Ward Miller said growing up, he remembers the old Bell Federal Savings weather sign at the Rector Building at Clark and Monroe well.
"I remember it as a child growing up in Chicago, always looking at it and smiling," he said.
So, he said he's excited that the sign's historic weather bell is being restored to what it once was.
"The weather bell, as we know it today, was added to Bell Federal Savings Building at Monroe and Clark in the 1950s as part of a remodeling of a really notable building called the Rector Building, which had stood on that site since about 1905," he said.
Apart from its size and neon-like component that gave the sign a colorful glow, the bell is known for providing Chicagoans with what Miller describes as the "public service" of alerting people to changes in weather patterns.
"It had different color codings representing different changes, or if it was yellow, it remained and there was no change," he said. "And, of course, it had a digital clock on it that flashed in the light bulbs the time."
He said it was something people really depended on before the age of cell phones and advanced forecasting methods.
"Every day I pass underneath this, it still brings a great smile to my face that we're now embracing these kinds of features that, for a long time, were probably perhaps taken for granted," he said.
The sign hasn't worked for years, but that will soon change, as it's undergoing a renovation as part of a redevelopment of the Rector Building by R2 Companies.
Miller, who's the executive director of nonprofit Preservation Chicago, said it's important that the city invests in preserving these pieces that have shaped the landscape of downtown.
"It reminds you how how beautiful Chicago is and how wonderful timepieces and these components of our built environment, and especially these that are historic, are so important to our daily lives," he said.
He said it's much needed for the city, which has lost so many monumental clocks, timepieces and neon signs over the past few decades.
"Each one that we save really contributes to the fabric of the street and the character of the street, and I think that's so important to remember," he said. "We hope the bell, the weather bell of the formerly Bell Federal Savings, will continue to be at this corner for many decades to come."
