Oliver Building (Chicago)

The Oliver Building is located at 159 N. Dearborn Street in Chicago within the Loop.

This article is about the landmark Chicago building. For the Pittsburgh skyscraper, see Oliver Building (Pittsburgh).
Oliver Building
Oliver Building Front Door with Oliver Typewriter Company ornamentation
Location159 N. Dearborn, Chicago, Illinois, United States
Coordinates41°53′05″N 87°37′45.5″W
Built1907–1908
NRHP reference No.83003563 [1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP1984
Designated CLMay 9, 1984
Oliver Typewriter Company ornamentation on Oliver Building (Chicago)

History

It was built for the Oliver Typewriter Company from 1907-1908 by Holabird & Roche. When two floors were added in 1920, Holabird & Roche were hired for the expansion. The cast iron exterior features typewriter-related motifs. It was declared a Chicago Landmark on May 9, 1984.[2][3]

The windows above the second floor are known as "Chicago windows," and are wide window panes bracketed by narrower double-hung windows. The windows also include the name of the company below the central pane.[3]

In the 1990s, when the Oriental Theatre wanted to expand its backstage area, architect Daniel P. Coffey came up with a design plan that gutted the Oliver while preserving one-third of its original steel structure, as well as the building's Dearborn facade and a portion of its alley facade.[4]

Notes
  1. "ILLINOIS - Cook County". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2007-07-06.
  2. "Oliver Building". City of Chicago. Archived from the original on 2009-06-30. Retrieved 2007-06-17.
  3. Wolfe, Gerard R. (1996). Chicago: In and Around the Loop. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. pp. 53–55. ISBN 0-07-071390-1.
  4. Kamin, Blair (2007-04-08). "The Danger of Becoming Skin Deep". Chicago Tribune.
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