m2)
Built1889
ArchitectAdler & Sullivan (Louis Sullivan, Dankmar Adler, Frank Lloyd Wright)
Architectural styleLate-19th- and early-20th-century American movements
Part ofHistoric Michigan Boulevard District
NRHP reference No.70000230[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPApril 17, 1970[2]
Designated NHLMay 15, 1975[3]
Designated CHICLSeptember 15, 1976

The Auditorium Building is an early skyscraper at the northwest corner of South Michigan Avenue and Ida B. Wells Drive in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Completed in 1889, it is one of the best-known designs of Adler & Sullivan, the partnership of Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler. The building was designed as a multi-use complex, including offices, a theater, and a hotel. Frank Lloyd Wright, then a young apprentice, worked on some of the interior design.

The Auditorium Theatre is part of the Auditorium Building and is located at 50 East Ida B. Wells Drive. The theater was the first home of the Chicago Civic Opera and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

The building is on the National Register of Historic Places and is a National Historic Landmark and a Chicago Landmark. In addition, it is a historic district contributing property for the Chicago Landmark Historic Michigan Boulevard District. Since 1947, the Auditorium Building has been part of Roosevelt University.

Site

[edit]

The Auditorium Building is located at 430 South Michigan Avenue in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois, United States.[4][5] It occupies a land lot covering 63,500 square feet (5,900 m2)[6] on the southern section of a city block between Wabash Avenue to the west, Ida B. Wells Drive (formerly Congress Parkway[7]) to the south, and Michigan Avenue to the east.[8] The building has a frontage of 162 feet (49 m) on Wabash, 362 feet (110 m) on Ida B. Wells, and 187+1⁄2 feet (57.2 m) on Michigan.[6]

History

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Development

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Origin and purpose

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Before the Auditorium Building was constructed, Chicago businessman Ferdinand Peck had helped finance construction of the nearby Central Music Hall,[9][10] which opened in 1879 and was designed by Dankmar Adler.[9][11] Peck organized the Chicago Grand Opera Festival in 1885. With the success of the festival, he decided to build a grand opera house for Chicago.[12] He incorporated the Chicago Auditorium Association in December 1886 to develop what he wanted to be the world's largest, grandest, most expensive theater that would rival such institutions as the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City.

The building was to include an office block and a first class hotel. Peck persuaded many Chicago business tycoons to go on board with him, including Marshall Field, Edson Keith, Martin A. Ryerson, Charles L. Hutchinson and George Pullman. The association hired the renowned architectural firm of Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan to design the building. A young Frank Lloyd Wright, who was employed at the firm as draftsman, contributed to the design.[13]

The Auditorium was built for a syndicate of businessmen to house a large civic opera house; to provide an economic base it was decided to wrap the auditorium with a hotel and office block. Hence Adler & Sullivan had to plan a complex multiple-use building. Fronting on Michigan Avenue, overlooking the lake, was the hotel (now Roosevelt University) while the offices were placed to the west on Wabash Avenue. The entrance to the auditorium is on the south side beneath the tall blocky eighteen-story tower. The rest of the building is a uniform ten stories, organized in the same way as Richardson's Marshall Field Wholesale Store. The interior embellishment, however, is wholly Sullivan's, and some of the details, because of their continuous curvilinear foliate motifs, are among the nearest equivalents to European Art Nouveau architecture.[14]

Construction and opening

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On October 5, 1887, President Grover Cleveland laid the cornerstone for the Auditorium Building. The 1888 Republican National Convention was held in a partially finished building where Benjamin Harrison was nominated as a presidential candidate.[15] On December 9, 1889, the theater was completed;[16] President Harrison dedicated the building and opera star Adelina Patti sang "Home Sweet Home".[17][18]

Early years

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1890s to 1910s

[edit]

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra debuted on October 16, 1891, and made its home in the Auditorium Theatre until it moved to Orchestra Hall in 1904.[19] Opera singers at the theater in its early years included Enrico Caruso, Amelita Galli-Curci, Mary Garden, John McCormack, Nellie Melba, and Ellen Terry.[20][21] Although the auditorium itself had inadequate backstage space, it was still able to host up to 38 operatic productions per year.[22] The hotel accommodated foreign guests during the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893, and it continued to host several US presidents, along with several Republican Party candidates' presidential campaigns.[23] Adler & Sullivan also opened their office on the building's top floors, taking four private rooms: one each for Adler, Sullivan, and their draftsmen Frank Lloyd Wright and Paul Mueller.[24]

Although the building's completion made Adler & Sullivan famous, it did not make them a profit, as the 2.5% commission was barely enough to compensate for expenses.[25] The building also proved unprofitable to its investors. The Auditorium Association, the building's developer, issued only one dividend to stockholders: a 1.5% dividend in 1893.[23] By the 1890s, the theater's colorful walls had already been repainted, as they did not harmonize with the colors of female patrons' gowns.[26]

1920s and 1930s

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As early as 1923, the building's owners planned to replace the Auditorium Building with a high-rise skyscraper. These plans were abandoned due to disputes with the site's landowners.[23]

