Embedded Files
formerly the American Furniture Mart at 666 N Lake Shore Drive
formerly the American Furniture Mart at 666 N Lake Shore Drive
Celebrating 100 years on July 8, 2024
By Maurice Champagne
for the 680 Residents
Part 1: Two Buildings in One
Part 2: The American Furniture Mart
Part 3: 666 Conversion to 680 Condos
Part 4: Treasure Island and the Gold Star Sardine Bar
Part 5: Fictional Treasure Island and the Gold Star Sardine Bar
I’d love to hear from you about your memories from when you first moved to 680.
With your permission, I will weave your stories into another article to share with residents to celebrate our building’s 100th anniversary.
Contact me at champagne680@outlook.com
P. S. Corrections are welcome.
Part 1: Two Buildings in One
Did you know that there are actually two buildings? Henry Raeder, George Nimmons and Max Dunning designed the eastern part of the building, completed in 1924, in a Gothic Revival style with reinforced concrete columns. You can see the size and the spacing of those columns in the garage.
The building’s 100th anniversary of its dedication as the American Furniture Mart will be on July 8, 2024. Nimmons and Dunning continued the Gothic Revival design in the exterior and interior of the McClurg Court entrance of the 1926-27 tower section with its steel-framed construction.[1] The Tower centennial will be celebrated in 2026-27. The top of the tower was completed in February, 1927.
According to the Marj Abrams article “Supplement to the Babble of Tower, April 1993” and the AIA Guide to Chicago, the blue tile and the shape of the tower is an homage to London’s Houses of Parliament as a clock tower without a Big Ben. Abrams also states that a super structure designed to hold the moorings for dirigible aircraft (e.g. Zeppelins) was constructed on top of the tower section.[2] That statement was repeated in a 1998 SOAR (Streeterville Organization of Active Residents) newsletter “Chicago History on Display at 680 Lake Shore Drive.” But the mooring was never used.
You can actually see on the exterior and interior where the Tower section joins the 1924 building. On the exterior, let your eye start at the top of the 20th floor. Go east three window bays from the corner of McClurg Court and Huron Street and go down to the ground. That column is a brick-clad structural steel pier next to the 1924 building. If you look at the steel frame you can see that the tower section adds 3 bays to the 1924 building.
As to the interior, the next time you enter from McClurg, note the large round ceiling lights and the Gothic arches. You walk under an arch just past the Gold Star Sardine Bar, and as soon as you walk under the blue barrel-vaulted ceiling, you have entered the 1924 building that the Lake Residence and the South Residence share with the retail spaces, the offices and the garage.
[1] 680 N Lake Shore Drive - Wikipedia and AIA Guide to Chicago, 2nd edition, p. 119
[2] “Supplement to The Babble of Tower” article by Marj Abrams, 1993
1928 photo from American Furniture Mart (chicagology.com)
Tower construction photo courtesy of Mike Brown, Wirtz Corporation
Part 2: The American Furniture Mart
We live in a building with lots of history. 666 (now 680) N. Lake Shore Drive was the American Furniture Mart from 1924 to 1979, initially the largest building in the world with 2 million square feet.[1] In 1930 it was eclipsed by the Merchandise Mart with double the square footage.[2]
V. L. Alard, President of the American Furniture Building Corporation, in a 1928 promotional article stated that there were 700 exhibitors representing 75% of the wholesale furniture sales in the United States. Furniture was shipped in from manufacturers in 235 cities in 30 states. That year, over 25,000 dealers visited the American Furniture Mart. Alard wrote that, if the building did not exist, it would have taken 8 months for buyers to travel the U.S. to see that much furniture.
Our building was the Headquarters for the National Retail Furniture Association and the National Association of Furniture Manufacturers. On the 17th floor the Furniture Club, with its walls of tapestries and paintings, served as a meeting place for the buyers and exhibitors.[3] It also housed the WCFL radio station from 1931 to 1964, when the station moved to Marina City.
According to the 1993 Marj Abrams' article for residents, the 1st floor was the American Exposition Palace, and the mezzanine housed a permanent exhibit called “Better Homes.”[4] I could not find any connection to the Better Homes and Gardens magazine.
