Tribune Tower

The Tribune Tower is a 470-feet tall neo-Gothic office skyscraper. It is located at 435 North Michigan Avenue, in Chicago.

Overview
In 1999, at the time of Midtown Madness release, the Tribune Tower served as the headquarters of the Chicago Tribune and the Tribune Corporation. WGN Radio (720 kHz) also aired from its ground level studio, on the tower's southwestern corner.

As a tribute to the architects, carved images of Robin Hood (referencing Raymond Hood), and of a howling dog (for John M. Howells) are engraved on a stone screen over the main entrance, alongside images from Aesop's fable (although it is not seen in-game).

Prior the construction of the building, correspondents working for the Chicago Tribune brought back stones and bricks from important sites and monuments from all around the world, which were then integrated within the building stonework. Notable fragments from the collection includes stones from the Taj Mahal, Abraham Lincoln's Tomb, the Berlin Wall, the Arc de Triomphe, the Parthenon, the Alamo, the Great Wall of China, the Forbidden City, the White House, the Great Pyramid, South Dakota's badlands, St Peter's Basilica, Notre Dame de Paris, Hagia Sophia, Antarctica, Omaha Beach, Kentucky's Mammoth Cave, and petrified wood from the Redwood National and State Parks, totalling 136 fragments.

History
In 1922, seeking to settle into a new building, the Chicago Tribune hosted an international design competition, touting any architectural firms to compete for a reward of 50,000$. The move was highly successful, and more than 260 entries were received. The prize was finally awarded to a neo-Gothic design devised by American architects Raymond Hood and John M. Howells.

Other notables architects or architectural firms who vyied to earn the prize included Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen (who was awarded the 2nd-place, and whose modernist concept for the yet-to-build tower left a significant impression), American architectural firm Holabird & Roche (who was awarded the 3rd-place), American architect Bertram Goodhue, German architects Walter Gropius, and Bruno Taut, and Austrian architect Adolf Loos.

The winners having been chosen, construction of the tower started in 1923. At completion, the Tribune Tower reached a height of 462 feet above ground (not counting the roof, nor the spire).

The various designs created for the purpose of the competition later played a critical role, and served as models and inspirations for several subsequent buildings built in the following years.