Bank of California Building (Portland, Oregon)

Last updated

Bank of California Building
Portland Historic Landmark [1] [2]
Bank of California Building in Portland Oregon with MAX train Dec 2013.jpg
Viewed from the southwest in 2013
Downtown Portland.png
Red pog.svg
Location within downtown Portland
USA Oregon location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Bank of California Building (Portland, Oregon) (Oregon)
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Bank of California Building (Portland, Oregon) (the United States)
Location330 SW 6th Avenue
Portland, Oregon, U.S.
Coordinates 45°31′16″N122°40′38″W / 45.521203°N 122.677160°W / 45.521203; -122.677160
Area0.1 acres (0.040 ha)
Built1924–25
Architect A. E. Doyle
Architectural style Italianate
NRHP reference No. 78002306 [3]
Added to NRHPMarch 14, 1978

The Bank of California Building, also known as the Durham & Bates Building and currently the Three Kings Building, is a historic former bank building in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. It has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1978. [4] [5] The three-story building was designed by A. E. Doyle in an Italianate style and completed in 1925. The ground floor features a two-story-high grand room with 36-foot (11 m) ceilings. The building's original owner and occupant, the Bank of California, moved out around the end of 1969 and sold the building in 1970. It was last used as a bank in 1977. It is currently owned by Surlamer Investments. [6]

Contents

Establishment and original use

An elevation of the main (west) facade in 2013. The entrance at the far left was a 1977 addition. Bank of California Building in Portland, Oregon - main facade Dec 2013.jpg
An elevation of the main (west) façade in 2013. The entrance at the far left was a 1977 addition.

The London and San Francisco Bank established a Portland branch in 1882. When the San Francisco-based Bank of California acquired and absorbed that institution in 1905, the branch became the first Bank of California branch in Portland. [4] [7] In 1924, officers of the bank approved plans to construct a new building for the Portland branch. Since about 1894, it had been located at Third and Stark Streets in downtown, in the Chamber of Commerce Building [4] (demolished in 1934). [8] Noted Portland architect A. E. Doyle was hired to design the new structure. Doyle's chief designer Charles K. Greene had traveled abroad to study Greco-Roman architectural forms in the 1910s. [9]

His research resulted in three Italianate buildings in Portland, of which the Bank of California Building was the first. The others were the Chicago/Italianate Pacific Building and the Public Service Building, an early skyscraper. While the Pacific and Public Service Buildings are large, multi-story structures, the three-story Bank of California Building is small. It has been described as being in the style of an Italian Renaissance palazzo (palace). [4] [10] Construction began in 1924, the building was completed in 1925 and opened on July 20 of that year. [7]

Description

Exterior

The central, original entrance features ornate bronzework on and around the gates covering the doors. Central entrance of Bank of California Building - Portland, Oregon (2013).jpg
The central, original entrance features ornate bronzework on and around the gates covering the doors.

The building occupies a 50-by-100-foot (15 m × 30 m) site at the northeast corner of 6th Avenue and Stark Streets; it faces 6th. [4] The main façade features five large, 28-foot (8.5 m) tall windows which are arched at the top. Above each is a smaller rectangular window at the second-floor level. The third floor is within the building's hipped roof and is windowless. The exterior is clad in cast terracotta with marble trim, and the roof is covered in red clay tiles. Terracotta is also used for the cornices. Two ornate bronze lamps flank the central entrance, similar in style to fixtures used on Portland's Doyle-designed Public Service Building of the same period. A bronze portico frames the bronze gates of the main entrance, located in the central arch of the five tall arches. For many years, this was the building's only entrance. However, in 1977, during work to modify the building for non-banking uses, a second entrance was built in the northernmost arch of the main façade, accessing a new, smaller lobby and providing more direct access to the upper floors, . [4]

One of two bronze lanterns flanking the main entrance Bronze lantern on Bank of California Building - Portland, Oregon.jpg
One of two bronze lanterns flanking the main entrance

Originally, the building's north side was directly adjacent to the six-story Fenton Building (also known as the Guaranty Building), obscured from view, and was not given any decorative surface when built. However, following that building's demolition in 1971, [11] the Bank of California Building's newly exposed north façade was resurfaced in cast terracotta in a pattern simulating that of the west and south façades. A surface parking lot took the Fenton Building's place, and a drive-up teller window was added to the building's north end; this addition was the only substantial alteration to the building's exterior between its completion in 1925 and its nomination to the National Register in 1978. [4] The drive-up window was removed in 1977, after the building's use as a bank ended. In 1980, the parking lot gave way to a new 13-story office building known as the TN Building. [12] It was converted into a 16-story hotel in 2008, the Marriott-owned Courtyard Portland City Center, leaving the north façade hidden from view again.

