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Photo: hakkun, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
In the architecture of these massive public housing projects lies the South Side's tongue-in-cheek answer to the North Side's Marina City — in fact, they were built by the same architect, Bertrand Goldberg. With its enormous corncob towers and northern semicircular wall, the Hilliard Homes are impossible to miss when traveling between Downtown and Chinatown. Despite the architectural distinction of being the only public housing projects to get on the National Register of Historic Places, the towers have not always been a great place to live, suffering from urban blight similar to that found in public housing throughout the country. A mixed-income residential development was completed in 2006.
Hilliard Towers Apartments, formerly known as the Raymond Hilliard Homes CHA housing project, is a residential high-rise development in the Near South Side of Chicago, Illinois. It was designed by Bertrand Goldberg and is bounded by Clark Street, State Street, Cullerton Street, and Cermak Road. In 1999, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Raymond M. Hilliard Center Historic District. The development was named for Raymond Marcellus Hilliard, who was the director of the Cook County Department of Welfare from 1954 until his death in 1966.
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Comfortable sit-down music venue in the midst of McCormick Place. It hosts big pop, rock, gospel, and R&B concerts as well as occasional musical.
Mayor Richard J. Daley believed firmly — as his son, Mayor Richard M., did after him, and all subsequent mayors have — in total, ruthless domination of the convention circuit. Hence, the massive complex of McCormick Place, which is struggling to stay ahead of rivals in Las Vegas and Orlando. There's little reason to seek out McCormick Place unless your business is sending you there or you want to catch an event at Wintrust Arena (immediately below). That said, the auto shows are a draw for some visitors.
No tours are offered, as this long-derelict property has been rehabbed and divided into condos. This was the site of one of the great scandals of the Gilded Age. It was built by Marshall Field, the richest and most powerful man in Chicago, for his son. In 1905, the younger Field was found dead in his home under mysterious circumstances from a bullet wound. After two days, the family made the announcement that the bullet had been fired by accident during preparation for a hunting trip. According to rumors, though, he had been shot in a brothel in the notorious Levee. The elder Field died the next year, and the end of the Prairie Avenue era had begun.
U.S. Soccer House
A stately Châteauesque mansion from 1892 across the street from the Glessner House, often cited as one of the country's most important examples of this architectural style. No tours are offered, as the property is home to the United States Soccer Federation.
An arena seating a little more than 10,000 that opened in fall 2017 as the main event venue for McCormick Place. Its highest-profile tenants are the DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball team (college) and the Chicago Sky of the WNBA. The DePaul women's basketball team splits its home games between here and its smaller on-campus arena.
A stately Arts & Crafts mansion from 1887, now fully restored and refurnished to its original Gilded Age atmosphere. The staff are knowledgeable and enthusiastic.