Photo of Sign Coming Down
Design for Sign Going Up
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End of the line for Santa Fe sign?
April 30, 2012 Chicago Tribune Rob Manker
The permit review committee of the Commission on Chicago Landmarks is scheduled to consider a request Thursday to replace the Santa Fe sign with one bearing the name of incoming tenant Motorola Solutions Inc., according to the committee's draft agenda.
In the agenda, city staff recommend approving the proposal, provided the new sign does not stray from the current look.
"As proposed, the 'Motorola' copy shall be consistent with the existing ('Santa Fe') copy in terms of color and illumination levels at night," the staff recommendation says.
The permit request was submitted jointly by Schaumburg-based Motorola Solutions, design company Identity Solutions and property manager Jones Lang LaSalle.
Motorola Solutions announced last week that it would lease one floor of the historic, terra cotta-sheathed structure at 224 S. Michigan Ave., part of the Historic Michigan Boulevard District.
The 17-story building, originally known as the Railway Exchange Building, was designed in the early 20th Century by D.H. Burnham & Co. and completed in 1904. Some say Daniel Burnham created his famous Chicago plan in the building's penthouse.
In a 1985 review of the building's recent renovation, then-Tribune architecture critic Paul Gapp praised the sign.
"The most obvious exterior change is in the east-facing 'Santa Fe' sign atop the building. It has been toned down by removal of the railroad's old logo," Gapp wrote. "As with some of the other rather prim rooftop signs along South Michigan Avenue, it actually adds a nice touch of after-dark color to the skyline when viewed from Grant Park or Lake Shore Drive."
Perhaps not for much longer.