The American Exposition Palace was the location for the 8-day Woman’s World's Fair held annually from 1925 to 1927. According to historians T. J. Boisseau and Abigail Markwyn, women’s participation in World’s Fairs offered a snapshot into how women’s rights and abilities were being ideally viewed at the time. The Women's World Fairs, they write, “present a view on the way that women, when unencumbered and unlimited by men’s assumptions about women or by corporate influences, used the structure and formatting of a world’s fair to present themselves to the public and to promote their own ideas about women.”[5]
In 1925 on April 18-25 the Fair “attracted more than 160,000 visitors and consisted of 280 booths representing 100 occupations in which women were engaged…. The booths at the fair showed women's accomplishments in the arts, literature, science, and industry. These exhibits were also intended as a source for young women seeking information on careers. Among the exhibitors at the fair were major corporations…. Women publicized and ran the fair; its managers and board of directors were all women.”[6] For more information, read Ron Grossman’s Tribune article on March 3, 2024. http://digitaledition.chicagotribune.com/infinity/article_share.aspx?guid=59b9c75c-5185-415d-9c87-0c872f144a54
[1] Chicago Tribune, 15 Oct 1983, p.27
[2] Merchandise Mart - Wikipedia
[3] American Furniture Mart (chicagology.com)
[4] No link available. The Tower Association has copies.
[5] A Look Back at the 1925 Woman’s World Fair | Smart News| Smithsonian Magazine
[6] Woman's World's Fair, 1925 (chicagohistory.org)
photos:
Chicago History Museum, ICHi-037941 and Chicago History Museum, ICHi-088653
Part 3: 666 Conversion to 680 Condos
According to the Marj Abrams 1993 article “Supplement to The Babble of Tower”, General Lawrence H. Whiting, the original owner of the building, sold it in 1951 to Arthur Wirtz, who became the President of the American Furniture Mart. In 1963 Wirtz held a ceremony in the 17th floor club where Wirtz burned the then paid-off mortgage papers. Wirtz declared that the American Furniture Mart was “the largest building in the world to be free and clear of mortgage.”[1] In 1979, David Paul’s firm, Westport Company, bought the building from the Wirtz Corporation for $6.5 million.[2]
Paul hired Lohan Associates, Inc. as architects to do a $90 million renovation[3] into 415 apartments to be sold as condos.[4] (Actually Lohan completed 405 units; an additional 10 condo units were constructed and available for sale by June 1989 on the Lake Residences 14th floor, where there had been offices.[5]) In a phone conversation on Feb. 3, 2024, Dirk Lohan said that he designed the apartments and the lobbies for each of the 3 condo associations as well as the commercial spaces on the first floor, the offices and the garage. The building was renamed Lake Shore Place as of May 1, 1988.[6]
The NYC firm Donghia designed the public interior and some model apartments.[7] Chicago Tribune reporter Charles Hayes wrote, “Angelo Donghia was commissioned to redo the interior with a blend of the old and the new, creating modern lighting and color schemes to complement the original architectural integrity of the building. This commitment to preservation is best exemplified by the elegant east lobby, a replica of a Gothic English abbey with a 35-foot decorative cast-plaster ceiling, inlaid marble floors, carved paneling, and a grand staircase.”[8] The “grand staircase” may be referring to the stairs that led to the mezzanine behind the Lake Association front desk. Next time you are at the inside of the Erie entrance and the commercial elevator lobby, look up at the ornamented ceilings. The ceiling deign does not have Gothic Revival details. But I was unable to confirm that Donghia designed the ornamental plasterwork on the ceilings.
In 1982, with Paul in default on his $131 million mortgage[9] and more than $3 million in unpaid real estate taxes, Chemical Bank filed to foreclose on David Paul and in 1984 won the bid to buy the building for $83,000 at the sheriff’s auction.[10] The plaque opposite the Gold Star bar shows David Paul’s role in the conversion from the furniture mart to condos.
