East Wacker Drive south to Congress Parkway

After a startling decline beginning in the 1970s, State Street, that once-great street, seems to be toddling again. Historic anchors Marshall Field and Carson Pirie Scott never left, but the siphoning effect of suburban shopping malls took its toll downtown. Well-intentioned planners eliminated automobile traffic, widened the sidewalks, and crossed their fingers, and although it was too tough to die, State Street almost gave up the ghost. Now re-opened to automobile traffic, with new streetscape, State has had a multi-million dollar facelift, and new businesses have joined old stalwarts on what is arguably the most famous of Chicago’s thoroughfares.

Let’s start at the top and work our way down. Keep your eyes open for the new markers that denote points of interest. At Wacker Drive, the river behind you, you’ll see the Lake Street El tracks overhead. Walking south, examine the 1872 Page Brothers Building at 179 -191 N. State, with one of the city’s oldest remaining cast-iron façades. Next door is the Chicago Theater, built in 1921 by architects Rapp & Rapp and sensitively restored in 1986. The former movie palace now offers musicals, concerts, and special events. (Call 312-902-1500 for event information.) In summer, the alley next door hosts an organic greenmarket early on Friday mornings.

Marshall Field’s, at Randolph and State, is getting new neighbors. Construction on the northwest corner will provide space for the School of the Art Institute and a new film center, while long-vacant Lot 37 may soon fill with a retail store; rumors put a Lord & Taylor or cinemas on the site. Currently, it’s home to a summertime art program for high school students, and to the wildly popular Skate on State in the winter. Skate rental is a cheap way to warm up.

The Reliance Building at 32 N. State, begun by Burnham & Root in 1891, offers the earliest example of the “Chicago Window,” a characteristic architectural feature of the city. A central pane of plate glass allows precious sunlight inside, while a sash window on either side allows fresh air to come in - an important commodity in the days before air conditioning. Freshly renovated, The Reliance is now a hotel. On the southwest corner of State and Madison is the Chicago Building. (Notice the Chicago windows?) Repeatedly threatened by the wrecking ball, the Chicago was finally acknowledged as an important part of our architectural heritage.

Strolling on, pass the Palmer House Hotel at Monroe Street. There’s a wild Trader Vic’s hidden in the basement of this landmark. DePaul Center, in a former Goldblatt’s Department Store, shows the virtues of architectural reuse. A lively concourse and lunchtime concert programs make this a worthwhile rest stop.

As you approach Congress Parkway, orient yourself to William Le Baron Jenney’s Second Leiter Building on your left , and the Harold Washington Public Library on your right. The 1891 Leiter Building represents one of the most significant technological accomplishments of the late nineteenth century - the development of the glass curtain wall, made possible by an interior steel structure. The 1991 library represents postmodernism, I think. To really get a feeling for the building, visit its café, reading rooms, and bookstore, Second Hand Prose, and form your own opinion of it. You’re entitled. Because in Chicago, when it comes to architecture, everybody’s entitled to an opinion.