Chicago Riding Club

< --Previous Up Next–>

Chicago Riding Club, Chicago Arena, CBS Studios
Life Span: 1924-2006
Location: 630 N. McClurg St., 333 East Erie after 1936 remodeling
Architect: Rebori, Wentworth & Dewey

The Chicago Tribune, June 17, 1923.

By Al Chase

Chicago’s newest social sporting organization, “The Riding Club.” tentative plans for which were published recently, yesterday purchased a site on the west side of McClurg court, extending from Ohio to Ontario street, on which a $600,000 club house is to be built. The total investment in land and building will be more than a million dollars.

The new club will open next fall with a horse show which it is expected will outrival anything of the kind the middle west has ever seen. The various polo clubs around Chicago are planning the organization of an Indoor Polo league with a regular schedule of games every week, to be held in the new Riding club. In addition there’ll be weekly “music rides,” an equestrian feature Chicago has never had, exhibitions, horse sales, etc.

To Be Finest in Country.
At present, Chicago is the only large American city which hasn’t a high class riding club. The new organization will have the largest, most modern and best equipped building and the finest exhibition ring in the country.

Plans have been drawn by Architects Rebori, Wentworth & Dewey for a fireproof structure of the old English type, with half timbered effect, which will be completed within six months It will have a riding ring 305 feet long and 130 feet wide, with balcony around it. There’ll be stable accommodations for 500 horses; a clubroom, a lounging room, locker rooms, showers, etc.

Above is the latest thing in Chicago clubdom, “The Riding club,” is to be built on the west side of McClurg court between Ohio and Ontario, from plans by Rebori, Wentworth & Dewey. It will represent a total investment of more than a million dollars. More is told in a nearby column.

Five Classes of Membership
Five classes of memberships are announced. The first will be a bond membership costing $1,000, which gives the member a $1,000 bond, which is negotiable, as well as a membership for life without initiation fees or dues. This class of membership will be the only one with voting rights and the only one with a share in the equity.

The life memberships rank next and will cost $500, but will have neither voting power or ownership in the property. Resident memberships will have a $200 initiation fee and $100 yearly dues. The junior memberships will cost $100 annually, with no initiation fee. It has not yet been decided about the nonresident membership fees.

Preference in the allocation of stalls, use of riding hall and tickets for all horse shows, polo games, music rides and other entertainments will be in the order of and according to the class of membership.

poster

Chicago Riding Club Brochure

Seventeen on Board of Directors
Col. Robert R. McCormick is president of the new club. Other members of the board of directors include: John Hertz, Earl H. Reynolds, Prentiss Coonley, O. W. Lehmann, William Wrigley, Jr., John R. Thompson, Samuel Insull, Charles McCullocj, Joseph T. Ryerson, Leonard Florsheim, John Borden, Joseph M. Patterson, Harold Foreman, Martin J. Quigley, Albert B. Vewey Jr. and Frank R. Warren.

The site fronts 218 feet on McClurg court and 305 feet on both Ohio and Ontario streets. The 109×105 lot at the northwest corner of McClurg and Ontario was bought from the Seymour estate and the balance from the Miami corporation, controlled by Mr. Hertz, Mr. Lehmann, and Col. McCormick, and Winston & Co, represented the Miami corporation.

L. M. Newgnas of 113 West Adams street, telephone Randolph 4140, is in charge of the membership application blanks of the new club.

Chicago Riding Club under construction.

The Chicago Tribune December 2, 1924.

CHICAGO RIDING CLUB TO OPEN ARENA ON DEC. 15

Polo, Horse Show for Opening.

The big moment of the year will come a week form next Monday night, Dec. 15, when the doors of the Chicago Riding Club are to be thrown open and the city’s newest tan bark ring will make its formal bow to the public.

The official opening of the club has long been awaited by Chicago horse lovers. Since ground for the new institution was broken last February, interest in the riding club has been mounting steadily.

Twenty Minute Polo Game.
A festive program has been arranged for the opening night. There will be an exhibition of saddle and hunting horses. A twenty minute polo game will also be played. The general program will last about an hour and after that all the guests will be invited to ride about the new ring. Throughout the evening a picked band will hive a program.

In order that the club shall be completed on Monday night the contractor is pushing his workmen night and day, because the work is some six weeks behind schedule, but the officials of the club were confident last night that the structure will be in readiness by the opening night.

Best Kind in U. S.
The Chicago Riding club structure is the first building of any size to be constructed in Chicago for the exclusive use of horsemen. It is to be more spacious and better equipped than any riding club in America. The stalls will accommodate 460 animals. The tan bark ring is the largest arena in the world that is devoted exclusively to riding and equestrian sports.

The new club will afford facilities for polo, for horse shows, and steeple chases. The seating capacity of 3,000 will be increased to 5,000 for special shows and entertainments.

