Welcome to CornerSpotter, Curbed's weekly game in which you, fair readers, consult archival streetscape photos or postcard illustrations to identify the building(s) and/or location presented. Time to tap that reservoir of urban minutiae and flaunt it before your fellow readers. Fire away in the comments, and we'll reveal the correct identity and backstory on Tuesday.
You can count on any Loop building with 125 years under its belt to have lived a number of lives under a variety of aliases. With this building (top right) that rule applies to the facade, which hasn't been tampered with in a while but underwent a renovation and modification just 15 years after construction. Originally a hotel, said to have brought fine dining to Chicago, the building served a long stint in manufacturing and is being eyed for trendier reuse. Despite the rampant building boom and population explosion of the 1880s and 90s, straddling the Columbian Exposition, the hotel couldn't bring in steady enough money to last more than a decade. At least we still have the building, a minor miracle. OK, your turn. Give us the building and its location.
·CornerSpotter [Curbed Chicago]
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