For almost 100 years, the Morton Salt complex housed the packaging and distribution operations of the Morton Salt Company. Chicago’s 16 on Center (16OC), who operates other Chicago music venues including Thalia Hall and Empty Bottle, joined forces with local developer Blue Star Properties, R2, and Sky Deck, to transform the historic site into a creative hub that includes performance venues. This spring, a 3,500-capacity indoor space opened with a lighting assist from Upstaging. The new indoor space complements the 5,000-capacity outdoor concert area that began hosting shows last summer. PLSN spoke with Account & Project Manager, Steve Wojda of Upstaging and The Salt Shed’s Director of Production, Tim Schoen about this noteworthy example of adaptive reuse.
For more on this project, see PLSN, May 2023, “The Salt Shed,” by Michael S. Eddy, page 42
