Auditorium Building

About

The Auditorium Building is an early skyscraper at the northwest corner of South Michigan Avenue and Ida B. Wells Drive in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Built between 1887 and 1889, it is one of the best-known designs of Adler & Sullivan, the partnership of Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler. The building was designed as a multi-use complex consisting of the Auditorium Theatre, offices, and a hotel. Frank Lloyd Wright, then a young apprentice, worked on some of the interior design. The building is owned and operated by Roosevelt University.

The building was constructed by a syndicate led by Chicago businessman Ferdinand Peck, and its theater opened on December 9, 1889. Originally, ownership of the land and building was separate; the Auditorium Association owned the building, and the land was split between four entities. The Auditorium Association began looking to replace the building as early as 1922; it subsequently went bankrupt, and the landowners took over in 1932. The building was renovated, operating until 1941. It was briefly used as a servicemen's center during World War II before being taken over by Roosevelt University in 1946. The university converted the former offices and hotel into classrooms, and the theater inside was renovated between 1958 and 1967. The building has undergone additional modifications throughout the years, including renovations in the early 2000s.