The building's resident opera company moved to the Civic Opera House in 1929,[23][20] performing its final show, Romeo and Juliet, that January.[27][28] One of the Auditorium Association's bond issues matured the next month,[27] but the association was unable to pay the face value of $834,000 to bondholders.[I][23][30] The Auditorium Theatre subsequently closed,[20][30] and the Auditorium Association declared bankruptcy.[30][22] The association's receiver attempted to convince the building's shareholders to move their shares in a common fund, but although most shareholders agreed to do so, this did not raise sufficient money for the organization.[22] The four landowners—the Northwestern Mutual and the Willing, Sears, and Slater estates[23]—solicited bids for the building's demolition in 1930 and 1931.[30][27] The demolition attempts failed because the lowest demolition bid was submitted for $400,000,[II][30][27] was more than the land valuation.[16][21]

In 1932, ownership of the building itself reverted to its landowners,[22][30] who created a syndicate, the Auditorium Building Corporation, to manage the structure.[23][30] John Goodridge of the Willing estate led the syndicate.[22][31] Northwestern Mutual declined to join, requiring the remaining landowners to seek the company's permission for any minor modification under its section of land.[22] The owners hired Holabird & Root to conduct renovations.[22][30][31] The firm repaired the tower's foundations and the theater's ceiling trusses, and it redecorated the hotel to accommodate visitors to the Century of Progress world's fair.[22][30] The theater renovation cost $125,000[III] and involved the installation of new boxes and an entrance canopy, replacement of lighting, repainting, and removal of an art-glass skylight.[32][33] The theater reopened in December 1932,[34][35] but whatever success it had was short-lived.[32][33] By the late 1930s, the building had a net annual income of only $35,000,[IV] while the property taxes alone were double that amount.[36] Nonetheless. Holabird & Root deemed the building itself structurally sound.[37]

1940s: Closure and servicemen's center

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The Auditorium Building Corporation had accumulated $1.15 million in debt by 1940[V][33][38] and was severely delinquent on its property taxes.[23][39] The corporation announced in May 1941 that the building would close the next month.[23] The closure arose after the operators of the nearby Congress Plaza Hotel decided to no longer provide heat, power, and water to the Auditorium;[23][36] the corporation lacked money to pay for its own utility plant.[36] In response, local civic groups convened to appoint a committee to advocate for city takeover of the building,[40] and Mayor Edward Joseph Kelly chartered the Auditorium Music Foundation to convert it into a music center.[33][38] After a 30-day extension of utility service,[36] the Auditorium Building was shuttered entirely on July 31, 1941.[39][41] All tenants moved away except for a few storefronts.[33][38]

The Auditorium Music Foundation sought to raise $400,000 to convert the theater into a performance venue.[VI][33][42] The group wanted to reopen the theater by November 1941,[36] but it had raised only $250,000 within a year.[VII][33] The Cook County government filed a foreclosure suit against the building in June 1942, intending to auction off the decorations and furnishings.[43][44] The county had wanted to auction the entire building but was unable to do so, as Northwestern Mutual had paid the back taxes on its own site.[44] The county government approved takeover of the building later that month; despite efforts to stave off a sale of the furnishings,[45] the sale proceeded as scheduled.[33][38] The city government obtained ownership of the other lots,[46] taking over the structure in July.[47][48] Excluded from this acquisition was a 52-by-170-foot (16 by 52 m) parcel at the building's northeast corner,[49][50] covering parts of the theater and half the hotel.[51]

The building became a World War II servicemen's center,[17][19][38] occupying the first two stories.[47] A bowling alley was added inside the theater,[38][52] a lunch counter replaced the original bar, and the decorations were painted over.[38][46] A temporary boiler plant was added as well,[46] and a music room was built on the fourth floor in 1943.[53] The northeast corner parcel was sold in 1945[51] to attorney Abraham Teitelbaum.[46][49][54] Teitelbaum proposed buying the building early the next year.[55] Kelly also proposed that the building be permanently retained as a recreation center,[56] but ultimately the servicemen's center operated for only a short period over the war.[46][57] The center closed in May 1946 after accommodating ten million soldiers.[57]

Roosevelt University ownership

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Mid-1940s to 1960s

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Roosevelt University's Murray-Green Library on the 10th floor of the Auditorium Building
Roosevelt University's Murray-Green Library on the 10th floor of the Auditorium Building

Roosevelt University bought most of the building in August 1946,[46][58] paying $400,000 to the Willing, Sears, and Slater estates.[VIII][50][51][a] In exchange, the university agreed to assume $1.3 million worth of back taxes.[IX][58][51] The university took over the next month[54] and renovated the former hotel space over the next several months.[15][59] The Auditorium Theater Foundation repaid its creditors and dissolved that year;[46][38] the theater stood vacant for another two decades[17] and was used for storage.[60] Ownership was still split with Teitelbaum, requiring each other to gain the other's consent to occupy parts of the building.[54][61] Some parts of the building, such as the theater curtain, a heating plant, and some elevator machinery, straddled both sections.[54] Teitelbaum initially wanted $2 million, a price the college found exorbitant; after several rounds of negotiations,[61] he erected chicken-wire fence between the two portions of the building.[46][54] He ultimately sold his land to the college in February 1947 for $402,000,[X][46] and students began using the Auditorium Building that year.[62]

