Chicago spruces up the Rookery

This city took another major step in its ambitious plans to renovate the downtown area when the Continental Bank embarked on a five-year restoration program for the 1888 landmark Rookery Building in the South Loop area.

The building was designed by partners Daniel H. Burnham and John Wellborn Root. The $26.6 million restoration project is due for completion in 1987.

In 1970, the Rookery was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, and two years later was designated a Chicago landmark structure.

Another project in the works is the extensive restoration of the 1894 Reliance Building, also designed by Burnham and Root with Columbian Exposition architect Charles Atwood.