Lee Bey: The Urban Observer

(photos by Lee Bey) 

The Urban Observer--trying to make good on a resolution to get around the city a little more this year--finds himself on the city's West Side today, pondering the greatness of the former Sears & Roebuck complex at Homan and Arthington.

The collection of buildings was Sears' headquarters from 1906 until it vacated for the Sears Tower in 1973. Besides being good architecture, the buildings hold a lot of history. The tower on the right in the photo above is a remnant of the massive Catalog House that filled millions of mail orders each year. The top of the 14 story original Sears Tower held the original studio for WLS radio. (Sears owned WLS; the initials meant "World's Largest Store.")

To the right of the photo above you can also see a bit of the collegiate-looking Administration Building, which is now used by a variety of businesses and non-profits. Behind it is a powerhouse that, last I remember, was going to be turned into a charter school and named after noted developer Charles Shaw who died two years ago. Shaw was instrumental in preserving the plant and bringing new development around it.

On with the tour...

(Above) The base of the old Sears Tower

(Above) The Sears testing laboratory. The concrete floors were nearly two feet thick, former Sears industrial designer Chuck Harrison once told me. That's because they tested the strength of heavy appliances by dropping them on the floor. This building is not in use.

(Above) A secondary entrance to the former Administration Building. 

(Above) This Art Moderne building from about 1949 is a late addition to the Sears complex. This was the former headquarters of Allstate Insurance, which was founded by Sears. The name came from a brand of tire Sears once sold.

(Above) A stark view of a shuttered parking lot, shot from beneath a pedestrian overpass that led to the former Allstate Building.

(Above) A block-long park and gardens, built by Sears to provide respite for its workers, still exists and is well-manicured by the Homan Square Association, which has maintained the complex for years now. 

Check out this site for more interesting Sears facts, including one I'd never heard: Sears President Julius Rosenwald was part of a group of civic folk who helped bring in Eliot Ness to take down Al Capone.