City Within a City: The Biography of Chicago’s Marina City

Banking on Marina City

August 3, 1962
Photo by Ray Burley
(Above) Chicago Daily News photo by Ray Burley of William Fuller Gregson, president of Marina City Bank, and Louanna Rix of T. V. Bank Corporation at a “Teleview Teller” console.

The teller windows were at least a year away from being built, but on August 3, 1962, it was learned there were plans for a bank at Marina City. Jacob M. Arvey, chair of the bank, William Fuller Gregson, president, Patrick H. Hoy, vice president, along with Theodore K. Lawless, R.S. Holsom, and Thomas F. Flannery, would start Marina City Bank with $2 million in capital.

Ebony magazine
(Left) Four members of the Marina City Bank board of directors, seen here in the November 1964 issue of Ebony magazine. Left to right: Bank president William Fuller Gregson; Theodore K. Lawless; Jacob M. Arvey, chair of the bank; and John H. Johnson, a bank director and publisher of Ebony.

Arvey (1895-1977) was senior partner in the Chicago law firm of Arvey, Hodes & Mantynband. He was Chair of the Cook County Democratic Central Committee from 1946 to 1950 and Democratic National Committeeman from Illinois from 1950 to 1972. 175 pages of correspondence between him and President Truman are kept at the Harry S Truman Library and Museum.

Hoy (1884-1973) was president of the Material Services division of General Dynamics Corporation. Lawless (1892-1971) was a noted dermatologist and philanthropist.

The Illinois Department of Financial Institutions announced on October 29, 1962, that a charter had been issued to Marina City Bank. In June 1963, some familiar names were added to the bank’s board of directors. Elected at a special shareholders meeting were William L. McFetridge and Charles R. Swibel.

Among the bank’s 13 directors were John H. Johnson, publisher and editor of Ebony magazine, Raymond Shoessling, president of Teamsters Joint Council Number 25, and Thomas F. Flannery Jr., president of Whitney Electric Sign and Maintenance Company.

Architectural Record

Marina City Bank opened on February 25, 1964, at the east end of the office building, on the main floor. Electric adding machines were out for customers to use. A sweeping circular wrought iron staircase, with a round, brushed stainless steel elevator in the middle, led to the vault in the basement.

(Left) Lobby of Marina City Bank in 1964.

Drive-in and walk-up windows were available outside the bank. Papers and money were sent back and forth through pneumatic tubes. You could see the teller on closed-circuit television. This “Teleview Teller” was also near the apartment towers for use by Marina City residents.

Chicago Sun-Times
(Left) In a photo that appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times on February 26, 1964, a convertible is pulled up to the Teleview Teller at Marina City Bank. This area was a drive-up lane just off State Street. The east tower parking ramp is partially visible at upper left.
Chicago Sun-Times
A woman identified only as the wife of Albert W. Noonan, who was a former director of the International Association of Assessing Officers, speaks with a teller identified only as Mr. Frankel.
Chicago Sun-Times
A teller at right, Jeanne Marie Leenaerts, counts change as Mrs. Noonan waits in the background and Mr. Frankel sits at a console filled with television monitors, buttons, switches, papers, keys, and an ashtray.
Chicago Sun-Times
WBBM-TV meteorologist P.J. Hoff uses a Teleview Teller from a convertible outside Marina City Bank in February 1964, one week before the bank officially opens.
(Right) Area of Teleview Teller on November 28, 2011, no longer accessible to vehicles. One Teleview Teller was approximately where the concrete stairs are at left. Another was just ahead on the left. The upper floor of the building at right was a Chase bank branch from 2006 to 2014 and the southeast corner was an enclosed area for ATMs. The lower portion was a Crunch fitness center from 1999 to 2008. By 2013, the area was the outdoor dining area of Tortoise Supper Club.
Photo by Steven Dahlman

The bank had been accepting deposits since December 1963 and by opening day they totaled $372,575. By March 1964, Marina City Bank had $12 million in deposits (equal to $122.5 million in 2024) and was, according to American Banker magazine, one of the 2,800 largest banks in the United States.

The first robbery at Marina City Bank happened on Friday, September 10, 1964. James Douglas Bell, age 30, walked up to a teller and demanded money. He did not appear to have a weapon, and the teller declined to give him money. The would-be robber fled but was soon caught by the bank’s chief guard, Maurice Walsh. Bell was arraigned on federal charges later that day.