There's a shot in the Flickr feed of the elevator shaft inside the Central Manufacturing District's clock tower that inspired my next question. Does anyone know if the tower had some other function, aside from being a clock tower and ostensibly an advertisement for the CMD? It's not connected to the other buildings above street level, so being an additional elevator doesn't seem to be its function.

Just wondering...

I found a promotional booklet for the CMD online and page 46 answers your question Jeff. Yes, the tower had multiple functions, it had a passenger elevator and the clock, but most importantly held the fire sprinkler tank for the 187,600 sq. ft. structure.

https://archive.org/stream/centralmanufactu00cent#page/46/mode/2up

I quickly scanned through the booklet looking for the clock tower but there are many other interesting references in it also. Among them were the available railroad spur to each building, yearly bulk quantity building material purchases to hold down costs, and this, wages are held down as a result of the large available work force. That last one struck a chord with me.
I think the clock deserves another mention. BITD many did not own a timepiece so the clock served an important function in that regard too, whether it was getting to work, school or an appointment.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/12/2014 11:43AM by b.a.hoarder.

Thanks, b.a.!

I wonder what the future holds for what's left of CMD's buildings? They all appear to be abandoned. I also wonder who was the idiot who decided to tear down the Damen Avenue Viaduct over CMD's yards. That would have handled the local traffic driven off Ashland is that bus "rapid-transit" operation is built.

Should have figured about the water tank...

Some more on the Damen Avenue viaduct per Chicago History Today.


http://chicagohistorytoday.wordpress.com/2013/11/12/south-damen-avenue-viaduct-chicago/

Interesting. I remember quite a bit of traffic on it back in the 1960's. What I heard around CDOT when it was closed was that there was no money to repair or replace it, and most of the tracks were gone. That latter claim seems like a lot of hooey, looking at Google Satellite recently, but I guess cutting back CTA bus service, and the twilight of the CMD, probably helped its demolition along. It seemed so typical of Richard M., tearing down or completely rebuilding, things his father, Richard J., built.

Daddy issues...

I wonder if Bubbly Dynamics has tried to get space in the tower. They've taken over some of the buildings.

http://www.bubblydynamics.com/