The Dexter Building was a landmark building located at 630 South Wabash Avenue, in the South Loop area of Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

. The building was designed by the firm of Dankmar Adler

Dankmar Adler

Dankmar Adler was a celebrated German-born American architect.-Early years:...

 and Louis Sullivan

Louis Sullivan

Louis Henri Sullivan was an American architect, and has been called the "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism" He is considered by many as the creator of the modern skyscraper, was an influential architect and critic of the Chicago School, was a mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright, and an...

, and built in 1887. Prior to its destruction in 2006 it was one of the earliest surviving Louis Sullivan buildings, and was considered a precursor of the nearby Auditorium Building. It was designated as a Chicago Landmark

Chicago Landmark

Chicago Landmark is a designation of the Mayor of Chicago and the Chicago City Council for historic buildings and other sites in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Listed sites are selected after meeting a combination of criteria, including historical, economic, architectural, artistic, cultural,...

 in 1996 and was described by the Landmarks Division of the City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development as an "irreplaceable link in the chain of work of one of the nation's most important architectural partnerships". It was distinctive in its use of exterior perforated girders, prefiguring designs of seven decades later.

History

The building was commissioned by Wirt Dexter, a Chicago attorney and real estate developer. Originally it was used as a factory and showroom for the R. Deimel & Brothers furniture manufacturing firm. From 1967 it was the home of the George Diamond Steak House, and the upper floors later housed the Sawyer Secretarial College.

Fire

On October 24, 2006, scrap dealers were cutting up a boiler

Boiler

A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications.-Materials:...

 in the basement for salvage with acetylene torches that sparked a large fire. The fire was allowed to get out of control and gutted the building. At its peak, the fire, which started in the basement at around 3 pm, was a five-alarm fire, the Chicago Fire Department

Chicago Fire Department

The Chicago Fire Department, also known as the CFD, is the principal fire suppression, prevention, and rescue agency of Chicago, Illinois, under the jurisdiction of the mayor of Chicago. The Chicago Fire Department is the second largest fire department in the United States after the New York City...

's highest level of alert, with over 250 firefighters responding. Following the fire, the surviving shell of the building was too unstable to save and was demolished. At the time of the fire there was no insurance on the building.

In popular culture

The Wirt Dexter Building can be seen in the near background of one scene in the 2001 movie Just Visiting.

External links

• Article about the fire by Lynn Becker
• Save a Landmark; Put Down the Blowtorch, Landmarks Illinois: Article about the fire and use of acetylene torches in rehabilitating historic buildings, with pictures