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The Buckingham Building: A Jewel In Chicago

When you work and live in a fast-paced urban setting like the city of Chicago, there is so much history being made that much of it doesn’t seem to get recorded. For those of us lucky enough to work in the elegant buildings still gracing the city’s skyline, it isn’t uncommon to find ourselves stumbling over bits and pieces of lost history or items that reveal events long ago and long forgotten.

That’s the first impression we had when we entered the lobby of The Buckingham Building at 59 East Van Buren Street. This Holabird & Root designed, 27-story, art-deco jewel immediately captivated our imagination when our eyes were drawn to the metal artistry adorning the elevators. The exquisite art-deco metal motifs depict various transportation themes and made us wonder just who, what and why the building’s original designers included these themes in their original design.

Designed in 1927 and built in 1929, the Buckingham Building was actually first named the New Athenaeum Building because it resided on the site of what previously held the “old” Athenaeum Building. The word “athenaeum” can mean one of two things. It could denote a club or society that shares a common interest or it could denote an athletic group given to a particular sport. Our research revealed that Chicago did once host an Athenaeum Club, which engaged in rowing and boating contests against its apparent rival, the recently defunct Chicago Athletic Club. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, athletic clubs were quite fashionable not only with the city’s wealthy residents, but in every neighborhood. In Chicago, both the Chicago Bears and the Chicago Cardinals - now the Phoenix Cardinals - football teams originated from local sporting clubs.

It’s possible that members of Chicago’s Athenaeum Club were interested in world travel or exploration. During the nineteen twenties and thirties, the world was still vast and round and often clubs would host seminars where world travelers would mesmerize listeners with descriptions of faraway places.

For some reason, the building’s name was changed to the Buckingham in 1930, just shortly after construction was completed. According to some historians, the name was selected to highlight the building’s views and proximity to the new Buckingham Fountain that was built in 1927 and donated to the city by Kate Buckingham in honor of her late brother, Clarence. Others however, contend that the name change was to honor the Buckingham family who were investors in the building project. Of interest is the fact that Route 66, the highway linking Chicago to Los Angeles, began its long path westward at the fountain. Perhaps this fact played some role in the transportation theme inside the Buckingham’s lobby.

It is also likely that the famous stock market crash of 1929 and the subsequent economic depression played some role in the building’s change of names. Many social clubs folded when membership fell and a large number of commercial buildings underwent changes in ownership and tenancy. The Buckingham underwent yet another name change in the early 1930’s and became known as the Socony-Vacuum Building. Socony is an acronym for Standard Oil Company of New York, one of the thirty-four independent oil companies created when the government forced the break-up of the original Standard Oil Company in 1911. In 1931, Socony Oil merged with the Vacuum Oil Company – an American oil company founded four years before the original Standard Oil, in 1866. Eventually, Socony-Vacuum would become ExxonMobil.

In 1999, the building was listed on the National Register of Historical Places and in 1922, the City conferred landmark status to the building as part of the Michigan Boulevard Landmark District. But despite such honors, the structure was in decline and abandoned, awaiting a rebirth from developers that would finally come in 2007.

Even most native-born Chicagoans don’t know that in the city’s central loop area there are thirty-one universities represented. More than seventy thousand university students attend school in Chicago’s Loop and only five of the universities there provide student housing.

This supply and demand imbalance eventually led to the rebirth of the Buckingham into what is now a premier inner-city student housing center that exclusively serves students at Chicago’s Columbia College under a master leasing agreement.

Owned by private investors and managed by U.S. Equities Student Housing, the building is managed by Meg Murphy and operated by Bill Radke, the Chief Engineer, and Assistant Chief, John Hobin.

Bill, who previously worked at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago, greeted us upon our arrival and in addressing our initial question about the ornate elevator artwork. He pointed out that his management team has been researching the same questions we had and commissioned an artist to copy the designs onto canvas that now adorns the front lobby waiting area near a comfortable seating area.

As we walked, Bill gave us the statistics on the building. Up to 456 students can be housed in the 129 studio, two– three- and four-bedroom apartments in the building. Retail space of 4,700 feet exists along Van Buren Street that is presently occupied by a bank. While every apartment in the building is loaded with modern amenities - including washers and dryers – the building also left plenty of common areas for tenants to enjoy including a complete fitness center, party rooms, Internet Café and study rooms.

Tenants are provided free Internet access in common areas and most students share Wi-Fi access in their own apartments. The building rents large-screen flat panel televisions to students during semesters or students can bring their own televisions from home if they prefer. Modern kitchens assure parents that their children at least have the tools necessary to eat right while away at school and a large bicycle storage area in the basement of the building allows students plenty of pedal opportunities along the beautiful city lakefront.

Each apartment is equipped with its own HVAC unit comprised of heat pumps served by a central condenser water system circulating throughout the building to the large Evapco brand condensing towers located on the roof.

Apartment ceilings range in height from 9.5 to 14.5 feet and most offer incredible views of the city and nearby lakefront.

While every unit contains full size kitchen appliances including refrigerators, range, microwave, and garbage disposal, we were impressed by the attention to detail and to specific tenant needs exhibited by the management team. For example, young students away from home for the first time may not be particularly adept at operating washers and dryers. On occasion, someone might just put the wrong items or soap into one of these appliances causing it to break. Anticipating just this, the management has set aside laundry rooms for students to use until their own appliances can be repaired or replaced.

It was just this sort of thinking that most impressed us as we accompanied Bill through the various student apartments and common areas. There is much attention to detail directed specifically toward students; like the segregation of students less than twenty-one years of age from those older to inhibit underage drinking and the security that prevents unauthorized people from entering the building.

It was pretty clear from our visit that the Buckingham has a long and bright future in store and that the young students housed there will, in turn, nurture the past and shape the future of cities throughout our country.

We thank Bill and John for the time they spent showing us their building and for the professionalism they both demonstrate in administering to one of Chicago’s hidden jewels that has made a grand rebirth on the cityscape.

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