But in 1981 the prime rate was 20.5%[11] and the 30-year mortgage rate was 16.64%.[12] To quote Abrams, “Needless to say, the building remained rental for quite a while.” Golub and Company represented the bank from 1985 to 1987 for the condos to be rentals until they could be sold. By 1988, the mortgage rate was 10.4%.[12] In Fall of 1988 Golub started to sell 212 Lake Residence and South Residence condos (with the option for renters to buy at a discount) for the bank.[13] By March 1989, 80% had been purchased.[14]
Lee Golub wrote that David Paul sold the Tower section before the foreclosure to Gerald Richman sometime between 1981 and 1984. According to Marj Abrams and Rosalie Harris, long-time 680 resident and former editor of the SOAR newsletter, Richman was unable to sell the converted the Tower apartments as condos until the 1990s.[15] But the first Tower condo converted from rental was Unit 2600, sold in 1988 to Joyce and John Downs. (per phone conversation with John Downs)
In 1988, Chemical Bank announced a change of address to 680 N. Lake Shore Drive. In the Bible’s book of Revelation, 666 is the “Number of the Beast.” Speculation was that change of address was at the request of Playboy Enterprises which was to move its corporate offices to the building from the Palmolive building. Both the building management company and Playboy denied that rumor. Playboy moved out in 2012 and its sign above the Erie entrance was removed.[16]
In an email, Lee Golub wrote that Golub and Company purchased “the office, retail, and public parking portions of the building from Chemical Bank on December 7, 1988.”[17] According to Wikipedia, in 2017 TopMed Realty purchased the office and retail spaces for $109.5 million, but Golub and Company continues to manage the office and retail spaces.[18]
Despite all the recent changes to the building, 680 has had stability in its staff. Frank McNally was the head of security from 1983-1994 and then became a doorman for South in 1994. Mike Murphy started as a late shift doorman for the Lake in 1986 before moving to the Tower in the mid-1990s. John Miller started as a 3rd shift overnight doorman for the Tower before moving to day shifts for South and Lake. Don Armstead worked with Frank in security until he took the job as a Lake doorman in 1993. Mark Finch worked as a doorman for the Lake from the1980s until his death in 2016. Mark had been an elevator operator for the American Furniture Mart. His name and his father’s name are on the plaque across from the Gold Star Sardine Bar. Pat Kenny, who was also on Frank’s security team, was the roving doorman for all 3 associations starting in 1990 until he took Mark’s daytime slot for the Lake. Sam Lazarra has been the Chief Engineer for all 3 condo associations since 1999.
(personal conversations with Sam Lazarra, John Miller, Mike Murphy, Pat Kenny, and Frank McNally)
[1] “Supplement to The Babble of Tower” article by Marj Abrams, 1993
[3] Chicago Tribune 13 Dec 1984, p. 69
[4] https://www.lohananderson.com/projects/residential-hospitality/52-680-lake-shore-drive
[5] Chicago Tribune 20 May 1989, p. 55
[6] Chicago Tribune 25 Mar 1988, p. 57
[7] Chicago Tribune 13 Apr 1985, p. 9
[8] Chicago Tribune 15 Oct 1983, p. 27
[9] Chicago Tribune, 21 Dec 1987, P. 46
[10] Chicago Tribune, 13 Dec 1984, p. 69 and 29 Nov 1988, p. 31
[11] https://fedprimerate.com/wall_street_journal_prime_rate_history.htm
[12] https://www.bankrate.com/mortgages/historical-mortgage-rates/#summary
[13] Personal email from Lee Golub and Chicago Tribune 28 Aug 1988, p. 352
[14] Chicago Tribune 18 Mar 1989, p. 77
[15] Personal email from Rosalie Harris and “Supplement to The Babble of Tower” article by Marj Abrams, 1993
[16] 680 N Lake Shore Drive - Wikipedia and Chicago Tribune 25 Mar 1988, p. 57
and “Supplement to The Babble of Tower” article by Marj Abrams, 1993
[17] Personal email from Lee Golub.
