EEven before the smoke cleared after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, Chicagoans recognized the faithful tip of the Water Tower and used it to
navigate the rubble. The tower and adjacent pumping station were the only government buildings that survived the fire. Today, the Gothic-Revival structures have been besieged by the malls of the Magnificent Mile (including the hideous, insultingly eponymous Water Tower Place), which serves to underscore their classiness. In 2003, Friends star David Schwimmer moved his Lookingglass Theatre Company inside the Pumping Station to capitalize on an intimate performance space at a prominent address. -NB