In 1951, Roosevelt University contemplated converting the theater into a production studio.[60][63] The next year, as part of a widening of Congress Street, Roosevelt University agreed to cede a section of the first floor to the city, in exchange for having all back taxes waived.[38][46] To make room for a sidewalk, some ground-floor rooms and part of the theater lobby were removed.[38][64] During the decade, as the building's stained-glass windows fell into disrepair, they were replaced with clear panes.[65] Concurrently, renewed interest in Sullivan's architecture arose during his 100th birthday in 1956.[38][64] Roosevelt University restored the banquet hall above the theater,[66][67] which opened as Ganz Recital Hall in 1957 under architect Crombie Taylor.[38][64] Ganz Hall's restoration took two years[66] and cost $75,000.[XI][67] By then, the university was giving twice-weekly tours of the building.[68] Taylor also designed the subsequent conversion of the ladies' parlor into the Louis Sullivan Room in 1958, as well as renovation of the second-floor hotel lounge in 1962.[64][69]

In 1958, Roosevelt University trustees voted to restore the Auditorium Theatre.[70] To oversee the restoration, the Auditorium Theater Council was formed in 1960.[71][72] Roosevelt University retained ownership of the theater, on the basis that the theater comprised 40% of the interior area.[73] Beatrice T. Spachner, a Roosevelt University trustee, became the leader of the council early that decade.[b][20][17] She ultimately raised $2.25 million[70][74] or $3 million for the purpose.[17] Harry Weese was hired to restore the theater, having claimed to be able to refurbish it for a much lower price than local competitor Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill could.[18] On October 31, 1967, the Auditorium Theatre reopened with a benefit concert where the New York City Ballet performed A Midsummer Night's Dream.[17][74]

1970s to 1990s

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In 1976, Roosevelt University promised $3.891 million[XII] for a renovation of the building and sought a matching funds grant for the other half of that renovation.[75] The Auditorium Theater Council was incorporated in 1981, though the Auditorium Theatre remained financially unsuccessful until later that decade,[72] when it became profitable for the first time.[76] This led to several long-running musicals being hosted there.[72][76]

In 1994, Roosevelt University attempted to repurpose $1.5 million of the Auditorium Theatre's operating funds for a new campus in Schaumburg, Illinois.[71][72] This prompted a lawsuit from the Auditorium Theater Council, which wanted to take control of the theater.[72][77] The university had identified an alternate funding source for its campus by early 1995,[72] and a court subsequently ruled that the theater's funds could only be used for the building.[78] The issue of control remained contentious over the next several years, amid a series of conflicting court rulings.[76][79] By the late 1990s, the theater needed renovation to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and upgrade outdated mechanical and utility systems, but the ongoing lawsuit prevented further progress on these upgrades.[80][81] The opening of the Schaumburg campus in 1996 freed up space in the Auditorium Building for additional classrooms.[82][83] By then, the Auditorium Building accommodated 3,800 of the university's students, but the building's interiors were hard to navigate, and the interior lacked sufficient elevators.[83]

2000s to present

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Crowd outside the Auditorium Theatre during US President Barack Obama's Grant Park rally on the night of the 2008 election
Crowd outside the Auditorium Theatre during Obama's Grant Park rally on the night of the 2008 election

In 2000, the state government provided funding for a $13.6 million renovation of the Auditorium Theatre. Roosevelt University was also seeking $2 million in state funding to upgrade the building's classrooms,[26] as part of a wider-ranging renovation of its campuses.[82] By the next year, the building's stained glass was being renovated.[65] Workers at the Chicago Conservation Center removed 10 murals in the building's dining hall for a 17-month-long restoration costing $200,000.[84] The theater's stage and backstage areas were restored,[85] and the decorations were also restored.[86] The legal dispute was not ultimately resolved until 2002, when the Supreme Court of Illinois ruled in favor of Roosevelt University.[87] The university rededicated the renovated theater in September 2003.[86]

Work on further renovations of the Auditorium Theatre, involving the theater's atrium and skylight, began in 2025.[88][89] The project, costing over $2.5 million, was funded in part by a $625,000 Save America's Treasures grant and private donations.[89][90]

Architecture

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The Auditorium Building was designed by Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan of Adler & Sullivan.[4][91] Two of their draftsmen, George Grant Elmslie and Frank Lloyd Wright, were involved with significant aspects of the design,[91] while Paul Mueller was involved with engineering.[92] Adler & Sullivan's plans are no longer extant, so the roles of each architect are unknown, but Adler is sometimes cited as the primary architect.[91][92] Wright wrote that the design was largely a product of Adler's "good judgment and restraining influence",[91][93] writing that Sullivan had been "a novice in those days".[94] Architect Arthur Woltersdorf wrote c. 1941 that "Adler remained the commanding architect of this great structure to its end".[91] Other sources credit Sullivan with architectural and exterior details and Adler with engineering details.[16][92] Sullivan biographer Narciso Menocal wrote that the Auditorium Building was Sullivan's first "Richardsonian compositions" and that its lack of ornamentation exuded a sense of masculinity.[95]

