{"nrhp_refnum":"80001348","name":"Mundelein College Skyscraper Building","other_names":["Mundelein Skyscraper"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"6363 N. Sheridan Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Chicago","county":"Cook County","state":"IL","lat":41.99856041100003,"lon":-87.65645244199999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-05-31","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 15-story moderne skyscraper college building at 6363 N. Sheridan Road in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, built in 1929-30 of steel and concrete clad in Indiana limestone. Joseph W. McCarthy and Nairne W. Fisher are named as architects.","why_significant":"The nomination rests on the building's architectural and educational significance. It was praised as a notable moderne landmark and as the first successful self-contained skyscraper college, and was visited by educators as a model plant. Reviewers also cited its stepped-back profile, low-relief sculpture, the stylized angels flanking the entrance, and decorative metalwork and glass.","narrative":"Mundelein College's main building at 6363 N. Sheridan Road in Chicago is a 15-story skyscraper of steel and concrete faced in Indiana limestone. Completed in 1929-30, it rises 198 feet, the maximum height the law allowed at the time. Setbacks on the fourth, eighth and eleventh floors give it a stepped, ziggurat-like profile topped by a hipped-roof central tower. Two limestone angels, four stories high, flank the main entrance: Uriel holds the Book of Wisdom and Jophiel holds the Earth and a torch of knowledge. Inside, chamfered arches, brass door plates, marble stairs and walls, and a seventh-floor plant conservatory carry the moderne detailing. The college's first president described the aim as uniting the best of tradition with the best of the modern. Contemporary accounts called it the first successful self-contained skyscraper college and a model plant visited by educators. It was listed for its architectural and educational importance, with the Art Deco style, ornament and craftsmanship noted by reviewers.","period_of_significance":"Sept. 29, 1930 - present","architect_builder":"Joseph W. McCarthy and Nairne W. Fisher","architectural_style":"Moderne (Art Deco)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as occupied, in good condition, in educational use, and on its original site.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.357568-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/58/8923/28892358/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/80001348.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80001348/781b07cd08-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80001348/781b07cd08-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Paul R. Burley","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mundelein_Center_Loyola_University_Chicago_2020-3249.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Paul R. Burley</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mundelein_Center_Loyola_University_Chicago_2020-3249.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28892358","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6935770"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/cook-county/mundelein-college-skyscraper-building-80001348/"}