| Sherman House Hotel | |
|---|---|
_(1).jpg) Postcard image showing the fourth iteration of the hotel (right, completed in 1911) and its annex (left, completed in 1925) with "Hotel Sherman" signage | |
| Location | Northwest corner ofRandolph Street andClark Street in Chicago Illinois |
| Coordinates | 41°53′07″N87°37′54″W / 41.88528°N 87.63167°W /41.88528; -87.63167 |
| Built | 1836–1837 |
| Demolished | c. 1860 (first hotel) 1871 (second hotel) 1910 (third hotel) 1980 (fourth hotel) |
| Rebuilt | 1860–1861; 1872–1873; 1910–1911 (annex constructed in 1925) |
| Architect | William W. Boyington (second and third structures) Holabird and Roche (fourth structure) |
  Location of Sherman House Hotel in Chicago metropolitan area | |
TheSherman House (sometimes calledHotel Sherman) was ahotel inChicago,Illinois that operated from 1837 until 1973, with four iterations standing at the same site at the northwest corner ofRandolph Street andClark Street. Long one of the city's major hotels, the hotel's fortunes declined in the 1950s amid changes to its surrounding area, and it closed in 1973. The fourth and final building it had occupied was demolished in 1980 to make room for theJames R. Thompson Center.
From 1836 to 1837,Francis Cornwall Sherman constructed the hotel at the northwest corner of Randolph Street as the "City Hotel".[1] It was three stories tall.[1][2] It was renamed the Sherman House in 1844 after Sherman remodeled it, with two stories added to it.[1][2]
In 1839, Sherman retired from managing the hotel, handing over management to the firm of James Williamson and A.H. Squier.[1] The next year, Williamson retired from the firm, and William Rickards acquired his interest.[1] Proprietorship of the hotel remained in the possession of Rickards and Squier until 1851, when they sold their proprietorship to the firm of Brown & Tuttle.[1] In 1854, the firm became Tuttle & Patmor when A. H. Patmor acquired Brown's share in that firm.[1] In 1858, proprietorship was acquired by Martin Hodge and Hiram Longly.[1]
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At the same site as the first hotel, Francis Cornwall Sherman built a new structure, breaking ground on May 1, 1860, and opening the new structure to guests on July 1, 1861.[3] The structure was designed byWilliam W. Boyington.[1] It became one of the city's grand hotels, alongside theTremont House.[4] The front of the building was made ofAthens marble on the levels above it storefronts.[1][3] Its primary entrance was along Clark street, with a two-storyportico.[3] To the right of the main entrance was the building's ladies' entrance.[1] The building was 161 feet long along Randolph Street and 181 feet long along Clark Street.[2][1][3] The building had an open court in its center, and rose six stories.[1] There was a western section of the building along Couch Place that rose seven stories.[1] The building was designed in modern Italian style.[1]
Journalist James W. Sheahan wrote that the hotel's public spaces, including its Grand Hall, parlors, and reception rooms, "are not surpassed in size or general convenience by any similar hotel apartments in the country."[5]
The hotel was lost in theGreat Chicago Fire in 1871.[6] Before the fire, the hotel was operated byGeorge W. Gage.[7][full citation needed]
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Following the fire, the hotel operation briefly relocated to the former Gault House atMadison Street and Clinton Street, until they could build their new structure.[2] While operating at this site, it was referred to as the "Little Sherman House".[2]
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The hotel was rebuilt again.[8] From 1872 to 1873, the hotel's third structure was constructed at the same site as the previous hotels.[2][8][6] The third hotel, as with the second, was designed by William W. Boyington.[2][8][6] The building was 160 feet long along Randolph Street and 181 feet long along Clark Street.[6] As with the previous building, the entrance was located along Clark Street.[6] The ladies' entrance was along Randolph Street.[6] The building had a courtyard, and featuredfireproofvaults.[6] The building was constructed from graysandstone quarried from a newly openedquarry inKankakee, Illinois.[6] The building was 115 feet tall.[6] It contained 300 luxurious rooms, includingsuites.[6]
The hotel was one of the city's "big four" post-fire hotels, the other three being theGrand Pacific,Palmer House, and theTremont House.[6]
The hotel attracted high-profiletheateractors to reside in it, includingJoseph Jefferson andMaurice Barrymore.[6]
The hotel came to be the Chicago headquarters of theDemocratic Party.[6]
In 1904, Joseph Beifeld became owner of the hotel.[6] For the twenty years prior to that, the hotel had been run by J. Irving Pierce, who had been proceeded by three generations of the Sherman family in operating the hotel.[6]
