In my travels, I've come across several old Illinois Bell buildings converted to other uses. With computerization, conversion to wireless, they no longer needed all the old clerical offices and garages. Just like Chicago public schools, the buildings I know seem to have distinguishable architectural style.

On Montrose and Linder they coverted the building to Vaughan School.
One Northwest highway and Bryn Mawr they converted the building to Sweet Connections bakery.

I seem to remember a building on Western Ave. north of Lane Tech and Addison.

Another building I remember seeing is on Northwest highway, don't recall if it is still in use.


I would be curious to know what they did in these buildings or other closed buildings now being used for other purposes.

Nearly all the buildings were "central offices," home to switching equipment (and back-up batteries) that served an area a couple of miles in radius around the building. In the early days of telephony, these [i]exchanges[/i] were localized switchboards, so to make a phone call across town you'd tell your local operator to connect you to "Norwood 6118." By the 1920s, you could dial NOR 6118 yourself, and in the 1940s the system changed to be NOrwood [7]-6118.

The big clacking electromechanical switches took up a lot of room, and with the introduction in the 1970s of electronic switches, the central offices needed less space. Entire floors could be sealed off, or in some cases nearby offices could be consolidated, making one whole building surplus. Other space savings came with the elimination of most operators and directory assistance, full computerization of billing, and similar changes.

Nearly all IBT buildings were designed by Holabird & Root, so Bob Bruegmann's three-volume catalog of H&R commissions gives dates and other details.

There is a building at 1618-22 West Pratt at Ashland that is still standing. I am not sure of the status of it now but it looks like it is still being used by the phone company. The building was built around 1953.

Also Loyola University Chicago, Lake Shore Campus had a sub station for Illinois Bell back in the mid 1970's. It was in the lower level of the Jesuit residence building at the time.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/16/2015 06:34AM by rjmachon.

Kchi Wrote:
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> In my travels, I've come across several old
> Illinois Bell buildings converted to other uses.
> With computerization, conversion to wireless, they
> no longer needed all the old clerical offices and
> garages. Just like Chicago public schools, the
> buildings I know seem to have distinguishable
> architectural style.
>
> On Montrose and Linder they coverted the building
> to Vaughan School.
> One Northwest highway and Bryn Mawr they converted
> the building to Sweet Connections bakery.
>
> I seem to remember a building on Western Ave.
> north of Lane Tech and Addison.
>
> Another building I remember seeing is on Northwest
> highway, don't recall if it is still in use.
>
>
> I would be curious to know what they did in these
> buildings or other closed buildings now being used
> for other purposes.

There's one on NW Highway that is still in use as a switching office. It's along the east side of the street, and if I remember correctly, northwest on Nagle (don't remember the cross street).

I also remember a couple who bought a small and very old Illinois Bell building in Waukegan, turning it into a dwelling. Quite a while back (Late 70's).

There was an Illinois Bell Building on the 5600 block on north Broadway. It is now a Public Storage building.

My dad worked for Illinois Bell for years, and I first remember him working in the Merchandise Mart, Room 1254. It seems that Illinois Bell tore down their old building at 225 W. Randolph, and moved his office into the Mart until the new, existing building at 225 W. Randolph was built. After completion of that building, he was moved to the older building adjacent at 212 W. Washington, and retired from there in 1976. While my father passed away a while ago, I still am in contact with one of his co-workers who now lives in New Mexico. When I told him that their old workplace was converted into condos, he was totally flabbergasted. He simply could not conceive anyone wanting to live there.

Wasn't there an Illinois Bell building at 63rd and the Illinois Central tracks too?

There's a current central office at 61st & Dorchester and an older one a block over on Kenwood that has been converted into a U of C building.

I worked for Ameritech for a time in Glenview/Northbrook and we used to visit two central offices fairly regularly. It was around the time when a lot of the switching equipment was being changed, so in one part of the building, the floor would be full of the old clicking electromechanical switches, and different floor would be almost completely empty except for maybe one rack of new switches. The back-up battery rooms were pretty imposing.

One of them also had a vestibule and window at which you could pay your bill but it had been abandoned and locked.

My mom worked at the old 212 Washington building for years and also couldn't believe it went condo. IIRC wasn't that building also Holabird & Root?

212 W. Washington--1912--Holabird and Roche; 2002--condo conversion--Fitzgerald Associates. Info courtesy of "AIA Guide to Chicago" (an invaluable resource).
Holabird and Roche was the name of the firm from the 1880's to the late 1920's. After the deaths of both William Holabird and Martin Roche in the 1920's, the next generation took over--William's son John Holabird (Sr.) and John Root (son of Daniel Burnham's first partner, John Wellborn Root). They changed the name of the firm to Holabird and Root. John Holabird, Jr. also joined the firm (he retired around 1980). The name has stayed although, as far as I know of, it's no longer a family-owned business.

There is an active Illinois Bell building (AT&T) on the far southwest side located between Vanderpoel and Prospect on 99th. Street in Beverly. It's an older but attractive and well maintained building. I know that back in the day it was full of switchboard operators. Not what they do in there now.

I own a former exchange building on Western Ave. Pond & Pond Architects, 1904.The following book has some great exterior and interior photos of the exchanges Irving Pond designed: http://hyoogenpress.com/irving-k-pond-book.htm

frworksonpaper Wrote:
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> I own a former exchange building on Western Ave.
> Pond & Pond Architects, 1904.The following book
> has some great exterior and interior photos of the
> exchanges Irving Pond designed:
> http://hyoogenpress.com/irving-k-pond-book.htm

The one just north of LeMoyne, by chance?

Yes north of LeMoyne

u

"I seem to remember a building on Western Ave. north of Lane Tech and Addison."

This building is at the southwest corner of Western and Grace, the cornerstone is dated 1957. This is my old neighborhood and I still remember being a little kid, standing with my Dad on the east side of Western watching the heavy equipment start the digging when it was built. Dad told me that the clubhouse for Mid City Golf Course had stood there once upon a time. Later, I'd found out that the same area had been clay pits where clay was dug for brick making after the fire of 1871.
Still later, the area was used as a dump, the Grace Street dump which seems to have extended from Western west to the river, then sometime in the 1920s, the area was repurposed as Mid City GC.
I have digressed somewhat, but the last time I was in the old neighborhood, I believe it was still a phone company building, Ameritech, IIRC.
I've lived in Florida now for 32 years but I still miss Chicago and the old neighborhood.

Diogenes9561 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "I seem to remember a building on Western Ave.
> north of Lane Tech and Addison."
>
> This building is at the southwest corner of
> Western and Grace, the cornerstone is dated 1957.
> This is my old neighborhood and I still remember
> being a little kid, standing with my Dad on the
> east side of Western watching the heavy equipment
> start the digging when it was built. Dad told me
> that the clubhouse for Mid City Golf Course had
> stood there once upon a time. Later, I'd found out
> that the same area had been clay pits where clay
> was dug for brick making after the fire of 1871.
> Still later, the area was used as a dump, the
> Grace Street dump which seems to have extended
> from Western west to the river, then sometime in
> the 1920s, the area was repurposed as Mid City
> GC.
> I have digressed somewhat, but the last time I was
> in the old neighborhood, I believe it was still a
> phone company building, Ameritech, IIRC.
> I've lived in Florida now for 32 years but I still
> miss Chicago and the old neighborhood.

Still there, still in use, but now the reconstituted AT&T owns it.

BTT

(tu)

Mtt.