The Auditorium Building was one of the first major examples in the United States of a mixed-use building.[21] The hotel and offices, which wrapped around the Auditorium Theatre on the lower floors,[6] were intended to offset losses from the theater.[4][96][97] When completed, the Auditorium Building was the largest mixed-use building of its kind in the United States.[19][96] Numerous subcontractors were involved with the building's mechanical features, although the building is not attributed to any general contractor.[96] The Auditorium Building was described as having 17 million bricks, 50,000 square feet (4,600 m2) of marble mosaic floors, 760,000 square feet (71,000 m2) of terracotta in the floors, and 350 miles (560 km) of wiring.[98]

Facade

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The building measures 238 feet (73 m) tall[99] and is generally 10 stories, except for a tower on one side, which is 17 stories.[6][97] The tower rises an additional 95 feet (29 m) above the rest of the building.[100] Th Auditorium Building has load-bearing walls[6][101] and was more striking in its day when buildings of its scale were less common.[19] The first three stories are clad in rusticated blocks of gray granite, while the stories above are clad in Indiana limestone.[6] The exterior appearance is based partly on the design of H.H. Richardson's Marshall Field Warehouse, another Chicago landmark.[101]

Structural and mechanical features

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As the structural engineer, Adler was responsible for several of the building's structural innovations, including the foundation, huge trusses above the theater, theatrical lift machinery,[92] and mechanical systems.[21]

When the Auditorium Building opened, it had the largest power plant of any individual building in the United States.[16] The building was equipped with the first central air conditioning system,[19] which pulled air from outside and rinsed it with water.[16][21] The humid air was then blown through steam radiators during colder seasons and through blocks of ice during hotter seasons.[16] Its theater was the first to be entirely lit by incandescent light bulbs.[19]

Foundation

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Diagram of the foundations, showing the pyramidal footings above and grillage below
Foundation cross-section

The Auditorium Building weighs 110,000 short tons (98,000 long tons; 100,000 t), a relatively large load compared with its ground area.[102] The tower alone weighs about 15,000 short tons (13,000 long tons; 14,000 t) but covers only 2,870 square feet (267 m2).[6][102] The geology of the Auditorium Building site consists of soft hardpan up to 25 feet (7.6 m) below grade, with bedrock up to 75 feet (23 m) below grade, which made conventional foundations extremely expensive.[16][103] The building was also less than 100 yards (91 m) away from Lake Michigan, and the bedrock was substantially lower than the lake's water level. Due to the weak ground, earlier buildings in Chicago, such as the Board of Trade Building, Main Post Office, and the old Chicago City Hall, had experienced severe issues with settlement.[102] Based on test borings dug by engineer William Sooy Smith, the ground could support about 4,250 pounds per square foot (20,800 kg/m2; 208,000 t/ha).[104]

To combat possible settlement, Adler designed a custom foundation in conjunction with Paul Mueller.[105] Unlike subsequent large American buildings constructed on loose ground, the foundation used no caissons or pilings.[21] Instead, to distribute the weight of the massive outer walls over a larger area, Adler and Mueller designed a grillage foundation, consisting of timber planks soaked in water, above which concrete-encased steel rails were laid perpendicularly to the timbers. Pyramidal concrete footings were then added above.[106] The tower's structural loads per square foot, which were significantly higher than the rest of the base, were distributed across the base.[6][107] This was accomplished via multiple layers of north–south and west–east rails, which essentially cantilevered outward from the towers' piers.[107] Large amounts of brick and pig iron were incorporated into the lower walls, such that all walls carried the same loads up to the 10th story.[6] The loads were reduced in the tower's 11th to 17th stories, carrying only as much as necessary.[100]

The relative sturdiness of the foundations convinced Daniel Burnham, who was designing the 20-story Monadnock Building nearby, that it was safe to build such a tall structure in downtown Chicago.[108] It also inspired the foundations of Wright's later Imperial Hotel in Tokyo.[105] The walls still settled shortly after construction,[37][106] sinking as much as 3 feet (0.91 m).[16] The original foundations had been intended to carry brick, but the Auditorium Theatre's directors changed the plans mid-construction to use stone, which increased the loads by one-third.[106] As a result, the theater's floor level slopes down slightly at its northern and southern walls.[107] Much of the settlement happened in the building's first decade, and no additional settlement has been reported since 1901.[37]

Interior

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Sullivan designed the interior details, which included elaborate lobbies, parlors, and stairways.[21] Many of the interior spaces had multicolored murals, which have been painted over throughout the years.[26]

Theater

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In the center of the building is the Auditorium Theatre, whose main auditorium originally had about 4,200 seats;[8][109][c] it has 3,901 seats as of 2017.[110] There was also a recital hall, originally with 500 seats.[8]

The main theater had an organ built by Hilborne Roosevelt, with 7,000 pipes and 109 organ stops,[16] as well as two murals by Albert Fleury.[111] In keeping with Peck's democratic ideals, the theater was designed so that all seats faced the stage, forgoing the horse-shoed balconies of older theaters.[97] The stage was massive for contemporary standards, at 98 by 70 feet (30 by 21 m).[15] The theater was originally intended primarily for production of Grand Opera.