The hotel was home to the famous College Innrestaurant.[6]
In September 1909, the hotel closed to be replaced with a new structure.[2][6]
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Constructed from 1910 to 1911, and designed byHolabird and Roche, the new 757-room Sherman House Hotel retained the establishment's status of being one the nicest hotels in the city from the time it opened, until the 1950s.[2][8][9] It was a modern hotel housed in a twelve-storyskyscraper ofsteel andmasonry construction.[2] It was constructed in theSecond Empire style.[10]
The hotel contained a new College Inn.[2][11] This would be a very popular site forbig band music performances.[12]
As with the previous hotel, the new hotel was the Chicago headquarters of the Democratic Party, housing the formal headquarters of theCook County Democratic Party.[13][14] However, in 1932, the Cook County Democratic Party moved its headquarters to the third floor of theMorrison Hotel.[15]
In 1920, the building's decorativemansard roof was demolished and an additional six floors were added to the building, bringing it to seventeen stories.[2]
On April 12, 1924, theAMradio stationWLS began broadcasting from a studio in the hotel.[16][17]
A 23-floor annex was constructed in 1925.[2][9]
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Ernie Byfield, one of the hotel's owners, built a two-story, four-bedroom residence atop the hotel's roof, with plans of living there himself. However, he never lived there, as there proved to be tremendous demand by politicians and famous actors to stay in this apartment. The first people to stay in that apartment werePresidentCalvin Coolidge andFirst LadyGrace Coolidge.[18]
The hotel's venues, such as the College Inn, Panther Room, Well of the Sea, and Scuttlebutt Lounge, for years, were famed institutions.[2] The College Inn was a popular venue for musicians to perform.[12] The hotel, for years, anchored a vibrant district of the city full of popular theaters, restaurants, and hotels.[2] It attracted many celebrities.[14] It was also a popular gathering place for politicians who worked at nearbyChicago City Hall.[12] It hosted events, such as the1938 NFL draft.[19][20] In the 1950s and 1960s, however, the demolition of the adjacentAshland Block skyscraper (and its replacement with aGreyhound Lines bus terminal), the demolition of theGarrick Theatre/Schiller Building, and the land clearance taking place to make way for the Chicago Civic Center (now named theRichard J. Daley Center) greatly diminished the liveliness of this district.[2] In the 1950s, the hotel's reputation began to decline.[9]
In 1969, a 10x57 large foot concrete relif sculpture entitledThe Form Makers: 1836–1969 byNehemia Azaz was added to the lobby of the hotel.[21]
In either 1971 or 1972, a decision was made to strip the building to its steel frame and reconstruct it as a modern building with aglasscurtain wall,[2] transforming the building into an apparel mart named the "Sherman Fashion Plaza". A new 28-floor hotel structure was planned to be built adjacent to it.[18] At the time this decision was made, the hotel was operated by Gerald S. Kaufman. The hotel was closed in 1973, fixtures were stripped from it, contents were sold, and the building subsequently sat vacant for roughly seven or eight years.[12][2] The renovation never materialized, as ownership had been unsuccessful in receiving financing for the partial demolition and reconstruction of the building.[2] The owners had taken a loan from theTeamster Local 710 pension fund in 1974, and the pension fund began legal proceedings in January 1976 to attempt to foreclose the building's ownership after they failed to repay the loan.[22]
In November 1978, MayorMichael Bilandic, as part of a broader $7.4 billion five-year public works plan that was planned to reshape much of the city, proposed building a new State of Illinois office building on the site occupied by the structure of former hotel.[23] In 1980, the building was demolished to be replaced by the State of Illinois Center (since renamed theJames R. Thompson Center).[2][8][9][24] While the majority of the building had been vacant after the hotel's closure, up until shortly before the building's demolition, street level businesses continued to operate out of the building's storefronts before they were ordered by a Circuit Court judge to vacate so that demolition could begin on the structure. Due to its location at a busy area of theChicago Loop, it was decided to dismantle the building floor by floor, as opposed toimploding it. A number of other neighboring structures were also demolished in order to make room for the new state office building.[12]