Norwood Tower
Norwood Tower | |
---|---|
Gothic Revival | |
Location | 114 West 7th Street Austin, Texas 78701 |
Named for | Ollie Osborn Norwood |
Groundbreaking | 1928 |
Opened | 1929 |
Renovated | 1982–3 |
Cost | $750,000 |
Renovation cost | $5,000,000 |
Height | 189 feet (58 m) |
Technical details | |
Floor count | 16 |
Floor area | 121,430 square feet (11,281 m2) |
Lifts/elevators | 3 |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | Bertram Giesecke, August Watkins "Watt" Harris |
Main contractor | Frank Barron |
Renovating team | |
Architect(s) | Ford, Powell & Carson |
Website | |
norwoodtower | |
Norwood Building | |
Coordinates | 30°16′10″N 97°44′36″W / 30.2694°N 97.7432°W |
NRHP reference No. | 10001224[1] |
RTHL No. | 13620 [2] |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | February 7, 2011 |
Designated RTHL | 2006 |
The Norwood Tower (previously known as the Capital National Bank Building) is a historic commercial building in
History
In the early 1920s,
When the garage was completed in January 1928, Norwood demolished a pre-existing residence on the lot and began building an office tower on the site, at a cost of $750,000 (equivalent to $13,300,000 in 2023). Construction was completed in the summer of 1929, after which the Norwood Building was occupied by medical, legal and financial offices, as well as retailers and government agencies. At the time, it was the city's tallest commercial building, and the third tallest structure, after the Texas State Capitol and the Stephen F. Austin Hotel.[3]
Capital National Bank Building
Beginning in January 1934, Capital National Bank of Austin occupied the ground floor of the Norwood Building. In 1944 the bank purchased the building and renamed it the "Capital National Bank Building." The bank modified the adjoining garage in 1951 to allow ground-level commercial banking facilities to be extended into the garage building. Over the decades, CNB occupied progressively more and more of the building, until the bank eventually moved its headquarters to a larger building in 1981.[3]
Norwood Tower
The building came under new ownership after CNB relocated in 1981. The new owners changed the building's name to the "Norwood Tower" and undertook major renovations between 1982 and 1983 at a cost of $5 million (equivalent to $15,800,000 in 2023). During this time the tower's exterior and lobby were repaired and restored, and the building was brought into compliance with modern building codes.[3] The tower was named a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 2006,[5] and on February 7, 2011 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.[6]
Clarence Odie Williams
From the building's completion in 1929 until 1964, the Norwood Tower's
Architecture
The Norwood Tower is a sixteen-story steel-frame building
The first thirteen floors of the tower hold commercial and office space. The fourteenth and fifteenth levels form a two-story
Exterior
The tower rises vertically from a square base, maintaining its square cross section for the bottom thirteen stories. Above the thirteenth level the corners are set back, giving the penthouse on the fourteenth and fifteenth stories a cruciform floor plan. Above the fifteenth level the sides are also stepped back, giving the sixteenth level a narrower rectangular floor plan. The adjoining garage covers the bottom five stories of the tower on its north and west sides.[3]
The main entry is in the south facade, which features seven arched openings at ground level, with entrance doors behind the central three and glazing over the outer four. The seven bays are separated by square piers, which become pilasters running vertically up the face of the tower above the first story. Between the pilasters, narrow vertical ribs divide each bay into thirds, with three narrow vertical windows in each bay at each level.[3]
The
At the top of the central bay, immediately below the roof line, is a large clock (no longer operating) with its face designed in the style of a rose window, surrounded by panels of blind tracery. At the various roof lines creating by the multiple setbacks, the pilasters and ribs terminate in elaborate decorative finials and gargoyles that combine to give the tower a pinnacled and complex silhouette. The other elevations of the building are similar to the south facade, though without the arched entry, lower gargoyles and clock face.[3]
See also
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Travis County, Texas
- Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks in Travis County
References
- ^ 10001224
- ^ 13620
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form (10001224)" (PDF). Texas Historical Commission. February 7, 2011. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
- ^ "Austin Beginnings". Austin History Center. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
- ^ a b c "Details for Norwood Tower (Atlas Number 5507013620)". Texas Historical Commission. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
- ^ "Details for Norwood Tower (Atlas Number 2010001224)". Texas Historical Commission. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
- ISBN 9780292730724. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
- ^ McLeod, Gerald E. (January 30, 1998). "Day Trips". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
External links
- Media related to Norwood Tower (Austin, Texas) at Wikimedia Commons