[18] 680 N Lake Shore Drive - Wikipedia
"Big Lew" Lewandowski, right in suit, talks to patrons as they wait in a long line to get into the Gold Star Sardine Bar to see Bobby Short perform in Chicago on Dec. 21, 1987. (John Bartley/Chicago Tribune) 1
Part 4: Treasure Island and the Gold Star Sardine Bar
Bill Allen (born Vasilios Karamboles), co-owner of Treasure Island, opened its 9th store on the first floor in the summer of 1982. Allen also opened the Gold Star Sardine Bar in 1982. Allen told his TI partner, Christ Kamberos, “I’ll call it the Gold Star. The Gold Star Sardine Bar because it’s going to be cramped.”[1] In a 2019 article reviewing the history of famous Chicago bars, Rick Kogan noted that the Gold Star capacity was 60 seated or about 100 standing. Kogan wrote: “There was never a cover charge. No minimum. No reservations. There were glasses filled with free cigarettes. More than 1,000 people were turned away for Bennett’s show and an astonishing 7,000 could not get in to see [Bobby] Short.”[2]
Headline entertainers performed there until it closed in 1997.[3]
[1] Chicago Tribune 11 Apr 1982, p. 212
[2] Was the tiny Gold Star Sardine Bar Chicago's greatest nightclub ever? (chicagotribune.com)
[3] Gold Star Shut Down, Evicted For Back Rent (Chicagotribune.Com)
Part 5: Fictional Treasure Island and the Gold Star Sardine Bar
Have you ever heard that Treasure Island was a location in a book of fiction? And that the Gold Star Sardine Bar, in addition to having famous clients and performers, was the subject of a column in the Chicago Tribune?
Paul Galloway and Bob Greene, Chicago reporters for the Sun-Times, wrote a series of articles with a fictional character called Mike Holiday. In 1977 Galloway and Green published a book called Bagtime with Mike Holiday as the narrator/author. Note that Mike Holiday, not Galloway or Greene, is shown on the book cover as the author.
In the book, Holiday is a "ladies’ man" who works as a 26-year-old “bag boy” at the Treasure Island on Wells Street. (There actually was a TI at 1639 N. Wells.) In 1979 Robert Falls adapted and directed Bagtime as a musical at the Wisdom Bridge Theatre. In 2001 Bruce Helford turned it into a TV pilot for Fox. Paul Galloway - Wikipedia
The title is a rip on E.L. Doctorow’s 1975 book Ragtime, set in NYC. In both Ragtime and Bagtime, their fictional protagonists interact with actual well-known people of the time. In Bagtime, Mike Holiday meets Hugh Hefner, Walter Jacobson, Norm Van Lier, Jane Pauley, Arthur Rubloff, the Beatles and others. (https://chicagohistorytoday.wordpress.com/2021/08/25/bagtime-chicago-parody-novel-1977-bob-greene/)
After the Gold Star Sardine Bar opened in 1982, Bob Greene wrote a column in the Chicago Tribune in which he claims to have been given an envelope from Mike Holiday, the contents of which are about how the Gold Star was dedicated to him in honor of his stories about his time working at Treasure Island. Below is a scanned copy of that Bob Greene article in column format.
Remember:
Mike Holiday is a fictional character. Bob Greene is having a little fun here.
“Bag boy gets an honor to Treasure”
By Bob Greene, Chicago Tribune, 20 July 1983, p. 17
AN ENVELOPE has been delivered to this office. Inside the envelope was a long note from Mike Holiday, a bag boy at the Treasure Island supermarket on Wells Street and author of the best-selling novel Bagtime.
Here are the contents of Mike Holiday's message:
I WAS BAGGING at the end of Checkout Line No. 1; it was nearing closing time at the Treasure Island.
Suddenly I felt someone standing behind me; I turned around to find Harvey, the store manager.
"Mike, Mr. Allen would like to see you," he said. I felt a wave of dizziness wash over me. Bill Allen is one of the owners of the Treasure Island chain of supermarkets; in all my years as a bag boy, I had never met him.
"Mr. Allen?" I said to Harvey. "Wants to see me?
“Do you know what it's about?"
"I have no idea," Harvey said. "But you'd better get in there pronto."
