Bank of California Building (Seattle)

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Coordinates: 47°36′15″N 122°20′4″W / 47.60417°N 122.33444°W / 47.60417; -122.33444
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Bank of California Building
Seattle, Washington
Coordinates47°36′15″N 122°20′4″W / 47.60417°N 122.33444°W / 47.60417; -122.33444
DesignatedSeptember 8, 1987[1]
Bank of California Building (Seattle) is located in Seattle WA Downtown
Bank of California Building (Seattle)
Location of Bank of California Building in Seattle WA Downtown

The Bank of California Building is a landmark building located at 815 2nd Avenue in

Key Bank
, which it remains to present day.

The Building is a rectangular two Story plus basement Reinforced concrete building faced with

Italian Renaissance" style typical of many banks in the 1920s by John Graham & Company
, one of Seattle's most prominent architectural firms. Graham's firm under his predecessor, John Graham, Jr., would also design the building's aforementioned replacement in 1973.

The Bank of California Building was designated a City of Seattle Landmark in 1987.[2]

History

The Bank of California, organized in

Great Seattle fire, built a substantial four story brick and stone building on the lot that was completed in 1890.[4]

The bank chose the John Graham firm to design a two-story plus mezzanine concrete structure with a terra cotta facade that would cost around $200,000 but would actually cost $50,000 more. A completed architectural sketch of the building was published in the Seattle Times on September 25, 1923.[5] A preliminary and apparently innovative concept hatched during the building's designing was to incorporate customer parking in the building's basement. It is unknown whether this idea was actually implemented.[6] Demolition of the Epler Block began in November 1923 and lasted for several months.[7] Construction began in early 1924 and by May of that year, the concrete structure was complete. The building officially opened to the public on August 25, 1924.[8]

The bank continued to expand by opening offices in the adjoining

Key Bank
branch ever since.

Description

The building in 2008, before the modern entrance canopy was removed

Exterior

The 60-foot (18 m) wide Second Avenue facade of the Bank is clad in gray glazed

pilasters, the center space being slightly spread to allow for the entrance doors, capped with a large arched pediment. The entablature is crowned by an attic forming the fourth floor. The design follows the Ionic order and includes an architrave and frieze which once bore the name of the bank but is now bare. Above the fourth floor is a smaller cornice topped with a pediment bearing the building's date of construction.[8]

Interior

The main feature of the bank was the 60 by 70-foot (21 m) main banking room with a 40-foot (12 m) high

Seattle Times
in an August, 1924 article:

The high ceiling is semi-pompeian in design with polychromatic with an overall octagon motif. The pilasters are adorned with magnificent bronze torch lights. The columns are bronzed and the metal work surrounding the columns is old bronze to blend in its entirety with the marble counters, the walnut woodwork and the genuine bronze grill work.[8]

The

black walnut. Large clocks, with dials of escolette were centered in balcony grill work at each end of the main lobby. Offices were located on each balcony.[8] The basement housed the vaults and recreation rooms for employees while the fourth floor contained offices and a large club room for employees.[14]

See also

External links

References

  1. ^ "Landmarks and Designation". City of Seattle. Archived from the original on 2013-03-06. Retrieved 2013-03-04.
  2. ^ Landmarks Alphabetical Listing for B Archived 2011-10-02 at the Wayback Machine, Individual Landmarks, Department of Neighborhoods, City of Seattle. Accessed 6 December 2010.
  3. ^ "New Bank Building to Go Up - Epler Block Changes Hands" Seattle Times 8 May 1923. Pg. 9.
  4. ^ "An Old Landmark to Be Replaced by Modern Bank Building [Advertisement]" Seattle Times 10 May 1923. Pg. 8.
  5. ^ "Graphic-Fiction Page" Seattle Times 25 Sept. 1923.
  6. ^ "Bank to Build Home" Seattle Times 9 May 1923. Pg. 23.
  7. ^ "Modern Building to Replace Epler Block" Seattle Times 14 Oct. 1923. Pg. 18.
  8. ^ a b c d "Bank of California to Occupy New Home" Seattle Times 24 Aug. 1924. Pg.4
  9. ^ Lane, Polly "Bank of California to Build Downtown Office Building." Seattle Times 1 Jul. 1970. Pg. B3.
  10. ^ Gay, Jerry "New Bank Building Opens" Seattle Times 7 Jan. 1974. Pg. A6.
  11. ^ Laurence, Erwin [Editor] "Bank's Right to Two Offices Upheld By U.S. Appeals Court" Seattle Times 7 Feb. 1974. Pg. G6.
  12. ^ "Savings Bank's Income Increases" Seattle Times 16 Jul. 1982. Pg. C11.
  13. ^ Lim, Paul J. "Building - And Buying - A Name For Itself -- Key Bank Strives To Boost Visibility In Northwest" Seattle Times 2 Mar. 1995. Retrieved December 8, 2010
  14. ^ "Bank Builds New Home" Seattle Times 6 Jul. 1924. Pg. B8.
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