What’s in a Name?
Nowhere to Go but Up!
What’s in a Name?
Nowhere to Go but Up!
The Marquette Building was highly personalized—from tenants to top floors.
Owen Aldis knew that the Marquette Building had to stand out from other office buildings. As a marketing tool, he created The Legacy of Pere Marquette. This booklet was an academic examination of Marquette and Jolliet’s journey and the region’s early history. When published in 1897, the tenant list ranged from accountants and auditors to U.S. lighthouse inspectors. And who wouldn’t have wanted a home in the Marquette Building?
One of the first tenants secured, Grommes & Ulrich Wine Merchants immediately leased the building’s basement space. There was a citywide basement shortage due to different types of foundations. Grommes & Ulrich installed a large refrigerator plant in the lowest level to house their “immense stock of costly wines.”
© John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
