The Medical Arts Building, Oak Park
715 Lake Street is hard to miss if you've visited Oak Park; it's a rare tall building in a low-rise suburb. Architect Roy J. Hotchkiss designed the Deco/Nouveau skyscraper near the end of a highly productive career, in 1929; still in use as office space, it's a contributing member of a National Register district.![P6033606](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4093/4807231232_20347445ba.jpg)
![P6033579a](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4073/4807231678_eaa5f07805.jpg)
It's also quite dramatically illuminated at night.
![IMG_0763](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4095/4807231380_6596127c8f.jpg)
4500 W. Division
O & G Spring and Wire Forms Specialty Company occupies this low, long factory building, the front facade of a fairly large complex.![IMG_1379](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4122/4806675043_a340f1b92e.jpg)
The factory's entire facade is nicely decorated with mosaic tile and brick patterns, but it's the entry tower that makes you swerve to the side of the road for a longer look.
![IMG_1382](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4080/4806577571_5160165107.jpg)
![IMG_1380a](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4094/4806675211_d259a910cd.jpg)
![IMG_0749](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4115/4806580917_c1a35c6d29.jpg)
Hey.... aren't those the same wall sconces as the Medical Arts Building?
O & G was founded in 1966 by a Polish immigrant and employs about 75 people today. The company made unfortunate headlines in 2008, when a supervisor shot and killed an employee after a quarrel.
The Tribune library archives are not working correctly, or I might have more info on the building itself. But maybe it's enough to just bask in its geometric glory.
1 comment:
That factory is heart-stoppingly beautiful.
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