I STRAIGHTENED my apron, took a deep breath and walked back into the executive offices. I told Mr. Allen's secretary who I was. She said I should go right in.
I entered Mr. Allen's office. Mr. Allen was sitting behind an enormous desk. He was an immaculately dressed gentleman, wearing a three-piece suit that must have cost him $750. I suddenly felt shabby.
"Mike Holiday," Mr. Allen said. "So you are Mr. Mike Holiday."
I gulped and stood there. He told me to sit down. "It's been far too long without us meeting each other,"
Mr. Allen said. "Because of the things you write, a lot more people think of you when they hear "Treasure Island' than think of me."
I THOUGHT Mr. Allen might be annoyed at me; could he be hinting that he wanted me to stop writing about my experiences? But he laughed and went on.
"Mike," he said, "I suppose you've heard about our new store on Lake Shore Drive."
Indeed I had. The newest Treasure Island, located in a fancy condominium building at 666 N. Lake Shore Dr., was reputed to be one of the most elegant grocery stores in America.
"I'd like you to go over there," Mr. Allen said. My head swam. So I was being transferred! After all these years at the Wells Street T.I., they were moving me. I felt heartsick.
"Mr. Allen, I appreciate the offer, but I really don't want to switch stores," I said. "As you know, my apartment is right across the street from this store, above That Steak Joynt. It's so convenient for me just to walk across Wells Street to work.
Mr. Allen laughed again. "No, no," he said. "We're not transferring you. I just want you to see something over on Lake Shore Drive. Come on, I'll go with you."
WE LEFT the store and rode through traffic in Mr. Allen's chauffeured double-length Lincoln Continental limousine. We arrived at 666 N. Lake Shore Dr. But when we entered the building, Mr. Allen led me right past the grocery store and down a long hallway.
"Mike," he said, "as you may have heard around the store, some of us have opened a bar here in the new building."
I had heard that. The bar, across the hallway from the Lake Shore Drive Treasure Island, was to be called the Gold Star Sardine Bar. I had secretly wondered whether I would ever be ordered to deliver sardines to the bar, as decorations or whatever.
"I want you to take a look at something," Mr. Allen said. Our footsteps sounded in the marble hallway, and then we were at the entrance to the bar.
WE WALKED inside. It was a dark, small, beautiful barroom-more like something one would expect to find in Palm Beach than in a Chicago building that also housed a grocery store. Well-dressed men and beautiful women were sipping rinks; I heard one woman order a refill of something she called a "Rum Boogie."
"This is really something," I said.
"Well, then come here," Mr. Allen said. He led me over to a fancy-looking brass plaque. He pointed to it.
I looked. I thought I was going to faint. The plaque said that the new bar was dedicated to me.
I REMEMBERED having read what Dick Locher, the famous Chicago Tribune cartoonist, had said when he was first informed he had won the Pulitzer Prize: that he was afraid someone was pulling a cruel joke on him. That's how I felt, too.
But all of a sudden everyone in the bar was applauding. "It's yours, Mike," Mr. Allen said. "This bar is officially dedicated to Mike Holiday, recognition of all your years of service as a bag boy and for all you've done for the Treasure Island."
"But Mr. Allen," I said. "I would never fit in at a place like this."
"Nonsense," he said. "This is your bar. And besides, I'm sick of reading about you drinking that cheap Jamaican Red Stripe beer alone in your room. If you want a drink, from now on you have your own place. You may work for us on Wells Street, but in this bar we all work for you.
I WAS IN a daze. I sat down at the bar. John, the bartender, asked me what I'd like. I looked over at the plaque again, still not believing it.
"I'll take a Red Stripe," I said. John went down to the end of the bar and brought me a drink in a tall glass.
"What's this?" I said.
"No Red Stripes for you tonight," he said. "That's a Rum Boogie." He toasted me, and everyone else in the bar joined him. I was so embarrassed I could have crawled under the barstool. But I couldn't do that; so I toasted them back. I felt myself smiling, and then I felt tears coming to my eyes.
In the above Bob Greene column, Treasure Island and the Gold Star Sardine Bar are in a fictional letter from Mike Holiday, fictional author of Bagtime.
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