Chicago, long known as the Second City, is becoming America’s first city of mayhem.

This past weekend, America watched as Decepticons unleashed fury on the famed skyline in “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” reducing architectural gems to rubble. In spring’s “Source Code,” a deadly terrorist train bombing is followed by a plan to unleash a dirty bomb in the metropolis’ center.

Aliens and baddies have long focused on New York, Los Angeles and Washington. They are expanding their range.

“We’re certainly being viewed as a desirable place to wreak havoc cinematically,” says Richard Moskal, director of the Chicago Film Office.

Things are so bad on-screen that the Chicago Tribune, whose own headquarters gets rocked in the film, tallied up the Decepticons’ fictional damage at US$8 billion.

Sure, it’s cool for most to watch buildings get blown to bits. But it can be hard for the natives, even the ones in the movie.

Kevin Dunn, who has starred as Shia LaBeouf’s father in all three “Transformers” films, had trouble watching his hometown take such damage.

“You know you’re watching a popcorn movie, but it kind of hurts to see those buildings go,” he says. “It was shocking. The Wrigley Building takes a hit. The Jewelers Building gets totally destroyed. Wow, those Decepticons didn’t leave any brick unturned.”

There is no grand plan to shine the Armageddon spotlight on Chicago. In fact, “Source Code” was supposed to be set in New York, but “was changed to Chicago out of sensitivity to the 9/11 attacks,” according to screenwriter Ben Ripley.

“Transformers,” meanwhile, targeted the Windy City. Ilt Jones, the film’s supervising location scout, says director Michael Bay “took a fancy” to the iconic buildings when shooting a commercial downtown. “Pyrotechnics and great architecture make for strange bedfellows,” Jones says. “The more iconic, the better the visuals. Those great architects were probably rolling in their graves.”

Not so for the city leaders. Then-mayor Richard M. Daley was so eager to host “Transformers” that he personally assured filmmakers that they would have all the resources they needed to destroy the city.

“When we met, (Bay) explained pretty much what was going to happen,” Jones says. “The mayor just said: ‘That sounds like fun.’”

During last summer’s filming, Chicagoans shared that enthusiasm. Actor Josh Duhamel talked at a news conference about the thousands watching the filming in lawn chairs. “Explosions would go off, and people would start cheering,” he said.

Local merchants also were pleased. “Transformers” brought in more than US$20 million in local spending.

“All of this cinematic mayhem has its benefits,” Moskal says.

Chicago will continue to reap such grim benefits: The upcoming thriller “Contagion,” about the release of a deadly virus, wrapped up filming this winter. It is set in both Chicago and Minneapolis. Next up, the city expects more arch-baddie damage when the Superman flick “Man of Steel” begins shooting there this fall.

Says Dunn with a laugh: “I hope it doesn’t hurt the Chicago psyche to know that we are becoming the go-to place for movie destruction.”

(SD-Agencies)