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When Jenney (1832-1907), best known for his leading role a decade later in the
development of the skyscraper, was asked to present a plan for a fire
monument, his first design was the one pictured above, which appeared in several early
commemorative fire publications like the Lakeside Memorial. This sculpture was to be
fashioned out of safes and other fire rubble from the ruins. Jenney's idea was rejected by city leaders as
not being appropriately dignified, so
he devised a second monument. While the new one was also to be constructed out of stones
from pre-fire buildings, it was in the more acceptable Gothic style, which evoked the
destruction in a more indirect and uplifting manner. At the top would be a female figure
holding a flaming torch, and it was intended to symbolize what the Tribune called "the triumph of
energy and enterprise, an example worthy of emulation to the end of time." On October
30, 1872, the cornerstone was laid with great fanfare in the West Division's Central (now
Garfield) Park, but the interest and financial support necessary to complete the project did
not materialize, and eventually the unfinished monument was removed.
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Resurrexit! 