Chicago Tribune, April 18, 1941

Following is the text of Col. Charles A. Lindbergh’s speech, delivered last night in the Chicago Arena:

We are faced with an issue of as great importance as any that ever confronted the people of the United States. The immediate issue before us is that of war or peace. But underlying this issue is one of even greater importance. Is this nation of ours, this new world of the west, to have an independent destiny of its own, or must our future be forever entangled in these endless wars between the countries of Europe?

Seeks Independent Destiny.
I stand with those people who believe in an independent destiny for America. I believe that this country is strong enough to defend itself regardless of what takes place in other sections of the world—if only our government will devote its attention to our defense.

The time is here when those of us who have similar beliefs must band together to obtain the strength that comes only ith organization. It is for this reason that I speak to you from the platform of the America First committee tonight. I am making a plea for unity among the forces and the people in America who stand against our intervention in this war.

Principles of Committee.
The committee’s principles are simple and broad. Our objective is to make America impregnable at home, and to keep out of those wars across the sea. Some of us, including myself, believe that the sending of arms to Europe was a mistake—that it has weakened our position in America, that it has added to bloodshed in European countries, and that it has not changed the trend of the war.
Other members of this committee have supported aid to Britain, trusting in the promises of our President and our congress that such aid would actually be ‘short of war.’

The America First committee is open to any patriotic American citizen who opposes intervention, regardless of what his attitude on aid to Britain has been. As I said before, we are now confronted with the actual issue of war, and on this issue we take our stand.

War is not inevitable for this country. The claim that our participation is inevitable is simply propaganda by those who want to get us in. If we can be forced into a foreign war against the opposition of more than four-fifths of our people, then the idea of representative government and democracy will be proved such a failure at home that there will be little use fighting for it abroad.

Decision Is Up to Us.
Whether or not America enters the war is within our control. The decision rests upon the shoulders of you in this audience, upon us here on this platform, upon meetings of this kind in every community in the United States. Our forefathers have guided this country safely thru greater dangers than we face today. If our generation has become so weak that we cannot guard what they conquered with a fraction of our present population, then we deserve to lose the heritage they gave us.

We, in America First, must face realities, for we are dealing with the hard facts of war. But here we have one great advantage over the interventionists. Our mission is to clarify the issues before the American people. Theirs is to confuse them. Our mission is to build self-confidence and strength in America. Theirs is to create fear and willingness to be dependent upon others.

When we advocate an independent position for America, the interventionists shout that we are defeatists because we oppose jumping blindly into a war in Europe. But I ask you:
Whose policy has led to defeat, ours, or theirs? What have they to say about the long list of prostrate nations in Europe who, under their leadership, jumped into war hastily and unprepared?

Asks Realistic Thinking.
When I was a cadet, learning to fly, I was taught that success, and life itself for that matter, depended upon adequate preparation. If a man took off on a difficult fight hastily and unprepared, he lowered himself in the esteem of his fellow men; and, more often than not, he never returned from his flight. But the interventionists in America seem to have a different sense of values, quite contrary to ours. What we called caution, they now call ‘cowardice.’ What we called preparation, they call ‘defeatism.’ And for what we called success, they seem to have no name at all.

But again we must be realists. These values have not changed. We are simply experiencing the hysteria and propaganda that come with a major war. We must recognize the fact that along with perfectly sincere people, there are groups in this coun try whose prime objective is to get us into the war. Words are, to them, weapons to be used in any manner they think will be effective, regardless of whether truth or falsehood is involved.

These groups are our real enemies. They constitute our major danger of involvement in the war. Against their activities, we must be constantly on guard. These are the people who, under the guise of ‘steps short of war’ have led us to the verge of war itself. They now demand that we convoy ships to England with the American navy. If we do this it is inevitable that we will have American battleships sunk, and American sailors killed. Under no guise of imagination or propaganda can this be called a step ‘short of war.’

England’s Desperate Position.
We must face the fact that England is in a desperate position. Up to date she has lost every major campaign in which she has participated. Her shipping losses are of utmost seriousness, and her cities have been devastated by bombs. Her geographical and economic position is as great a disadvantage in this age of aircraft and submarines as it was an advantage to her in the era of sailing ships.

Personally, I believe it will be a tragedy to the world—tragedy even to Germany-if the British empire collapses. But I must tell you frankly that I believe this war was lost by England and France even before it was declared, and that it is not within our power in America today to win the war for England, even tho we throw the entire resources of our nation into the conflict. With all our organization and industry we are not, and will not be able to transport an army across the ocean, large enough to invade the continent of Europe successfully as long as strong European armies are there for its defense.

But I thank God it is not yet too late for us to save our own country from the chaos and the failure of this war. With all the errors that have been made, and notwithstanding the arms that have been taken from our own military forces to send to Europe, the United States is still able to defend itself against any foreign power. But if we are to maintain the ability to defend ourselves in the future we must not expose our fleet in European war zones, and we must stop sending most of our modern fighting planes abroad.

