The Tower Building

Anywhere in Downtown Elgin, The Elgin Tower Building is watching you.

Door to Door - 12 East Chicago Street

Just to the east of the river and Riverside Drive is the drive-up facility to the downtown branch of Chase Bank. The building to which it is attached a rear addition to the building. The bank itself faces the corner of East Chicago Street and North Grove Avenue.

Although the door has a separate address, it is occupied by the bank.

Door to Door - 100 W Chicago

Elgin Pace Bus Terminal, 100 West Chicago Street

Opened in 1985, the Elgin Bus Terminal serves The Regional Transportation Authority's Pace Suburbans Bus service.

Straddling along the west bank of the Fox River, it was designed with sharp angles and a narrow building.

It contains four bus lanes which send buses all over Elgin and to other suburban points, principally Aurora, Streamwood, Hoffman Estates and Schaumburg/Woodfield.

It is across the street from the Chicago Street Train Station, making for convenient transportation connections.

Althought the address is on Chicago Street, it also fronts Highland Avenue on the other side. With Chicago being one way eastbound and Highland one way westbound, the buses enter and exit from both sides. Most eastside buses exit on Chicago Street, most westside buses on Highland Avenue.

The passing trains on the railroad tracks immediately alongside the terminal can be big hindrance to bus traffic, but the convenience of the terminal directly across the street from the train station create in important transportation center for the city.

Until 2010, it also hosted Greyhound Bus service, which provided the only direct inter-city transportation outside of the Metra commuter rail across the street.

The waiting room inside is deceptively larger than the building would indicate outside. The seating and decor are very spartan, but the windows provide a sweeping view of the river and downtown Elgin. The skylights and high ceiling provide a bright and airy indoor waiting area out of the weather, which cloak the otherwise potentially dingy environment.

Eagle Building Soars

Atop a 19th Century building, a sign of mid-20th Century technology next to early-21st Century.

Time marches on. 

I can't readily locate any information on the origin of The Eagles Building, except that I can only assume it was originally built as an aerie for the Faternal Order of Eagles. It was completed in 1900.

Current tenants include Elgin Books (a great used book store with an amazing variety of reading material and with equally great coffee), and Medusa's, a DJ-driven dance club that draws a crowd from almost everywhere around Chicagoland (although not quite my speed). The streetscape gets just a tad bit interesting really late on Friday and Saturday nights.

Although I don't personally recall the place, I've heard of others talk fondly of the House of Jean Chinese Restaurant that was in the building.  I imagine it was a pretty exotic place for Elgin back in the day.