Tuesday, April 12, 2016

April 12, 1955 -- Exposition Center Proposed


April 12, 1955 -- The Chicago Daily Tribune reports that "the world's greatest exposition center" was proposed at a meeting the previous evening at the first civic meeting that Richard J. Daley attended since his election on April 5. Daley said of the $34 million project, "This is one of those bold, imaginative, and comprehensive projects needed for the continued progress of Chicago." The new exposition center will be located at Twenty-Second Street and the lakefront in approximately the same location that the Century of Progress World's Fair was held in the summers of 1933 and 1934. Ralph H. Burke of Ralph H. Burke, Inc., who worked on the project with the architectural firm of Holabird, Root and Burgee, estimated that the facility would produce an income of $2.6 million the year it opened. "It will not only put Chicago in front, but will pay its way while doing it," Burke said. [Chicago Daily Tribune, April 12, 1955]

No comments: