Office Tower Dies
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- Опубліковано 20 жов 2012
- This is the old S&H Green Stamps office tower in Hillside Illinois. This tower was located along side the Tri-State Tollway (294) and the land parcel is surrounded by the tollway, I-290, and the East-West Tollway. The video has three segments; the view from the roof, a look at the office areas during the final days, and the actual demolition. The demo is the bulk of this video.... Production Note: This is ALL old VHS archive footage. I shot it more for myself than to turn it into a "pro" video. The control track on the old tape caused some frame flicker but is mostly viewable. You'll notice the flicker seems to occur mostly while I was walking around. I knew a bunch of folks who worked over there and they allowed me access to film. The rooftop and the "tour' segments were created about October 1998. S&H shut its doors, in Hillside, on October 31, 1998. The tower sat empty until the demolition in June/July 1999. So, why was it torn down? Part of that had to do with the nasty leaks throughout the tower. You'll hear my feet squishing around in quite a few places on the tape and that's because I was continuously walking through puddles. This building also, had not been very well thought out in regard to the floor plan. Originally, all offices would have been on the interior with the access halls circling them, along the windows. That was changed at the beginning as the VIP's demanded offices "with a view." Some of the office areas remain. After the walk through the tunnel, I come up in the "Action Center," and that particular building section survives. Also, the 250,000 square foot warehouse is still there. Since 1999, a storage place has been built atop the old parking lot, and the original S&H parcel is completely private property.
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Thank you for this. My father worked in the building in the mid 70s and it brought back good memories
You are very welcome! I worked in about every area in the old "S&H Motivation" complex. Later, I was given access to the Federal Express and Harlem Furniture areas. I always thought it strange that the tower would come down, but now that the Tollway construction has started, they are pretty much putting a major ramp across that plot of ground.
Quick note, really appreciate the video. Was looking for info on this building and a pic of the office tower and I could not find anything *anywhere*. This gave me tons of excellent info. Thank you!
I understand that this Office Tower was identical to a building in England. I was also told that the structure was supposedly built to be earthquake resistant. The place was getting run down when it was demolished. The old radiant floor heaters only worked the first several years, ans somebody screwed up as the the original floorplan had offices inward and the hallway on the exterior. That was reversed at opening but the structure still had the higher ceilings for the offices that should have been hallways.
@@ipfeldspar interesting. I was just wondering why there was a big green space there and the parking was so far from the entrance. Must have been a pretty small tower, could not have been much more than 50x200. You don't have any photos, do you?
This one was a lot of work. It is also one of the very few times i had the foresight to capture the event "way back." The footage sat on a VHS and when I finally had the technology, I transferred and edited. The initial footage, on VHS camcorder, took hours, and the transfer-edit took 4-5 hours. My edit software took five hours to "cook" the final video, and the upload took over ten hours (on broadband). However, it only takes one positive comment, like yours, which makes it all worthwhile!
Hi! Nothing on the demolition of the Menards/Goldblatts. Sad to see the last part of the mall go... I appreciate your kind words as to the video. I can remember stuff from the 1960's onward, but I would have loved to see the area before the expressway pushed through. A lot of the rail has beenm gone for decades and many current residents have no clue as to the areas rail history.
Well you definitely have a great product for sure. Hard work is always worth it. Thanks and stay safe.
I had a temporary job in 1986 where I and several others moved some items in the warehouse section, then went up to the office tower itself and moved some office furniture. I was surprised at the time to see the S&H Green Stamps sign at a time when I hadn't seen them for a very long time.I told my coworkers a joke I had heard on a black radio station (WGCI I think) when they have just played Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing", and the DJ joked about how he saw a sick woman and suggested that to her, and her response was, "Physician, heal thyself."
I cannot reply.... I'm busy laughing!
Another excellent video. Great stuff.
ipfeldspar, I just watched your Ghost Tracks video which led me here. Thanks for sharing these views and accounts of an area dear to me. I grew up there from 1955-1973. I have been 'home' a few times since then but not in the last decade. I know much of this video shows things as they were prior to my last visit but it's nice to be able to re-view some of the places that are slowly becoming clouded memories. Thanks for your effort.
Do you have any of the recent Shopping Center demise?
Was that the water tower in butterfield park? I can't recall the location of that building
No, the S&H office tower was almost a mile to the east of Butterfield Park. The building bordered the east edge of I-294, the Tri-State Tollway.
Awesome
Thank-You!
Any other footage of warehouse ?
I trimmed this video down from an hour plus on VHS tape. Someday, I'll go back through the footage. Anything I got in the Warehouse would have only been in the S&H Citadel (S&H Motivation) Fulfillment Center (aka warehouse). I want to say that the ware was 250, 000 Sq feet and the southeast section was vacant. Harlem Furniture had been in there and it stayed empty after whenever they pulled out. Fed-Ex had their Hillside Station in the northeast corner. Their section was a lot smaller than Harlem's. I was working there, as a all purpose contract employee, and I got permission to make the video. If I do re-do this, I'll be able to run in through image stabilization! It needs it! BTW - The Building Engineer was a Lugen named Ed who talked of running Physics experiments in the Boiler Room............
What company was it when you were there.
S&H Citadel but I started with S&H Motivation@@edr7230
Nice...
I worked there for a number of years. The building was designed to be earthquake proof. The building had been poorly maintained and that was the first reason I heard for the demolition. However, now that the Tollway expansion is proceeding, I think way back then, the Toll Authority was considering using some of the property? Thank-You for viewing and commenting!