jrozek posted: " Office buildings abound in Schaumburg Township. Some are big and majestic and dot the skyline. Others are compact and tucked in here and there. An example of the latter is the office building at 16 E. Schaumburg Road. Photo credit to an unknown newsp"
Office buildings abound in Schaumburg Township. Some are big and majestic and dot the skyline. Others are compact and tucked in here and there. An example of the latter is the office building at 16 E. Schaumburg Road.
Photo credit to an unknown newspaper, dated June 14, 1972.
When this building was proposed in 1972 by Barrington developer, Frank J. Munao and Son, he turned the architectural design over to McCarthy, Hundreiser and Associates, Inc. of Arlington Heights. According to a blog post from localarchitecturechicago.com, the firm was largely known for the many churches they designed.
In a photo caption from a June 14, 1972 issue of an unknown Copley newspaper, (which was most likely The Record) the proposed design would "feature offices on the second floor... and stores on the first floor."
The first major tenant of the proposed complex was Copley Weekly Newspapers. Interestingly, in the photo caption it states that this building would be "located on the site of the temporary offices we have occupied the past seven months... Copley offices have been moved this past weekend from the above address to a building located [a] half block east of the Roselle Road intersection on Golf Road." While we do not have a photo of the temporary offices, it is possible that it was this building at 14 E. Schaumburg Road, which is right next door.
Photo credit to Google Street View.
At their May 16, 1972 board meeting, the Schaumburg Village Board approved 32 parking spaces for the structure that was already referred to as the "Copley Building." The parking plan was approved with the caveat that Munao & Son agree to dedicate a 50-foot right-of-way from the center line of Schaumburg Road, on the chance it was widened to four lanes. Mr. Munao agreed to this proposal with a provision of his own that all other property owners agree to dedicate their right-of-way as well. About eight years later that widening took place and the building, along with others on Schaumburg Road, lost some of their frontage.
If everything went according to plan in 1972, the building, according to the photo caption, was scheduled to be finished "late this winter." While it is unknown if this referred to the end of 1972 or the early months of 1973, we know for sure that, by The Record's April 13, 1973 issue, you could find the following Copley Newspapers being published at 16 E. Schaumburg Road: The Record of course, Addison News-Bulletin, Bensenville Banner and the Township Times.
Photo credit to Google Street View
Within the next years, a variety of businesses found their way to this new office building: The Workshop; Northwest Water Conditioning, Inc.; Tri-Kelly Movers, Inc.; the regional office of the proposed Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center in Schaumburg; Homefinders David Hanner & Associates Ltd. (a realtor); Sta-Kleen, Inc. (a hood vent cleaning company for restaurants); Marchris Engineering; Emerson Electric; Browning Manufacturing; and Circle America's Kole Real Estate. It was quite a variety; yet, with no evidence of the retailers that the developer expected to see on the first floor.
If you are familiar with any other businesses that called this building home, please leave them in the comments. It's always nice to take note of the many entities that have occupied space in Schaumburg Township over the years. The total has been wide and diverse as 16 E. Schaumburg Road can attest to.
Jane Rozek Local History Librarian Schaumburg Township District Library jrozek@stdl.org
Next week there will be a recap of the The Record from April 13, 1973.
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