R. R. Donnelley Plant

R.R. Donnelley
Life Span: 1918-Present
Location: Southeast corner of Calumet and 21st
Architect:

Chicago Tribune, July 6, 1924

LAKESIDE PRESS TO BE BIGGEST OF KIND IN WORLD
Work Now Under Way on Six Story Addition.
By Al Chase

When work now under way on a six story addition to the Lakeside Press building, Calumet and 21st, is completed and the next big unit, an eight story annex, is built, the R. R. Donnelley & Sons company will have the largest printing establishment of its kind in the world, with one exception. It’ll take several more good sized additions to make it surpass in size Uncle Sam’s government printing office in Washington, D. C., at present probably the world’s biggest.

In addition to having a plant to be notable for its size the Donnelley concern will have one of the most beautiful commercial buildings in the world.

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The section on Calumet, shown on the right of the above picture, containing the two-story entrance, probably won’t be built for several years. The part now building will cost $700,000. The completed structure, shown above, will front 375 feet on Calumet and 250 feet on 21st. It will go to within fifty feet of 22d street. Howard Shaw is the architect.

A feature new to Chicago and originated, it is said, by T. E. Donnelley, will be fire escapes hidden inside fireproof tower section at the corners of the building and not noticeable from the street. In order to get to them, persons must go out of exit doors to an outside platform and then back in the tower by another door. In this way no smoke can get into the tower.

Give It the Gotham O-O.
Some time ago a group of New York architects, attending the A. I. A. convention here, taxied down to the south central district and gave the plant, then only two stories high on the 21st street side, the Gotham once over, which is known to be the chilliest of the entire 0-0 family.

They showed the first bit of enthusiasm they had displayed since their arrival.

“If Howard Shaw can keep up the architectural beauty to the top of the eighth floor that he’s put into those two first stories, this will be the best piece of manufacturing architecture in the world,” commented an internationally famous Gotham architect. The others agreed with him.

The adjoining picture will give some idea of what the structure will look like when all additions are completed. The tower, however, will be much taller than shown.

When the buflding is finished we respectfully suggest that every Chicago architect who believes that all buildings should look as much like packing cases as possible, with huge cornices and as many horizontal lines and ledges as possible, journey south and use his eyes. We believe he’ll learn something.

Tennis Courts on Roof.
The pieture shows only seven stories but there’s a set back and an eighth story you can’t see. This top floor probably will be used for offices, according to T. E. Donnelley, president of the R. R. Donnelley & Sons company. On it will be tennis courts and various outdoor amusement features. A running track might be laid out on the roof of the seventh floor.

The late Richard R. Donnelley, father of Reuben and Thomas E., who now operate the business, founded the Lakeside press about fifty-nine years ago. He built the Lakeside building at the southwest corner of Clark and Adams, only to have it burned down in the big fire. He rebuilt it and it still stands, bearing the same name.

Prints First 10 Cent Novels.
He did several things which made his Lakeside press famous the world over. He was the first person to print and sell standard novels for 10 cents. His firm has been printing for several years the American edition of the Britannica encyclopedia, one of the greatest printing jobs in the world.

The firm has what is said is the best hand book bindery in this country. It is more than a mere printing plant. It does general engraving, book binding on a large scale for eastern publishers, as well as printing millions of catalogs, magazines, advertising pamphlets, and telephone directories. All the Chicago phone books are printed by this concern.

For one who likes figures here are a few: There are now 270,000 square feet of floor space in the Calumet-21st plant. The addition now under way will add 170,000; the Plymouth court plant has 160,000 square feet. This will give the company a total of 600,000 square feet.

When the eight story addition on Calumet avenue is built, which, however, probably won’t be for several years, this total will slide up to 940,000 square feet, or about twenty-one acres of floor space.

Library completed in 1929 in the Calumet Avenue plant of R.R. Donnelley.

A pressman working inside a printing press, 1942.

An aerial view of the R. R. Donnelley plant in 1935.

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