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The Reliance Building, Chicago

A then-unprecedented amount of glass was used in this early skyscraper, bewildering a public still used to masonry walls.

A then-unprecedented amount of glass was used in this early skyscraper, bewildering a public still used to masonry walls. Note the difference between the first two floors and the ones above: hold-outs among the previous building's tenants forced developers to build the foundation and the first two floors under the top three floors from the old building, and then knock off the top three when their leases had expired. It was restored when it became the Hotel Burnham in 1999, and can be explored with a stop at the Atwood Cafe.


Hours

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Mon

8:00

18:00

Tue

8:00

18:00

Wed

8:00

18:00

Thu

8:00

18:00

Fri

8:00

18:00

Sat

8:00

14:00

About The Reliance Building

 1 W Washington St, Chicago, IL, United States

 +1 312-782-1111

 www.burnhamhotel.com

The Reliance Building and Nearby Sights on Map

Ford Center for the Performing Arts

Originally known as the Oriental Theater when it opened in 1926 as an ornate movie palace on the site of the former Iroquois Theater, the Ford Center for Performing Arts is a premier live performance venue that hosts Broadway productions

LaSalle Bank Theater

Another Broadway in Chicago theater

Chicago Pedway

Daley Center

The 1965 Daley Center is Chicago's principal civic center and boasts a gigantic Picasso statue on the adjacent plaza

Chicago Picasso Statue

The Chicago Picasso Sculpture on Daley Plaza in the Chicago Loop is a 50 feet tall Cubist sculpture by Picasso that was installed as the first major public artwork in Downtown Chicago

Chicago Theater

Originally built as the Balaban and Katz Chicago Theater for motion pictures, it has been refurbished as one of the city's premier performance venues

Chase Tower

Located at the exact epicenter of CTA's Loop transit system, this 850ft building is distinctive for its vertical curve

Goodman Theater

Non-profit theater company in an extremely expensive space; they pride themselves on new works, but are better known for revivals of plays from the American theater canon

The Haskell Building

Originally designed by John Mills van Osdel, the city's first accredited architect after the Chicago Fire, this four-story building is one of the oldest in the Loop

Jewelers Building

Louis Sullivan was only a draftsman at the time this was built, but there are some interesting designs nestled into expressive façade and the classic, powerful masonry walls