Benson & Rixon Building
General information
Architectural styleStreamline Moderne
Location230 S. State Street, Chicago, Illinois
Coordinates41°52′43.3″N 87°37′40.5″W / 41.878694°N 87.627917°W / 41.878694; -87.627917
Completed1937
Technical details
Floor count6
Design and construction
Architect(s)Alfred S. Alschuler

The Benson & Rixon Building is a Streamline Moderne building in Chicago's Loop. It was designed by Alfred S. Alschuler, and was built in 1937.[1]

History

Men's clothing retailer Benson & Rixon purchased the property where the building stands in 1936 for $598,500.[2] The building was constructed at a cost of $375,000, and their new store opened on October 12, 1937.[3] Benson & Rixon's State Street store was previously in the Consumers Building, across Quincy Street.[4] The building was remodeled in 1958 and 1970.[1][5][6] Alterations in 1970 included replacing the original rounded storefront with a square one.[1][6] In 1966, Benson-Rixon was purchased by Eagle Clothes, and the chain was phased out by February 1973.[7] The store became Leading Man Clothing.[8][9]

In late October 1979, Cirilo McSween opened a McDonald's franchise in the building.[10][11] It was the first African-American owned business in the State Street Mall.[10] In 1983, it was the top McDonald's restaurant in the country, in terms of gross sales.[11] The restaurant remained open until the 2010s.[1][12][13]

In 2005, the General Services Administration acquired the Benson & Rixon Building and neighboring buildings, using eminent domain to seize some of the properties, citing the need for increased security around the Dirksen Federal Building.[14][15][16] In 2012, the Benson & Rixon Building and the neighboring Bond Building were renovated.[14]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "230 South State Street, Chicago, IL", General Services Administration. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
  2. ↑ "Benson & Rixon Pay $598,500 for State St. Site", Chicago Tribune. September 4, 1936. p. 35.
  3. ↑ "Benson & Rixon State St. Store to Open Tuesday", Chicago Tribune. October 10, 1937. p. B11.
  4. ↑ Chase, Al. "Men’s Clothing Chain to Open Chicago Store", Chicago Tribune. June 2, 1936. p. 29.
  5. ↑ "Informality is Key in Benson & Rixon Store Remodeling", Chicago Tribune. November 8, 1958. p. A5.
  6. 1 2 "Benson-Rixon Will Remodel Its Loop Store", Chicago Tribune. February 17, 1970. p. C5.
  7. ↑ Nagelberg, Alvin. "Benson-Rixon Stores Being Phased Out", Chicago Tribune. October 5, 1972. p. C8.
  8. ↑ Hunt, Ridgely. "'That Great Street' is 9 blocks long", Chicago Tribune. December 22, 1974. p. A19.
  9. ↑ Starr, Mark. "Delight, dismay as Street Mall starts", Chicago Tribune. June 20, 1978. p. B1.
  10. 1 2 Storch, Charles "McSween hopes he won't stay the only black on the Mall", Chicago Tribune. November 19, 1979. p. D10.
  11. 1 2 "A Crusader Special Feature", The Chicago Crusader. December 19, 2018. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
  12. ↑ Eng, Monica; Haramis, Kelly; Reardon, Patrick T. "Loos in the Loop: From the unusual to the unsanitary", Chicago Tribune. July 28, 2004. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
  13. ↑ "Free Fry Day On Thursday At McDonald’s, Plus Big Macs, Too", CBS 2 Chicago. October 24, 2012. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  14. 1 2 Dickert, Kevin. "Two Building Makeovers Part of Federal Center Expansion", Curbed. January 4, 2012. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
  15. ↑ "Feds invade State Street", Crain's Chicago Business. November 14, 2005. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  16. ↑ "A Bright Future for Century and Consumers Buildings Archived 2020-01-12 at the Wayback Machine", Preservation Chicago. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
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