This
enthralling building is a world-wide attraction
that features an art gallery, artisans shop,
three floors of restaurants and shops, and
13 floors
of balconies that surround the 160 foot
rotunda. "Wait until you see it... It is
no less than breathtaking," wrote the Chicago
Tribune's Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture
critic Paul Gapp about the James R.Thompson
Center. Spectacular views abound from any
vantage point, including the 72-foot diameter
open cutout of the lobby which shows the
4,000 square foot lower Concourse level
with its marble rosette center. Glass elevator
shafts, glass-paneled walls and ceiling,
and marble-inlay floors make this an ideal
setting for impressive entertaining, elegant
sit-down dinners, and perfect dance receptions.
The building is one of Chicago's
most popular sites for fundraisers, concerts,
and other special events.
The center
can accommodate from 200 to 2000 people for cocktail
receptions, dinner dances, or product displays. If
your needs include a facility for stage presentation,
our 600-seat Assembly Hall Auditorium is just the
place.
Opportunely located were near hotels,
convention facilities, mass transit, expressways,
and public parking, this extraordinary architectural
setting offers your group - whether it be corporate
or very private - it will be a memorable experience.
A one-of-a-kind facility. Which is
unique and conveniently located.The James R. Thompson
Center in Chicago's North Loop is turns special events
into extraordinary affairs in a building people talk
about long after the event is over.
Devoted in May of 1985, the Center
is one of Chicago's major attractions, drawing worldwide
attention and more than two million visitors a year.
It is a multipurpose government building that combines
state agencies and offices with a commercial area
of shops and restaurants. This unique building also
features a State of Illinois Gallery, Illinois Artisans
Shop, and one of the largest collections of contemporary
Illinois artworks.
While Chicago as the nation's transportation hub,
the Center is only a non-stop flight from almost anywhere
in the United States or Canada and connects to a subway
service directly from O'Hare International Airport
to the Center's lower level. In addition, superb ground
level transportation -from trains and buses to cabs
- makes arrival at the Center convenient./ The views
are mesmerizing from every vantage point, both inside
and outside, starting with the spacious ground floor
Atrium lobby that towers to a spectacular angled skylight.
Adding dynamic movement to the lobby are the soaring
16-story exposed elevator banks with their lighted
glass cubicles.
The center's stunning
architectural ambiance is a major reason event planners
select the Center. According to the jury that awarded
the 1986 Distinguished Building Award of the Chicago
Chapter, American Institute of Architects, to Designer
Helmut Jahn, the Center is ". . . the Pantheon
of Chicago ... a building that makes a strong, powerful,
and important statement ... and breaks new ground."It
is convenient to expressways, parking (accommodations
for 2,100 cars within a half block), and all of
Chicago's rapid-transit systems.
The Center
fulfills the promise that it would be alive with events
which bring activity and excitement to downtown Chicago.
Visible through the 72 foot diameter open cut out
of the lobby is the 4,000 square foot lower Concourse
level, and its marble rosette center - ideal for entertainment
during a sit-down dinner, a perfect setting for receptions,
and a great dance floor.
