Former Chicago Historical Society Building
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Old Chicago Historical Society Building
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HABS image from 1963
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| Location | 632 N. Dearborn Street Chicago, Illinois |
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| Coordinates | 41°53′36.92″N 87°37′47.85″W / 41.8935889°N 87.6299583°WCoordinates: 41°53′36.92″N 87°37′47.85″W / 41.8935889°N 87.6299583°W |
| Built | 1892 |
| Architect | Henry Ives Cobb |
| Architectural style | Romanesque, Gothic |
| NRHP Reference # | 78001126 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | November 28, 1978 |
| Designated CL | February 26, 1997 |
The Former Chicago Historical Society Building is a historic landmark located at 632 N. Dearborn Street on the northwest corner of Dearborn and Ontario streets in downtown Chicago. Built in 1892, the granite-clad building is a prime example of Henry Ives Cobb's Romanesque Revival architecture; the pair of large winged Gothic gargoyles at the entrance were a more recent addition.
The building was the home of the Chicago Historical Society after its original headquarters burned down in the Great Chicago Fire, and prior to its relocation to Lincoln Park in 1931. Afterwards, the building housed a magazine publisher, the Works Progress Administration, the Loyal Order of Moose, the Chicago Institute of Design (1946–1956), and recording studios (1950s and 1960s). Since 1985 it has been the location of a series of nightclubs.
From 1985 to 1989, nightclub entrepreneur Peter Gatien operated The Limelight nightclub in the building, one of his chain of nightclubs under that name; at some point he bought the building. In January 1989, Gatien sold the building to Fred Hoffman for $3.5 million. Hoffman spent $1 million renovating the building, and in 1989 opened Excalibur and Vision, two "sister clubs". At the time of their openings in 1989, the two clubs were the largest non-hotel entertainment facility in Chicago.
The northern portion of the building was Vision, which had its own entrance. Vision was a large multi-level, multi-room nightclub that catered to fans of hip-hop, trance, and or house music. Notable guests who played at Vision included Rihanna, MSTRKRFT, Moby, Paul van Dyk, Benny Benassi, Cosmic Gate, Armin Van Buuren, Tiësto, Gabriel & Dresden and Gareth Emery.
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