Building Construction
Built by the R.C. Wieboldt Construction Company, the Silk Factory Lofts building stands in good company. R.C. Wieboldt is noted for its part in erecting many prominent Chicago buildings, including Union Station and the Shedd Aquarium.
The Tribune Tower
The company laid the foundation for the Tribune Tower in May of 1923, and in 1933, they were selected to restore the Palace of Fine Arts, the last remaining building of Chicago’s 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Now the Museum of Science and Industry, this 1.6 million dollar restoration involved 350,000 cubic feet of Indiana limestone, weighing 28,000 tons. Mr. Wieboldt himself personally oversaw the installation of the caryatids and statues over the portals, which he referred to as “the ladies.”
The Museum of Science and Industry Caryatids
In 1935, “in case of a World Series,” R.C. Wieboldt was recruited to install the famous Wrigley Field bleachers for a fee of twenty-nine-thousand-dollars. The seats, beginning at the top of the walls in left and right fields, added nearly 800 feet to accommodate 12,000 spectators.