Other interior spaces

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Housed around the central theater were 136 offices and a 400-room hotel,[112][8] which covered 53,274 square feet (4,949.3 m2).[51] While the Auditorium Building was not intended as a commercial building, Peck wanted it to be self-sufficient. Revenue from the offices and hotel was meant to allow ticket prices to remain reasonable. In reality, both the hotel and office block became unprofitable within a few years of the building's opening.


The tenth story contains a barrel vaulted room that was originally used as the hotel's dining room before becoming Roosevelt University's library.[26] There was also a banquet hall, known since 1957 as Rudolph Ganz Memorial Hall (after a former president of Chicago Musical College). Ganz Hall includes a gold-leaf ceiling and elaborate chandeliers. Glued to the walls are 10 murals painted by Albert Fleury, which each measure 9 feet (2.7 m) wide and depict pastoral American scenes.[111]

Impact and legacy

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A series of plaques on a wall
Historical markers

The Auditorium Building's completion brought renown to Adler & Sullivan.[4][25] The AIA Guide to Chicago wrote in 2022 that the Auditorium Building's design had been "the single most important factor in establishing the internationally recognized role of Dankmar Adler and Louis H. Sullivan in the evolution of modern architectural thought".[4] Robert Twombly wrote that Auditorium Building was "perhaps the single edifice for which Adler & Sullivan were and remain best known".[8] Adler's daughter said the structure had "the first music hall to be be built inside a building", predating even New York's Carnegie Hall,[46] and Wright said "the building became famous before it was completed".[15]

Terry Spencer Hesser produced a documentary about the Auditorium Building in 1994,[71] and the building was the subject of a 2002 book by Joseph Siry.[25][113] While teaching at the Institute of Design at the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1952, photographer Aaron Siskind had his students photograph the Auditorium Building and Sullivan's other work.[114]

Landmark designations

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The Auditorium Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 17, 1970.[2] It was declared a National Historic Landmark by the United States Department of the Interior in 1975[115][116] and a Chicago Landmark on September 15, 1976.[117] In 2017, the Auditorium Building and several other early skyscrapers in Chicago were identified as possible future nominees to UNESCO's World Heritage List under the name "Early Chicago Skyscrapers".[118]

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See also

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References

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Notes

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Explanatory notes

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  1. ↑ Including the later $402,000 acquisition of Teitelbaum's land,[46] the site cost has been cited at $800,000.[15]
  2. ↑ Sources disagree on whether Spachner began her efforts in 1960,[20] 1961,[70] or 1963.[17]
  3. ↑ Other figures of 4,237,[100][21] 4,250,[97] or 4,300 seats have also been cited.[16]

Inflation figures

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  1. ↑ Equivalent to $12.0 million in 2024[29]
  2. ↑ Equivalent to $6.6 million in 2024[29]
  3. ↑ Equivalent to $2.3 million in 2024[29]
  4. ↑ Equivalent to $0.6 million in 2024[29]
  5. ↑ Equivalent to $20.1 million in 2024[29]
  6. ↑ Equivalent to $6.6 million in 2024[29]
  7. ↑ Equivalent to $3.8 million in 2024[29]
  8. ↑ Equivalent to $4.9 million in 2024[29]
  9. ↑ Equivalent to $15.9 million in 2024[29]
  10. ↑ Equivalent to $4.9 million in 2024[29]
  11. ↑ Equivalent to $0.6 million in 2024[29]
  12. ↑ Equivalent to $16.6 million in 2024[29]

