Business & Tech

Grain Elevator Asking Price $949,000, But Who Would Buy It?

The 100-foot building has walls of concrete embedded with rebar, which explains why no one's torn it down despite its prime real estate location.

I guess it shouldn't have been such a big surprise to stumble upon the old Plainfield Grain Elevator listed on a Remax real estate page. After all, it is sitting on some pretty prime land at 14727 S. Naperville Road (and with a $949,000 asking price to match).

But it made me sad, nonetheless. That ugly old building with its peeling-paint façade has become synonymous in my mind with what Plainfield once was, a literal concrete reminder that this now-sprawling suburb was once a tiny farm community – and not so long ago.

It came up over and over again when I talked to people about their memories of the Aug. 28, 1990, tornado. Many were certain it came down when they first heard about the F5 storm decimating the village; others were stunned that it didn't.

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Frankly, given that its concrete walls are lined with rebar, it's probably the only place in town capable of withstanding 300-mph winds.

Of course, those walls are what's kept it from being torn down long ago. It would be ungodly expensive to demolish. I guess the folks who built it in 1912, with a capacity to hold 100,000 barrels of grain, were assuming they'd be in business forever. As it turned out, the end of the line came in 1970.

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You've got to love that the real estate broker calls it a "UNIQUE PROPERTY!!!" (their capital letters and exclamation points, not mine) that's the tallest structure for 35 miles and offers a great view of the Chicago skyline on a clear day. It's a "creative entrepreneur" special.

No one asked my opinion, but wouldn't it be great if that creative entrepreneur wanted to turn it into a viewing platform so everyone could see that 35-mile view. Wouldn't be much of a money-maker, but it would be a good way to remember where we came from as we look out over what we are.

(Want to see a cool overhead view of the grain elevator? Check it out online at http://wikimapia.org/1925024/Historic-Grain-Elevator.)

Local editor Karen Sorensen is pinch-hitting for the vacationing Robyn Monaghan.


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