Does anyone remember what buildings occupied the block on which the Daley Center now sits?

I

From a 1961 photo in "Downtown Chicago in Transition" by Bronsky it appears that we lost Hoe Sai Gai, Sunny Italy, and the Round the Clock coffee shop. All of these were on the block with Henrici's along Randolph St prior to the demolition.

I found this article on former Chicago theaters. The Opera House Building once stood on the Daley Center (f/n/a Civic Center) block; then George M. Cohan opened the RKO Theater.

http://cinematreasures.org/theater/984/

This article gives a very good history of Henrici's Restaurant which was located on the Daley Center site before demolition. Located on Randolph between Clark and Dearborn.


http://chicagocrimescenes.blogspot.com/2009/04/striking-waitresses-at-henricis.html


Photo of interior of Henrici's.

http://www.cardcow.com/216658/henricis-restaurant-chicago-illinois-chicago/



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/11/2009 07:26PM by fleurblue.

My dad remembered a second-floor poolhall on that block in the fifties. He would sometimes go over there on his lunch break.

Here's a photo Of Clark street looking north toward Randolph
<a HREF="http://www.americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=rko&ProductID=26239">AmericanClassicImages</a>

There are 2 theaters on that image, The RKO Grand,showed movies,
The Erlanger, live theater,closed in 1962 with "Bye Bye Birdie"

In the background is the Greyhound bus terminal that replaced the Apollo theater,demolished in 1953.

There was a Cort theater on the Dearborn side that I don't have a closing date for, it's listed on a map from the twenties on the
Jazz Age Chicago web site. An image can be found at the following link
<a HREF="http://snuffy.lib.umn.edu/image/srch/bin/Dispatcher?mode=600&id=atc1837 ">snuffy.lib.umn.edu</a>

Check out www.whatwasthere.com and look for pictures uploaded near Clark and Randolph.

in '61 or '62 I remember thumbing through old comic books at a magazine back issue shop in that block, on randolph I think