Citations

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  1. ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. 1 2 Pitts, Carolyn (March 10, 1975). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Auditorium Building". National Park Service. Retrieved December 8, 2011. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. ↑ "Auditorium Building". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. May 15, 1975. Archived from the original on October 9, 2012. Retrieved December 8, 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 AIA Guide to Chicago. University of Illinois Press. June 28, 2022. pp. 48–50. ISBN 978-0-252-05367-2.
  5. ↑ Buildings by Frank Lloyd Wright in Seven Middle Western States, 1887–1959: Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio. Burnham Library of Architecture, Art Institute of Chicago. 1963. p. 24. Retrieved October 5, 2026.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 National Park Service 1975, p. 2.
  7. ↑ Jordan, Karen (February 12, 2019). "Congress Parkway renamed after civil rights leader Ida B. Wells". ABC7 Chicago. Retrieved October 5, 2026.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Twombly 1986, p. 103.
  9. 1 2 Twombly 1986, p. 98.
  10. ↑ Siry 2002, pp. 48–49.
  11. ↑ Siry 2002, p. 60.
  12. ↑ Morrison 2001, p. 61.
  13. ↑ Fletcher, Banister (1905). A history of architecture on the comparative method. Robarts - University of Toronto. Batsford. p. 1241.
  14. ↑ Roth, Leland M. A Concise History of American Architecture. p. 179-80
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 "Roosevelt College to Occupy Chicago Auditorium Hotel: Cavalcade of Celebrities Civic Center Proposed". The Christian Science Monitor. August 14, 1947. p. 17. ISSN 0882-7729. ProQuest 516110738.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Petty, Bynum (January 2022). "Chicago's Magnificent Auditorium Theatre and Its Roosevelt Organ". The Tracker. Vol. 66, no. 1. pp. 30–36. ProQuest 2619482152.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Kogan, Rick (April 24, 2015). "The Auditorium: A fine place for a football draft". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 7, 2025.
  18. 1 2 Bentley, Chris (February 2, 2015). "Auditorium Theatre". The Architect's Newspaper. Retrieved October 7, 2025.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Henning, Joel (September 6, 2008). "Form Follows Function, Elegantly: Louis Sullivan designed the Auditorium Theatre's interior to complement its acoustics-driven shape". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on September 11, 2008. Retrieved September 7, 2008.
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 McDaniel, Charles G. (October 31, 1967). "Chicago Auditorium to Reopen Tonight". Freeport Journal-Standard. Associated Press. p. 2. Retrieved October 8, 2025.
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Hughes, Bob (September 29, 1985). "The Dramatic Story of a Magnificent Chicago Landmark". Chicago Tribune. p. 169. Retrieved October 5, 2026.
  22. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Gregersen 1980, p. 38.
  23. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Auditorium Will Ring Down Final Curtain June 30". Chicago Daily Tribune. May 30, 1941. p. 14. Retrieved October 5, 2026.
  24. ↑ Saint, Andrew (2003). "Frank Lloyd Wright and Paul Mueller: The Architect and His Builder of Choice". Architectural Research Quarterly. Vol. 7, no. 2. p. 159. doi:10.1017/S1359135503002112. ISSN 1359-1355. ProQuest 199294528. Archived from the original on February 23, 2025.
  25. 1 2 3 "Chicago Auditorium Building". Building Design. January 17, 2003. p. 17. ProQuest 274546581.
  26. 1 2 3 4 Kamin, Blair (May 28, 2000). "Tuning Sullivan's 'color symphony'". Chicago Tribune. pp. 7.1, 7.10, 7.12. Retrieved October 5, 2026.
  27. 1 2 3 4 Gregersen 1980, p. 37.
  28. ↑ Siry 2002, p. 395.
  29. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Johnston, Louis; Williamson, Samuel H. (2023). "What Was the U.S. GDP Then?". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved November 30, 2023. United States Gross Domestic Product deflator figures follow the MeasuringWorth series.
  30. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Siry 2002, p. 396.
  31. 1 2 "Music Shows to Be Given at Auditorium". Chicago Tribune. September 20, 1932. p. 15. Retrieved October 5, 2026.
  32. 1 2 Siry 2002, pp. 396–397.
  33. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Gregersen 1980, p. 39.
  34. ↑ "Chicago Society Awaits Opening of Old Auditorium Theater Once Scene of Grand Opera Triumphs". Lansing State Journal. December 3, 1932. p. 7. Retrieved October 5, 2026.
  35. ↑ "Glories of Old Chicago Opera House Revived". The Decatur Herald. Associated Press. December 15, 1932. p. 1. Retrieved October 5, 2026.
  36. 1 2 3 4 5 "Group Trying To Save Chicago's Big Auditorium". The Atlanta Constitution. August 17, 1941. p. 37. Retrieved October 5, 2026.
  37. 1 2 3 Chase, Al (February 9, 1945). "Auditorium's Owners Eager to Help Save It". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 16. Retrieved October 6, 2026.
  38. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Siry 2002, p. 397.