Our Favorable Situation.
From a military standpoint the United States is more favorably situated than any other nation in the world. In addition to an isolated geographical position we are highly industrialized; we have great natural resources, and a population of 130 million people upon which to draw for our army, our navy, and our air force. We have all the necessary elements in this country to build a civilization that is as strong, and permanent, and progressive as the world has ever known. Never before has a nation been in as good a position to protect and advance the ideals of democracy and freedom. Let us not sell such a heritage for the uncertainty of a European future and the chaos of a European war.

We of the America First committee ask you to join us in supporting an American destiny for this hemisphere—a destiny not of isolation, but of independence; not of reliance upon others, but of strength among ourselves; a destiny that knows no place for fear of any foreign land.

The Riding Club of Chicago didn’t survive the Great Depression, and 12 years later, the building was converted into the Chicago Arena, a place for less elite amusements.

Chicago Tribune, January 19, 1954

The Chicago Arena has been sold to the Columbia Broadcasting System for conversion into a “television city” for Chicago. H. Leslie Atlass, network vice president of CBS and general manager of WBBM-TTV, announced yesterday that the purchase price was $1,500,000.

An additional $1,500,000, he added, will be spent to convert the sports center at 630 McClurg ct. into the “largest enclosed TV studio center” outside Hollywood. The building is to be renamed “CBS-Chicago.”

Plan April Occupancy
While occupancy is slated for early April, WBBM-TV (channel 2), the CBS-TV outlet here, is not expected to originate programs from the site until late fall, Atlass said.

Four major studios, with removable walls to permit flexibility, will occupy the center area used heretofore to stage ice reviews, tennis matches, and other sport spectacles. Plans for one large audience participation studio with seating facilities for several hundred visitors.
poster
Ground Level Studios.
All studios, which will occupy 50,000 of the 87,500 square feet of available space, will be at street level to facilitate movement of stage properties. The remainder of the space will be used for scenery and maintenance shops, storage areas, and film processing facilities. Color as well as black and white programs will originate there.

Channel 2 currently stages its programs at the State-Lake building, 190 N. State st., and the Garrick theater, 64 W. Randolph st. Both sites will be vacated.

“We’ll move everything out of the State-Lake building by fall and the Garrick theater lease expires April 1,” Atlass said.

May Get N.Y. Shows.
Atlass said it is “natural” to expect that some VBS-TV programs now originating in New York City, which is critically short of studio space, will be moved here, but he did not specify shows. He disclosed CBS is planning a three hour morning program to compete with NBS-TV’s Today series, with Dave Garroway. One hour of the program will originate here, he said.

The Arena was sold by Allan M. and Ernest G. Loeb, brothers, and Gardner H. Stern, trustees. Barnet Hodes of teh law firm of Arvey, Hodes & Mantynbabd acted as purchasing agent.

The building was erected in 1924 at a cost of $800,000 by the construction firm of Bailey and Andrews, was originally known as the Chicago Riding club. A. N. Rebori was the architect.

Col. Robert R. McCormicj, editor and publisher of The Chicago Tribune, was the club’s first president.

The Black Horse troop of the National Guard was housed at the club for several years.

Chicago Tribune, July 16, 2006

poster

WBBM-Ch 2 has a letter if intent to sell to a developer the station’s historic Streeterville studios, the site of the first presidential debate, between John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon.

The developer, Golub & Co., would tear down the antiquated structure to make way for a residential development after the station moves to a new facility on Block 37 in late 2007, sources said.

The demolition of the studios at 630 N. McClurg Ct. has been expected since 2002 when the CBS-owned station hired real estate firm Staubach & Co. to explore options.

CBS News, January 12, 2012

Chicago (CBS)—The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago is moving ahead with its plans for a new hospital on the site of the old CBS Building, according to a published report.

Crain’s Chicago Business reported this week that the hospital plans to start construction next year on the new facility, which will occupy the site bounded by McClurg Court on the east, Erie Street on the north and Ontario Street on the south.

The hospital is currently located a couple of blocks to the north at 345 E. Superior St., among Northwestern University medical and campus buildings. The current hospital was built in 1974.

Citing an application to the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board, Crain’s reported the hospital plans to increase the size of the hospital by 50 percent, to 272 beds from its current 182.

Crain’s reports the hospital had net patient revenue of $155 million last year, and wants state approval to spend $26 million more on planning for the new hospital. A total of $7.5 million have already been spent on preparations, Crain’s reported.

If the state approves the plan, the Rehabilitation Institute would file a second application asking to begin construction of the hospital at an estimated total cost of $462 million, Crain’s reported.

The new facility will total 690,000 square feet, almost double what the hospital has now, Crain’s reported.

CHICAGO RIDING CLUB TO OPEN ARENA ON DEC. 15

Leave a Reply