From website marinacityonline (dot) com
http://www.marinacityonline.com/history/page12.htm
Plenty of pictures on site
Tower on top of tower
On December 1, 1961, a 12-foot-high cross weighing more than 600 pounds was hoisted to the 53rd floor of the east tower – as high up as it went at the time. Illuminated in red and facing south, the double-bar cross promoted Christmas Seals for the Tuberculosis Institute of Chicago and Cook County. It is now the symbol of the American Lung Association.
Early in January of the next year, the idea of a beacon and “range lights,” a pair of lights used for navigation, was being discussed for Marina City. It was proposed by John Magill, a columnist for the Chicago Daily Tribune. Mayor Daley responded to this by saying it was a “good idea.”
Then in October 1962, Chicago’s first commercial television station, WBKB (now WLS-TV), announced it would erect a 426-foot tower (285-foot mast supporting a 140-foot-six-inch antenna) on the west residential tower. 969 feet above ground, the top of the tower would be the highest point in Chicago. It was a rental agreement worth $1 million to Marina City.
The tower, built in 1964, featured a column of red lights that flowed upward when temperatures were forecast to increase, and downward when they were expected to drop. Slowly blinking lights meant a storm was approaching. Steady illumination meant no change.
Two rings of light at the base of the tower spelled victory (white) or defeat (blue) for a Chicago sports team. A third ring represented the WBKB “Circle 7“ logo.
The beacon was designed, built and maintained by White Way Electric Sign & Maintenance Company of Waukegan, Illinois. It was controlled from WBKB studios at Marina City.
WBKB started broadcasting from Marina City in September 1964. In 1974, WLS moved its television transmitter from Marina City to Sears Tower. Mayor Richard J. Daley threw a ceremonial switch and the station went off the air momentarily, then came back with a poor signal said to be almost unwatchable.
According to Mike Wilson, an engineer for KTLA-TV in Los Angeles, who worked at WLS while attending college in Chicago at the time, there had been an error in the construction of the new transmitter or antenna. The station switched back to the Marina City antenna until the problem was corrected.
I have been looking for some time for information about the television antennas that were perched atop the west tower of Marina City in Chicago from the early 1960s to April of 1978. I know they were designed by White Way Sign Co., but they seem to have little or no information about them. I'd like to see any photos anyone has taken from whatever angle, photos of their removal (a photo appeared in the Chicago Tribune the day after de-construction started), or any other images anyone may have or know of. Marina City (complete with antennas) was and continues to be one of my favorite structures
and I have the opportunity to photograph the building inside and out in April through the courtesy of two friends who live in the building. I'm looking to share these images
- from parking garages and lobby to the roof - with you folks here at skyscraperpage. com. So, if anyone has information/images or whatever about these long-gone electronic gadgets that added a lot to the city's skyline back in the day, please reply. Thanks for your help in advance - there are some outstanding images here and you inspire me to get out my camera and start snapping!
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