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Chicago Temple Building Facts

- exact address: 77 W Washington, Chicago, IL 60602;

- the building is a 173 meters (568 feet) tall skyscraper church home to First United Methodist Church of Chicago;

- completed in 1923 it was the tallest building in Chicago until 1930 when it was surpassed by the Chicago Board of Trade;

- the Sky Chapel (the smallest of the church’s 3 sanctuaries, situated below the steeple with seating for 30 people) was installed in 1952. It was a gift from Myrtle Walgreen in memory of her husband who founded the drugstore chain with their name (Walgreens)

Shedd Aquarium Facts

- the complete name of the aquarium is John G. Shedd Aquarium;

- it is located in the Museum Campus, together with the Field Museum and Adler Planetarium;

- the Shedd Aquarium opened with its first exhibits on May 30, 1930 and was the first inland aquarium with a permanent saltwater fish collection; 1,000,000 US gallons of seawater were transported in 1930 by 20 railroad tank cars that made 8 round trips between Chicago and Key West;

- the aquarium was a gift to the City of Chicago by John G. Shedd, a retailer and protege of Marshall Field (Field himself was a benefactor of the Field Museum located in the same Museum Campus); unfortunately Shedd only lived to see the architect’s first drawings ; his widow, Mary R. Shedd was the one to cut the ribbon at the official opening ceremony;

- construction of the aquarium started on November 2, 1927 and lasted until December 19, 1929;

- with an annual average of 2 million visitors, the Shedd Aquarium was the most visited aquarium in the US in 2005 and the most popular cultural attraction in Chicago in 2007.

The first planetarium in the Western hemisphere…

…Adler Planetarium opened in 1930 and was a gift from local businessman Max Adler.

Merchandise Mart Facts

-the building occupies the entire block bounded by the Chicago River (on the North), Kinzie St (on the South), Orleans St (on the West) and Wells St (on the East);

- when it opened on May 5, 1930, the Mrchandise Mart was the largest building in the entire world;

- it was initially owned by the Marshall Field family;

- the building held the title of the largest building in the world in terms of floor space until 1943 when it was surpassed by the Pentagon

- from 1945 until 1998 the Mart was owned by the Kennedy family (Joseph P Kennedy Sr bought the building in 1948 for $12.5 million);

- the Merchandise Mart hosts an average of 20,000 visitors and tenants on a daily basis;