McKinley Tower Apartments facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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McKinley Tower Apartments
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McKinley Tower Apartments in 2013
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 Location in Downtown Anchorage
Location in Anchorage
Location in Alaska
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| Location | 337 East 4th Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska |
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| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1952 |
| Architect | Earl W. Morrison for MacDonald Architects |
| Architectural style | Early Modernism |
| NRHP reference No. | 08000882 |
| Added to NRHP | September 12, 2008 |
The McKinley Tower Apartments is a very old and important apartment building in Anchorage, Alaska. You can find it at 337 East Fourth Avenue in the eastern part of downtown. It was first built in 1952 and was called the Mt. McKinley Building. This makes it the very first and oldest tall building, or "high-rise," in Anchorage!
The building was designed in 1950 by an architect named Earl W. Morrison. He worked for a company called MacDonald Architects from Seattle. This same company also designed another similar building in Anchorage called Inlet Towers. Morrison designed other buildings in Alaska and Seattle that look a lot like McKinley Tower.
A Building's New Name and Challenges
After the big 1964 Alaska earthquake, the McKinley Tower building was damaged. It sat empty for many years. Later, a lawyer and real estate investor from Anchorage named Neil S. Mackay bought it. He decided to rename it the McKay Building.
Mr. Mackay changed the building into offices. The State of Alaska used some of these offices. He also lived in a special apartment at the very top. But in 1982, the city said the building wasn't safe because of fire rules. So, the State of Alaska moved out. The building was then emptied out and had no windows. It stayed empty for about 20 years because of some personal challenges Mr. Mackay was facing.
Bringing the Tower Back to Life
In 1998, a developer from Anchorage named Marc Marlow bought the tower and its smaller attached building. He worked hard to fix it up. A lot of work was done to make the building stronger, especially to help it stand up to earthquakes. This was called "seismic reinforcement."
After all this work, the McKinley Tower was made safe and modern again. Because of its long history and unique design, the McKinley Tower was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008. This means it's recognized as an important historical place.
