Chicago Architecture Info

Chicago Board of Trade

Address
141 West Jackson Boulevard
Chicago, Illinois 60604
Click here to purchase prints or download these images of Chicago Board of Trade
Basic Information
Designed by Holabird & Root
Cost $22,000,000
Type Skyscraper
Floors: 45
Maximum height 605 feet/182 meters
Neighborhood: The Loop
More Information
  • Rentable floor space: 1,300,000
  • The sculpture of Ceres, the Roman goddess of agruiculture, was executed by John Storrs.
  • The building is clad with gray limestone.
  • This is the home of WCIU Television (channel 26).
  • At the time of its completion, this was the tallest building in Chicago. It was surpassed in 1965 by the Chicago Civic Center (now the Daley Center).
  • Although the "Chicago Board of Trade" no longer exists, its successor, The CME Group has chosen to keep the building's historic name.
  • At one time there were more than 2,700 miles of communications cables beneath the trading floor.
  • The statue of Ceres at the top of the building is 30 feet tall and weighs 6,500 pounds.
  • 1882: Construction began on the first Chicago Board of Trade Building at this location.
  • 1894: A spectator in the gallery began shooting into the trading floor. Three people were shot.
  • August, 1911: The CBOT filed for a permit with the City of Chicago to build a new 22-story building 200 feet tall. This was done to get around a city ordinance scheduled to go into effect September 1, 1911 restricting the height of buildings in the city to under 200 feet.
  • October 26, 1921: CBOT president Joseph P. Griffin announces that the organization will build a new 23-story building, expected to cost $6,000,000.
  • January 29, 1927: The CBOT filed plans for a 43-story tower with the City of Chicago.
  • 1929: The CBOT building was demolished
  • 1929: Construction began on the new CBOT building.
  • June 9, 1930: This building opened to the public for an hour from 9am to 10am before trading began for the first time at 10am when President Hoover in Washington pressed a button signaling the start of the trading day.
  • May 4. 1977: This building was named a city of Chicgao landmark.
  • June 2, 1978: This building was named a National Historic Landmark.
  • June 16, 1978: This building was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
  • 1980-1983: The building was expanded with a 24-story addition by Murphy/Jahn; Shaw & Associated; and Swanke, Hayden, Connell Associates Architects. It added 581,000 square feet of space at a cost of $45,000,000.
  • March 18, 1985: More than a dozen people were hurt when a fire broke out in this building.
  • 1997: Another addition was added to this building by Fujikawa Johnson Architects.
  • 2005: An interior renovation project began.
  • 2006: The interior renovation project was completed.