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Article: History in the remaking // City shows its new face in South Loop
- Article from:
- Chicago Sun-Times
- Article date:
- April 14, 1992
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1992 Chicago Sun-Times. (Hide copyright information)
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Twenty and more years ago, Chicago was stuck with a 600-acre
carcass south of the Loop, and didn't know what to do about it.
The old railyards lay in ashes between the river and South State
Street, a colossal dead end left over from days of steam and smoke.
One day three corporate bigwigs looked hard at all that land.
Commonwealth Edison's Thomas G. Ayers was one. The others, as he
later recalled it, were Donald Graham of Continental Bank and Gordon
Metcalf of Sears. They all wielded civic clout.
"We ought to do something about the yards," one said. A lot of
people had said that.
But what? They asked Real Estate Research Corp. for advice. A
surprising answer came back: Build ...