Chicago and North Western Railway Power House
- Architect
- Frost & Granger
- Style
- Renaissance Revival
- City
- Chicago, IL
Frost & Granger designed this power house in 1909 to serve the Chicago and North Western Terminal, finishing construction in 1911 the same year the terminal opened. By 1948 the Chicago Tribune reported it generated enough power to serve a city of 15,000 people.
the building
227-foot smokestack. A 227-foot brick smokestack marks the building's corner at Clinton Street and Milwaukee Avenue. Inside, the irregularly shaped cream-brick building held a large engine room and boiler room alongside a smaller engineer's office and reception room.
the style
The building was mainly designed in the Beaux Arts style with elements of Italian Renaissance Revival, expressed in its cream brick walls and terra cotta trim, cornices, and ornamentation.
More on Renaissance Revivalsignificance
The power house ceased serving the terminal in the 1960s, but survived when the terminal itself was demolished and replaced by the Ogilvie Transportation Center in 1984, making it the last structure standing from the original 1911 complex.
nearby
- (Former) Mid-City Trust & Savings Bank Buildings
- The Montgomery
- St. John Cantius in Chicago
- Montgomery Ward Company Complex
- Merchandise Mart
- Old St. Patrick's Church