Harriet Rees Mansion Relocation Opens Door to McCormick Place Additions

Lee Edwards | As of Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Formerly located at 2110 S. Prairie Ave., the 760-ton Harriet Rees Mansion was recently relocated to 2017 S. Prairie Ave. as a preservation method in order to make way for the construction of the McCormick Place Event Center and Marriot Marquis Headquarters hotel both slated to be completed by 2016.
Formerly located at 2110 S. Prairie Ave., the 760-ton Harriet Rees Mansion was recently relocated to 2017 S. Prairie Ave. as a preservation method in order to make way for the construction of the McCormick Place Event Center and Marriot Marquis Headquarters hotel both slated to be completed by 2016.

The historic Harriet Rees Mansion, 2110 S. Prairie Ave. in Chicago, a three-story, 762-ton, brick and limestone structure, was recently relocated one block north to 2017 S. Prairie Ave. in order to make way for the construction of the McCormick Place Event Center, a 10,000-seat event center, and a 1,200-room Marriot Marquis Headquarters hotel, both slated for completion by late 2016.

The relocation, approved by the City of Chicago Commission on Chicago Landmarks, is part of Mayor Emanuel’s “Elevate Chicago” initiative.

“We are proud to not only preserve an important piece of Chicago history, but also make new history by successfully moving a house of such massive size and weight,” said Jim Reilly, CEO of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority (MPEA). “This undertaking could not have been possible without the support of Ald. Pat Dowell, the MPEA Board, the Commission on Chicago Landmarks, the residents of the local community and our development team.”

“The Rees House’s history in Chicago and the enormous scale of the project make this move significant locally and nationally,” said Allan E. Bulley Jr., chairman and CEO of Bulley & Andrews. “And the fact that the house was built around the same time my grandfather founded our company makes it particularly significant for Bulley & Andrews. We’re privileged to be a part of it.”

The move and restoration of the Rees House were coordinated by Chicago contractor Bulley & Andrews, with Thornton Tomasetti serving as the project’s engineering firm. Wolfe House and Building Movers performed the move of the structure.

Prior to the move, the house was cut from its foundation using masonry saws, lifted on jacks and loaded onto 32 massive automated dollies. The total weight of the structure with the rolling dollies and exoskeleton of steel to stabilize its brick construction is 1,045 tons. The house measures 95 feet long, 72 feet high and 25 feet wide. The residence’s two-story, 187-ton coach house was relocated on October 1.

“[Harriet Rees Mansion] was a major home in the historic Prairie District and I think that moving it from its location in the 2100 block of Prairie [Ave.] to the 2000 block of Prairie [Ave.] maintains the character and the fabric of the old Prairie District neighborhood,” said Alderman Pat Dowell (3rd Ward).

To ensure that her ward’s residents were up-to-date on what is taking place with both the relocation of Rees House and the McCormick Place construction projects, Dowell had a community advisory committee that worked with her office and with the MPEA authority to keep residents “involved every step of the way.”

“In addition to the thousands of construction jobs that will be generated by the development of the event center and the hotel we are looking to make sure that community residents of the third ward are hired,” said Dowell. “The contractors of the hotel and the event center include African Americans in the ownership position and we’re looking to make sure that African Americans subcontractors are part of the construction team.”

Built in 1888, the Rees House was originally built for Harriet Rees, the widow of James H. Rees, a real-estate innovator who drafted one of the early maps of Chicago. The Rees House is located within the same neighborhood of notable Chicagoans, George Pullman and Marshall.

According to its website, the Commission on Chicago Landmarks is responsible for recommending buildings, structures, sites and districts for legal protection as official Chicago landmarks. Staffed by the Historic Preservation Division of the Department of Planning and Development (DPD), the commission is also responsible for reviewing proposed alterations to existing landmarks and districts, as well as proposed demolitions of structures considered to be historically or architecturally significant.

For learn more about the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority visit http://www.mpea.com/index.html. For more information about Bulley & Andrews visit http://www.bulley.com/. To learn more about Commission on Chicago Landmarks visit http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/dcd/supp_info/landmarks_commission.html.

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