Bomb threat leads to closure of Loop federal building

The federal building in the Loop was closed for the day after a bomb threat Thursday morning.

U.S. Marshals had evacuated some floors of the building and sealed off the surrounding area following the threat.

A man phoned in a bomb threat to the Kluczynski Federal Building at 230 S. Dearborn about 7:15 a.m., police News Affairs Officer Janel Sedevic said.

The building was partially evacuated and Federal Plaza was sealed off with police tape. The entire block around the building was closed to pedestrian traffic, with Clark closed between Adams and Jackson; and Adams closed between Clark and Dearborn.

As of 11:45 a.m., virtually all of the the closed sidewalks were reopened. But the Kluczynski Building remained closed.

Security guards told workers early Thursday afternoon that the building was closed for the day.

General Services Administration employees were told about 9:40 a.m. Thursday not to show up to work because the Federal Protection Service was investigating a credible threat to the Kluczynski Federal Building.

One woman, who said she works on the 29th floor of the Kluczynski building, said she and her colleagues were first told the building’s lobby was on lock-down. A half-hour later, they were told to evacuate.

The commotion outside prompted amused passers-by to stop on the sidewalk and whip out their cell phone cameras. But the interruption irritated others.

“I can’t mail my letter because of a bomb threat,” one woman remarked.

Later, when pedestrians were again allowed to walk through Federal Plaza, visitors to the post office were confused to find the doors to the building still locked.

“I just wanted to mail something,” another woman said.