  39. 1 2 "Historic Auditorium Folds Up in Chicago". Sterling Daily Gazette. Associated Press. August 1, 1941. p. 1. Retrieved October 5, 2026.
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  41. ↑ "Chicago Says Sad Farewell to Auditorium". Chicago Daily Tribune. August 1, 1941. p. 1. Retrieved October 5, 2026.
  42. ↑ "Purse Strings Open in Drive for Auditorium". Chicago Daily Tribune. August 21, 1941. p. 12. Retrieved October 5, 2026.
  43. ↑ "County to Put the Auditorium Up for Auction". Chicago Daily Tribune. June 25, 1942. p. 14. Retrieved October 5, 2026.
  44. 1 2 Gregersen 1980, pp. 39–40.
  45. ↑ "Building in Loop Taken by County for Back Taxes: First Such Foreclosure in 10 Years". Chicago Tribune. July 1, 1942. p. 18. ISSN 1085-6706. ProQuest 176693322.
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  47. 1 2 "Takes Auditorium Hotel; Chicago Plans Free Entertainments There for Service Men". The New York Times. Associated Press. August 1, 1942. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 5, 2026.
  48. ↑ "Auditorium Hotel Is Army Recreation Hub". Rockford Register-Republic. INS. July 31, 1942. p. 11. Retrieved October 5, 2026.
  49. 1 2 "College to Give Auditorium All Its Old Beauties". Chicago Daily Tribune. August 7, 1946. p. 36. Retrieved October 6, 2026.
  50. 1 2 "Lawyer Will Wall Off Half Chicago Theatre Unless Roosevelt College Buys Up His Part". The New York Times. September 8, 1946. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 7, 2026.
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  52. ↑ Beukema, C. H. (September 4, 1942). "All-Star Tourney to Open Service Alleys". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 25. Retrieved October 5, 2026.
  53. ↑ "Music Appreciation Room Opened at Service Center". Chicago Daily Tribune. May 20, 1943. p. 16. Retrieved October 6, 2026.
  54. 1 2 3 4 5 Theresa, Priory (February 16, 1947). "Roosevelt College Prepares To Handle 6,000 Students". New York Herald Tribune. p. 49. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1268004587.
  55. ↑ "Attorney Offers to Buy and Restore Auditorium Building". Chicago Daily Tribune. January 9, 1946. p. 5. Retrieved October 7, 2026.
  56. ↑ Chase, Al (February 8, 1945). "Mayor Heralds Auditorium as City Play Spot". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 7. Retrieved October 6, 2026.
  57. 1 2 "A Host to Ten Million Gi's Closes Doors". Chicago Daily Tribune. May 16, 1946. p. 3. Retrieved October 7, 2026.
  58. 1 2 "Buys Chicago Landmark; Roosevelt College Gets the Old Auditorium Building". The New York Times. August 6, 1946. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 5, 2026.
  59. ↑ Illson, Murray (April 6, 1947). "Chicago's Roosevelt College Grows". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 7, 2026.
  60. 1 2 "School TV Center Slated in Chicago; Cooperative Institution Awaits F.C.C. Decision on Channel for Educational Use". The New York Times. December 9, 1951. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 7, 2026.
  61. 1 2 "Teitelbaum's Good Earth". Newsweek. Vol. 28, no. 9. August 26, 1946. pp. 75–76. ProQuest 1832559441.
  62. ↑ Eckel, George (June 12, 1949). "Thriving College Honors Roosevelt; Institution Named for New Deal President Is Holding Its First Graduation". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 7, 2026.
  63. ↑ "Television-Radio: Chi Schools Back $1 Mil Video Studio". The Billboard. Vol. 63, no. 59. December 15, 1951. p. 11. ProQuest 1040203040.
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  66. 1 2 "Dedicate Ganz Recital Hall Today". Chicago Daily Tribune. February 24, 1957. p. 174. Retrieved October 7, 2026.
  67. 1 2 Lister, Walter Jr. (August 7, 1957). "Grandeur of Chicago Hall Now passed in Oblivion". The Kingston Whig-Standard. p. 19. Retrieved October 7, 2026.
  68. ↑ "Conduct Tours of Auditorium Twice Weekly". Chicago Daily Tribune. May 16, 1957. p. 82. Retrieved October 7, 2026.
  69. ↑ Siry 2002, p. 398.
  70. 1 2 3 Leonard, William (November 1, 1967). "City Greets Auditorium in Gala Opening". Chicago Tribune. p. 3. Retrieved October 8, 2025.
  71. 1 2 3 Storch, Charles (December 21, 1994). "Auditorium Conflict Flares After Screening". Chicago Tribune. p. 32. Retrieved October 5, 2026.
  72. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Nicklin, Julie L. (February 17, 1995). "Theater directors sue to prevent use of reserves by Roosevelt U.". The Chronicle of Higher Education. Vol. 41, no. 23. p. A27. ProQuest 214742385.
  73. ↑ Cassidy, Claudia (April 6, 1960). "On the Aisle". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 31. Retrieved October 5, 2026.
  74. 1 2 "Auditorium Theatre Opens After 25 Years of Neglect". The Vincennes Sun-Commercial. Associated Press. November 2, 1967. p. 15. Retrieved October 8, 2025.
  75. ↑ Gapp, Paul (September 30, 1976). "Plan Auditorium renovations". Chicago Tribune. p. 3. Retrieved October 7, 2026.
  76. 1 2 3 Abrabanel, Jonathan (August 20, 1998). "Bitter battle over auditorium". Back Stage. Vol. 39, no. 33. p. 42. ProQuest 221121218.
  77. ↑ Storch, Charles (December 16, 1994). "Auditorium Fears Its Owner May Take Funds". Chicago Tribune. pp. 2.1, 2.7. Retrieved October 5, 2026.
