Roanoke Building and Tower
- Architects
- Holabird-Roche Rebori Wentworth Dewey McCormick
- Year
- 1915
- Style
- Gothic Revival
- City
- Chicago, IL
This LaSalle Street tower rose in 1915 on the site of the earlier Roanoke Building, itself built as Major Block 2 after the Great Chicago Fire and once home to the National Weather Service's official Chicago climate station. Holabird & Roche designed it together with Rebori, Wentworth, Dewey & McCormick in a Portuguese Gothic style, and the building absorbed the frontages of several neighboring structures, including the former DeSoto Building, as it took shape.
the building
Built over a weather station. Before this tower existed, the site held the original Roanoke Building, known as Major Block 2, which served as the National Weather Service's official climate-recording site for Chicago—a functional history now buried under the current structure.
A patchwork footprint. The current building absorbed the frontages of several earlier structures east of the original site, including the former DeSoto Building, rather than rising on a single cleared lot.
the style
The building is identified as Portuguese Gothic, an unusual stylistic label among Chicago's mostly Gothic Revival and Beaux-Arts LaSalle Street towers, applied here by Holabird & Roche working with Rebori, Wentworth, Dewey & McCormick.
More on Gothic Revivalthe architect
Holabird & Roche designed the building jointly with the firm Rebori, Wentworth, Dewey & McCormick, completing it in 1915.
significance
The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places under its earlier name, the Lumber Exchange Building and Tower Addition, on December 6, 2007, and named a Chicago Landmark six days later.
nearby
- Central YMCA Headquarters
- 19 South LaSalle Street
- Chicago Loop Synagogue
- New York Life Insurance Building, Chicago
- One North LaSalle Building
- Chicago Stock Exchange Building