DOWNTOWN — The city has set a date for a public hearing on granting landmark status to the Marina City complex.
The hearing will take place Oct. 16 at 9:30 a.m. in Room 1103 at City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle St., with new Landmarks Commissioner Carmen Rossi serving as the hearing officer.
The Commission on Chicago Landmarks moved the process forward in July, and since then the Department of Planning and Development has been preparing a report on the matter and seeking consent from building owners. Following the public hearing, the issue will return to the commission for final approval or not.
The twin towers of Marina City, the actual marina below, the building now occupied by the House of Blues and an adjoining building with a bowling alley and offices were designed as a city unto itself by architect Bertrand Goldberg in the early '60s.
RELATED: How Marina City Was Made: 1965 Film Shows Towers Being Built
The complex, with the towers in organic forms resembling corncobs, is considered his masterpiece. The Department of Planning and Development called it "an icon of Chicago architecture and urban planning."
Wilco used a photo of the towers as the cover for its landmark album "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot."
Marina City was also the focal point of daredevil Nik Wallenda's tightrope walk across the Chicago River a year ago and his ensuing blindfolded walk between the two towers.
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