  78. ↑ Fegelman, Andrew (April 18, 1996). "Accord reached over theater". Chicago Tribune. p. 32. Retrieved October 5, 2026.
  79. ↑ Becker, Robert (April 4, 1997). "Roosevelt has setback on Auditorium". Chicago Tribune. p. 2.6. Retrieved October 5, 2026.
  80. ↑ Borden, Jeff (December 22, 1997). "The plot thickens for Auditorium". Crain's Chicago Business. Vol. 20, no. 51. p. 4. ProQuest 198362500.
  81. ↑ Patterson, John (October 4, 2002). "Auditorium Theatre is declared Roosevelt's and Roosevelt's alone". Daily Herald. p. 7. ProQuest 312660896.
  82. 1 2 Dodge, Susan (January 24, 2001). "Roosevelt U. plans major renovation". Chicago Sun-Times. p. 4. ProQuest 258639689.
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  85. ↑ Eifling, Sam (May 18, 2002). "Stage renovation likened to opening `time capsule'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 5, 2026.
  86. 1 2 Jones, Chris (September 19, 2003). "The `Sound' and the worry". Chicago Tribune. pp. 7–3. Retrieved October 5, 2026.
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  88. ↑ Harrington, Adam (November 11, 2025). "Restoration efforts chug along at Chicago's Auditorium Theatre". CBS Chicago. Retrieved October 5, 2026.
  89. 1 2 Colón, Ambar (November 10, 2025). "Auditorium Theatre to restore original Sullivan and Adler elements, including stained glass atrium". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved October 5, 2026.
  90. ↑ Dahlman, Steven (December 8, 2025). "Auditorium Theatre receives $625k grant for restoration". Loop North News. Retrieved October 5, 2026.
  91. 1 2 3 4 5 Herbert, Gilbert; Donchin, Mark (March 23, 2016). The Collaborators: Interactions in the Architectural Design Process. Routledge. pp. 102–104. ISBN 978-1-317-03790-3. Retrieved October 5, 2026.
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  93. ↑ Wright, Frank Lloyd (2005). An autobiography. Pomegranate. p. 321. ISBN 978-0-7649-3243-4.
  94. ↑ Anderson, David (November 2, 1941). "Letter Recalls Genius Behind the Auditorium". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 120. Retrieved October 5, 2026.
  95. ↑ Menocal 1981, p. 18.
  96. 1 2 3 Burns 2003, p. 184.
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  98. ↑ Steyskal, Irene (August 17, 1941). "Opening Night at Auditorium Lives in Memory". Chicago Daily Tribune. pp. 3.1, 3.2. Retrieved October 5, 2026.
  99. ↑ "Auditorium Building". Emporis. Archived from the original on May 12, 2015.
  100. 1 2 3 National Park Service 1975, p. 5.
  101. 1 2 Sarkowski, John (1956). The Idea of Louis Sullivan. Bulfinch Press. p. 22. ISBN 0-8212-2667-3. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
  102. 1 2 3 Siry 2002, p. 151.
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  104. ↑ Siry 2002, p. 154.
  105. 1 2 Johnson, Donald Leslie (December 5, 2016). On Frank Lloyd Wright's Concrete Adobe: Irving Gill, Rudolph Schindler and the American Southwest. Routledge. p. 150. ISBN 978-1-351-91387-4. Retrieved October 5, 2026.
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  107. 1 2 3 Siry 2002, p. 156.
  108. ↑ Abbott, James R. (2000). "Louis Sullivan, architectural modernism, and the creation of democratic space". The American Sociologist. 31 (1): 62–85. doi:10.1007/s12108-000-1005-0. ISSN 0003-1232. ProQuest 1941380520. Retrieved October 5, 2026.
  109. ↑ Fletcher, Meg (March 24, 2003). "City of Big Shoulders also known for its big buildings". Business Insurance. Vol. 37, no. 12. p. T24. ProQuest 233495479.
  110. ↑ Kogan, Rick (March 3, 2017). "Auditorium Theatre's new CEO says that grand venue is her kind of place". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 7, 2025.
  111. 1 2 Ciokajlo, Mickey (October 17, 2000). "Off-the-Wall Effort Saving Murals". Chicago Tribune. pp. 2.1, 2.4. Retrieved October 5, 2026.
  112. ↑ Carey, Heidi Pawlowski (2005). "Auditorium Building". The Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago. Chicago Historical Society. Archived from the original on March 7, 2006. Retrieved October 5, 2026.
  113. ↑ "The Chicago Auditorium Building: Adler and Sullivan's Architecture and the City". The Virginia Quarterly Review. Vol. 79, no. 3. Summer 2003. p. 94. ProQuest 205349036.
  114. ↑ Boxer, Sarah (May 8, 2002). "The Late, Great Light Show; Chicago's Photographers and Their Abstract World". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 5, 2026.
  115. ↑ "Auditorium Building, Roosevelt University, Chicago, Illinois (U.S. National Park Service)". NPS.gov Homepage (U.S. National Park Service). April 17, 1970. Retrieved October 7, 2025.
  116. ↑ "Chicago History Lover's Guide To The Auditorium Building". CBS Chicago. July 6, 2015. Retrieved October 7, 2025.
  117. ↑ "Auditorium Building". Commission on Chicago Landmarks. Chicago Department of Housing and Economic Development, Historic Preservation Division. Retrieved December 8, 2011.
  118. ↑ Kamin, Blair (June 6, 2017). "Chicago buildings named for possible inclusion on list of world's leading cultural sites". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 4, 2026.

Sources

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