Sun Jan 06, 2013 6:21 pm
There are definitely still some sirens out there, but not a whole lot. Most were on fire stations and schools, but there were at least a few on private businesses like warehouses. Not sure if this was because these buildings were a few stories high, or because they already had 3 phase power running to them. Or both. It is VERY difficult to get information on the old system. It has been dead since the early 90's, years before the new system went in. Most sirens have been removed. Very few, if any active fire stations have sirens on them, most that do are abandoned. Also, a good few fire houses have been replaced in the 80's. So a lot of those sirens went with them. The siren by Diversey and Pulaski is actually not on the old Macy's warehouse. It's a quarter mile south of there on a glass company at Pulaski and Wrightwood. There was also a tbolt on the roof of Enterprise Oil and 32nd and Western Ave. It literally was at eye level while traveling south in I-55, since it was installed long before I-55 was even built. I don't know if it was a jailbar because whatever sort of screen was it in, was gone. It was removed around 2009 when the owners replaced the roof.
As far as sirens downtown are concerned, good luck. I would say that was one area that they pulled them all out, since a lot of them were on some older low rise buildings that were privately owned. The city is absolutely no help in acquiring info from, since they are abandoned sirens, they keep no records. I would also say that most people who were heavily involved with the old system are probably retired by now.