Bank of California Building (Seattle) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Bank of California Building |
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The Bank of California Building in 2014
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| Location | Seattle, Washington |
| Designated | September 8, 1987 |
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The Bank of California Building is a cool old building located at 815 2nd Avenue in Seattle, Washington. It sits right next to the Exchange Building. This building was constructed in 1924 by the Bank of California. It has been used as a bank ever since it first opened its doors.
The Bank of California used this building for its main offices until 1973. Then, a new, bigger building was built for them. That newer building is now a Bartell Drugs store, which is a bit funny! The original Bank of California Building stayed open as a smaller branch office. In 1982, it was sold to Puget Sound Mutual Savings Bank. This bank made the building its main office until 1993. After some changes and mergers, it became a branch of Key Bank, which it still is today.
This building is made of strong concrete and has two stories plus a basement. Its outside walls are covered in a special material called terra cotta. This material was made to look like real stone. Inside, there's a big banking room with a skylight that lets in lots of sunshine. It even has a mezzanine, which is like a balcony floor. The building was designed in a "strict Italian Renaissance" style. This style was very popular for banks in the 1920s. A famous Seattle company, John Graham & Company, designed it. In 1987, the Bank of California Building was named a City of Seattle Landmark.
Contents
A Look Back: The Bank's Story
The Bank of California started in San Francisco way back in 1864. It came to Seattle in 1905. This happened when it bought another bank that had branches in Seattle, Tacoma, and Portland, Oregon. By 1910, the Bank of California became a national bank. It quickly grew into one of the largest banks west of the Mississippi River.
In the early 1920s, the bank's office was too small. So, in May 1923, the bank bought a property nearby. They paid $160,000 for the land. Their plan was to build a brand new bank building there. The old building on that spot was taken down in November 1923.
The bank chose the John Graham firm to design their new building. They wanted a two-story concrete building with a mezzanine. The outside would be covered in terra cotta. The project was expected to cost about $200,000, but it ended up costing $50,000 more. A drawing of the new building was shown in the Seattle Times newspaper in September 1923. Construction started in early 1924. By May of that year, the concrete structure was finished. The Bank of California Building officially opened to the public on August 25, 1924.
The bank kept growing and even opened offices in the Exchange Building next door. By the late 1960s, they needed even more space. They decided to build a huge new building called the Union Bank of California Center. This new building was much bigger. When the new bank opened in early 1974, the original building stayed open as a branch office. By 1983, the Bank of California had moved out of the old building completely. It then became the main office for the Savings Bank of Puget Sound. This bank was later bought by KeyCorp in 1993. The building has been home to a Key Bank branch ever since.
What Does the Building Look Like?
Outside the Building
The front of the bank building on Second Avenue is about 60-foot (18 m) wide. It is covered in gray, shiny terra cotta that looks like stone. The front has large windows. These windows are framed by four tall, round columns called Roman ionic columns. There are also two flat columns, called pilasters, on the wall. The main entrance is in the middle, under a big arched top piece. Above the columns, there's a decorative band called an entablature. This part used to have the bank's name on it, but it's blank now. The very top has a smaller decorative edge called a cornice. It also has a triangular top part, a pediment, which shows the year the building was built.
Inside the Building
The most impressive part inside is the main banking room. It is about 60 by 70-foot (21 m) in size. It has a very high, 40-foot (12 m) ceiling that is shaped like a dome, called a rotunda. The Seattle Times described the inside in 1924. They said the high ceiling had a colorful design with an octagon pattern. The flat columns on the walls had beautiful bronze torch lights. The main columns were also bronzed. The metalwork around them was old bronze. Everything matched the marble counters, the dark walnut wood, and the bronze grill work.
The marble used for the counters and floors was a special kind called Escolette. It was brought all the way from France. The wood was shiny black walnut. Big clocks with Escolette faces were placed in the balcony grill work at each end of the main lobby. Offices were located on these balconies. The basement held the bank's strong vaults and fun recreation rooms for employees. The top floor had more offices and a large club room for the staff.
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