Old National Bank Building facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Old National Bank Building |
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| Record height | |
| Tallest in Washington state from 1910 to 1911 | |
| Preceded by | Alaska Building (Seattle) |
| Surpassed by | Key Bank Center (Tacoma) |
| General information | |
| Status | Complete |
| Architectural style | Chicago School |
| Location | 422–428 West Riverside Avenue Spokane, Washington |
| Coordinates | 47°39′30″N 117°25′08″W / 47.6582°N 117.4190°W |
| Completed | 1910 |
| Height | |
| Roof | 219 ft (67 m) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 16 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Daniel Burnham |
The Old National Bank Building is a very tall building, also known as a high-rise, located in Spokane, Washington, United States. It was finished in 1910. This building was special because it was the very first skyscraper in the Inland Northwest region.
Standing at 219 ft (67 m) tall, it was the tallest building in Washington state from 1910 to 1911. Then, the Key Bank Center in Tacoma became taller. Later, Seattle's Smith Tower became much taller in 1914. The Old National Bank Building stayed the tallest in Spokane until 1929. That's when the Paulsen Medical Building, right across the street, was finished.
Contents
Building History
The Old National Bank of Spokane started in 1891. The bank quickly grew very big in the Inland Northwest. By 1910, they decided to build a main office that would show how important they were. They held a national contest to pick the best design for the building.
The winning design came from D.H. Burnham & Company in Chicago. This company was famous for designing many important buildings in the 20th century. The tower was built in the Chicago School style. It also had fancy Beaux-Arts architecture details on the outside. This was the last office building designed by Daniel Burnham himself. He passed away shortly after its completion in 1912.
Construction began in March 1910. It was finished very quickly, in just eight months. The building opened its doors to the public in January 1911. When it opened, 90 percent of the building was already rented out. This was a huge success! The building cost $1,300,000 to build. Big bankers in the area paid for it, so it was built without needing a loan. This made the bank and its supporters very proud and successful.
Building Design and Look
The bank was built with a strong, fireproof steel frame. The outside was covered with a special material called semi-enamel Terra Cotta. To make the white Terra Cotta stand out, the wooden window frames were painted a dark forest green.
The first floor has a four-foot-tall border made of Vermont granite. Much higher up, from the twelfth to the fifteenth floor, there is an "arcade" design. This design crowns the top of the whole building. If you could walk on the roof, you would get amazing views of the growing city.
The inside of the building was also very fancy when it was first built. There were two entrances from Riverside Avenue. One was for the bank itself, and the other was for the office tower. The banking entrance led to a grand lobby that was two stories tall. Tall granite columns held up the upper window area. Bank service desks and tellers faced the open lobby, making it easy for people to do their banking.
The office tower entrance led right to the elevator lobby. Five elevators, made by the Otis Elevator Company, smoothly carried people up the building. Live operators helped people get to their floors. Two elevators went from the first to the ninth floor. Two others went from the eighth to the fourteenth floor. The fifth elevator went to all floors. This plan helped everyone move around the building easily.
Special Banking Features
Some of the most interesting parts of the bank were not just how it looked, but how it worked. The bank had the best equipment available at the time. It offered the most convenient banking services in the Northwest.
Another special feature was hidden in the basement. Right inside the main banking entrance, stairs led down to the vault floor. The main vault door was incredibly thick, measuring twenty-three inches. It weighed a massive thirty-six tons! This huge door protected the largest private vault in the Northwest. This vault was a 27 by 9 foot room. Its walls were covered with three layers of strong metals: laminated steel, Bessemer steel, and chrome steel. Each layer was one and a half inches thick.
Besides this main vault, there was a smaller vault on every floor of the building. Each of these vaults was safe from fire and burglars. This showed the community that anything kept in the building would be very secure.
Building Changes Over Time
The Old National Bank building has been updated twice since it was built in 1910. The first big change happened in the early 1920s. During this time, the upper window space in the lobby was turned into a mezzanine. This allowed the second floor to look down onto the main lobby area.
The second major update happened in late 1963. This renovation changed the inside look of the building a lot. The lobby ceiling was made lower. This made the first two floors of the bank seem stacked on top of each other. The granite columns in the lobby were also removed.
After the 1963 renovation, the building won a national award in a lighting contest. The entire outside of the building was lit up with bright fluorescent lights. It glowed beautifully in the Spokane skyline. Today, the Old National Bank building is used by US Bank.
- US Bank Building at Emporis
- US Bank Building at SkyscraperPage
- The American Skyscraper, 1850-1940: A celebration of height. Boston: Branden Books, 2008. 291-292. Print
- The Spokesman Review 6 Nov 1910, Sunday Morning: 1-12. Print
