Site E
 Randolph
Street west of State Street was an early entertainment district
for Chicagoans. The State Street location of the Chicago Theater
and the State-Lake Theater, which was across the street form it,
marked the eastern end of this area . Chicago's major vaudeville
and movie theaters were on or near Randolph Street. Old Heidelburg,
once located just west of State Street, was a favorite place for
Chicagoans to dine out , as was Henrici's farther west on Randolph
in a building which stood on the site of the Daley Civic Center.
Several important historical and architectural landmarks stand
at the corner of Randolph and Dearborn. On the northeast corner
is the eight-story Delaware Building whose construction
began in 1872 and was completed in 1874. This Italianate structure,
designed by Wheelock and Thomas, was one of the first structures
built after the Chicago Fire and is a fine example of office and
reatil structures built in Chicago before and just after the Chicago
fire. The photograph above shows the Delaware Building in 1980.
The building which dominates this intersection, however, is the
thirty-one-story Daley Civic Center built in 1965. It is
made of Con-Ten steel that has oxidized to its present rust brown
color. The Daley Center acts as a link between the old entertainment
zone, which has faded drastically over the last twenty years,
and the political heart of the city on Clark Street. Holabird
and Roche's combined County Building and City Hall (1907,
1911) stands directly across Clark Street from the Daley Center.
Noontime concerts are held through most of the year in the Daley
Center Plaza or in the center itself depending on the weather.
Two movie houses occupy corners at Dearborn and Randolph. The
Woods Theater and its two twin neighbors to the north,
the Selwyn and Harris Theaters, are under consideration
for preservation rehabilitation as a theater row that would link
up to Chicago Theater on State Street. All of these plans, however,
are dependant on attracting funds for North Loop redevelopment.
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