Benson & Rixon Building

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]

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

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. "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. "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. Storch, Charles "McSween hopes he won't stay the only black on the Mall", Chicago Tribune. November 19, 1979. p. D10.
  11. "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. 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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