Park Tower was built  in 1973, and in 2023 the Social Commission led our residents in celebrating its 50th birthday.

The opening event was a reception Friday evening, September 8 in the Low-rise Lobby.  Social Committee chair Sheldon Atovsky and Board President Michael Parrie made opening remarks (read Sheldon’s here and Michael’s here) and unveiled a commemorative wall-mounted plaque, Afterward, folks had a look at displays of Park Tower memorabilia and sampled video recordings with longtime residents.  All this while enjoying a glass of wine and sumptuous hors d’oeuvres. 180 residents attended, many of whom appear in snapshots of the event kindly submitted by Catherine Kestler, Chong Wu and Keren Wang.

The closing event was a catered buffet on Sunday, October 8 in the Party Room. Because so many residents signed up for the original 2:00 pm offering, a second sitting was added for 5:45 pm.  Sandwiches and wraps were generously donated by Lettuce Entertain You (with offices in our commercial mall) and supplemented by purchases from Whole Foods.  Sheldon Atovsky welcomed guests and introduced general manager Tim Patricio (read here).  Tim’s address, which can be read here or viewed here in its entirety, concluded with five short maxims he’s learned as our general manager these past 16 years:

1. Sometimes the cheapest solution is the most expensive in the long run. 
2. Don’t debate facts, rather the means and methods the facts point to.
3. If you surround yourself with yes people, you’ll end up with mediocrity. 
4. The goal should be not just to fix or maintain, but to improve when reasonable and
meaningful. 
5. Respect every space you enter, every home, every square foot, every person
as you would want yourself and your own home to be respected. 

After finishing up with a huge and delicious cake, the 140 attendees then lingered awhile to visit and renew acquaintances. Snapshots by Patrice Woolridge have been added to those from the September 8 reception.  The Social Committee appreciates the many “thank yous”  for its leadership in producing the anniversary celebration.

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For readers who have visited this page to learn more about Park Tower’s building, this may be a good place to start. The story describes the Edgewater neighborhood in the years leading up to Park Tower and introduces Park Tower’s architect, Jon Buenz, of  Solomon Cordwell Buenz.  Click any graphic/picture on this page for a larger view.

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In the weeks leading up to our Celebration, the Social Committee invited about a dozen Park Tower residents to join in conversation with committee members Bob Shamo and Monique Fouant, to talk about their memories and reflections.  What inspired these residents to move here in the first place?  What has changed since?  What do they cherish from the past, and what are their hopes for the building going forward?  Here are those Living History Interviews.

Park Tower has published a newsletter ever since it transitioned from a rental property to a condominium.  Who were our residents and what did they value about living here?  No better way than to look back at what they were writing and reading about.  Thanks to the late Marian Shaw – and more recently to digital publishing – we now have an archive of 137 issues of those 50 years of newsletters.  Click on Library section of our Newsletter, then scroll down to TowerTalk Newsletters.  By the way, if you happen to have a few issues stuck away in a closet, please check our archive.  If they’re not included, please allow us to scan them! Email Bob Shamo, the most recent editor, at bobshamo@rcn.com. Thanks!

Many Park Tower memorabilia were displayed at the September 8 reception and will be again at the event on October 8.   Among them was this 3-dimensional model — a gift from Joy Muench who still lives here! — of the three Edgewater Plaza buildings built on land previously occupied by the Edgewater Beach Hotel. Today, the buildings — each with its own condo association and website — are known as 5455 Edgewater Plaza, 5445 Edgewater Plaza and, of course, Park Tower.  Each opened first as a rental apartment building, Park Tower being the last to do so, in 1973.  Park Tower’s conversion from rental to condo occurred in February, 1979.

Nearby was an 11 x 17 enlargement that pictures the original Edgewater Beach Hotel property in color.  Rendered in black are outlines of four new buildings which, from left to right are The Breakers, Park Tower, 5445 Edgewater Plaza, and 5455 Edgewater Plaza.  Notice, the hotel itself was at the south end of the property, adjacent to Saddle & Cycle Club.  The four new buildings replaced not just the hotel itself, but also the recreational areas extending north to the Edgewater Beach Apartments (the “Pink Building”).  As to when the rendering was made, the inclusion of The Breakers suggests it was the mid-1980s.

We understand that Robert Sheridan & Partners had planned to build two more towers identical to Park Tower on property now occupied by this retirement community.  The Breakers opened in 1987.

Up close, you can see the grooves on this circa 1973 Edgewater Beach promotional LP.  And, yes, it actually plays (click to listen), although the audio turns out to be mainly about the Edgewater Beach Hotel, its graciousness and charm — the very qualities it hoped prospective renters would find in the three new Edgewater buildings.  The back of the LP is more specific to the three new buildings that replaced the hotel:

There was a certain quality to life years ago.  A graciousness and charm that have all but disappeared.  The old Edgewater Beach Hotel had it.  And so do we. We’re the new Edgewater Beach. A new town on the edge of the lake, that makes life beautiful. Again.

EdgewaterBeach looks just like an apartment complex, but it’s more.  It’s a whole town that’s comfortable, safe, convenient and happy.  We’re far away from all the hubbub and pollution, yet only 15 minutes from the Loop. and there’s a feeling of coziness here, even though some of our homes are 54-stories high.

We picked the perfect place for Our Town.  Right on the site of the old Edgewater Beach Hotel.  The Lake is right across the street. We have the park for a backyard, And the beaches and bike paths are just a short walk away.

With all that for beautiful beginnings, we built our first building — Edgewater Plaza.  People liked it so much, we built another just like it — 5445 Edgewater- Beach. We faced this one the other way to give our citizens a sense of privacy and the best possible views.

It wasn’t long before we needed 5415 EdgewaterBeach — the unique glass triangle that makes such a striking difference in our skyline.  All the while Our Town was growing, we kept adding other things.  Two Olympic-sized heated swimming pools, tennis courts, and the first section of our large, enclosed shopping plaza.

There’s more to Our Town than plans and buildings. There are all the things you can only know about once you live here. Like the spirit of helpfulness — maid and valet service, and engineers who don’t keep you waiting.  There’s the spirit of friendliness — our 24-hour doormen will probably know your name in no time. And there’s the spirit of belonging.  Because Our Town is a place where people like you live with other people like you and enjoy the same kinds of things.  

The Chicago Tribune ran ads ( first and second) in July of 1973.  Included with the second ad is a personal note describing how thrilled this resident was to be among the first to rent here at Park Tower.

In its June 1980 issue, Chicago’s Commerce Magazine included this full page rendering of Park Tower, followed by nine excellent articles on condominium ownership.  A heavy lift, but well worth reading to understand the hot condominium market of the 1970s and 80s.

We thank longtime resident Betty Terry-Lundy for her recollection of businesses located in Park Tower’s Commercial Mall from its opening in 1973 through the building’s 50^th anniversary in 2023.  In this listing, current businesses are emboldened, with those that follow in (approximate) reverse chronological order for each Unit.  Although Unit numbers have remained the same, Unit interiors have occasionally been combined, subdivided, or otherwise reconfigured to suit the needs of the businesses that occupied them.   Especially in the early years, Units were sometimes shared by their owners or with renters.

This concludes our review of Park Tower’s 50th Anniversary Celebration.