True to the Pru: Farmers Market Reporter on a Downtown Newcomer

Bob Benenson
Jul 7
2 min read

Ed Kugler's Photo Opp at the Tuesday Market on Chicago's Prudential Plaza

When local food veteran Ed Kugler isn't occupied as manager of the Ravinia Farmers Market in the north Chicago suburb of Highland Park, he's cruising the region to provide a window on other farmers markets.

His travels recently took him to one of the area's newer locations: the Pru Farmers Market, so named because it is open on Tuesdays (11 a.m. to 3 p.m.) on downtown Chicago's Prudential Plaza.

The original Prudential Building, opened in 1955 to house the eponymous insurance company, was a very big deal on the Chicago skyline. At 41 stories and 601 feet high, it was the second tallest building in Chicago — just four feet shorter than the Chicago Board of Trade Building, opened in 1930 — and dominated the then-smaller scale cityscape near Lake Michigan on the city's east side.

Located just north of Grant Park, the Pru and its observation deck became tourist attractions. But today, 70 years after it opened, the One Prudential Plaza building is dwarfed by the neighboring Aon Center (1,136 feet, opened in 1973, right in the photo below) and Two Prudential Plaza (995 feet, opened in 1990, center below).

All told, One Prudential today ranks 55th among the tallest buildings in Chicago.

So visit the Pru Farmers Market on Tuesdays and get a side order of Chicago architectural history. You can also craft a little farmers market tour by also hitting two other Tuesday downtown city markets: River North Farmers Market, open 8 p.m. to 2 p.m. at 330 N. Wabash (the AMA Building Plaza), and the SOAR Farmers Market, open 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 220 E. Chicago Ave. (on the plaza of the Museum of Contemporary Art).

Enjoy Ed's photos from his visit to the Pru.

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Pru Farmers Market,

135 E. Lake St., Chicago

Tuesdays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.