Interior

In addition to three main floors, the building has a mezzanine situated between the first (ground) and second floors. At the time of the building's opening in 1925, the windowless third floor was not fully outfitted for use, and was planned to be "held in reserve" until then-anticipated expansion of the bank's business in Portland created a need for additional work space. [7] It was eventually equipped "as a lounge, library, and recreation space for the bank's employees". [4] A basement was also included. It housed the bank vaults (of which there are three), among other facilities. [4] The ground floor was occupied by the main banking room, with a line of teller windows along the east side. It was designed as a "grand two-story room with ornate coffered beam ceilings", [4] which are 36 feet (11 m) high. [7] The mezzanine was originally situated only along the north side [7] and is 16 feet (4.9 m) wide there. The floor of the former banking lobby is marble, as were the teller counters (since removed). Most other interior surfaces are cast materials made to simulate travertine marble. [4]

Along with removal of the line of teller windows, other work undertaken during the 1977 modifications included an extension of the mezzanine southwards along the east wall to the south wall, and the addition of a freestanding stairway between it and the center of the ground-floor lobby. [4]

Immediate surroundings

Pictured shortly before its removal in 2007 is a large Portland Mall bus-stop shelter that stood in front of the building for 30 years. The lettering on the main facade at that time was for Bidwell & Co. (which had moved out in 2004). Portland transit mall bus stop in front of Bank of California Building in January 2007.jpg
Pictured shortly before its removal in 2007 is a large Portland Mall bus-stop shelter that stood in front of the building for 30 years. The lettering on the main façade at that time was for Bidwell & Co. (which had moved out in 2004).

The northbound Portland Transit Mall passes in front of the building. During the mall's construction in 1976–77 the plain cement sidewalk in front of the building was resurfaced in brick, and street trees were added. [4] A large shelter for the new bus stop that was installed there at that time [13] was removed when the mall was rebuilt in 2007–08. MAX light rail trains have passed in front of the building since 2009. Since completion of a renovation of the transit mall in 2009, the bronze sculpture Talos No. 2 has stood in front of the building, near the corner of 6th and Stark. The Bank of California Building stands directly across 6th Avenue from another A. E. Doyle-designed bank building, the United States National Bank Building, of 1917. That building's classical style contrasts sharply with the Bank of California Building's Italianate design. [4]

Post-1960s owners or primary tenants

The Bank of California remained at the site for almost 45 years until moving west by just over one block to a new 15-story high-rise building in December 1969. [10] It also took the name Bank of California Building, [14] or tower and was renamed the Union Bank of California Building after a 1996 merger. [15] It was then occupied, in turn, by Security Bank of Oregon, the Oregon Bank, and insurance company Durham & Bates, Inc. [10] The end of the building's use as a bank took place around 1977, when it was sold to Bankside Investors, to be leased to Durham & Bates. [4] The prominent lettering on the main façade was usually changed with each transfer, being altered to read SECURITY BANK OF OREGON in 1970 [16] and to read DURHAM & BATES after that company moved into the building. [13] The structure was added to the National Register of Historic Places in March 1978. [4]

Bidwell & Company, a Portland-based stock brokerage firm, purchased the building in November 1999 [17] and launched an intensive nine-month renovation in 2000. [18] [17] Bidwell moved into the building in November 2000. [17] However, after the company was sold to TD Ameritrade in 2004, the building was vacated and sold. [10] In 2008, the building was renamed the Three Kings Building, with the signage replaced as such. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portland Union Station</span> Train station in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

Portland Union Station is a train station in Portland, Oregon, United States, situated near the western shore of the Willamette River in Old Town Chinatown. It serves as an intermediate stop for Amtrak's Cascades and Coast Starlight routes and, along with King Street Station in Seattle, is one of two western termini of the Empire Builder. The station is a major transport hub for the Portland metropolitan area with connections to MAX Light Rail, the Portland Streetcar, and local and intercity bus services. The station building contains Wilf's Restaurant & Bar on the ground level and offices on the upper floors. It also has Amtrak's first Metropolitan Lounge on the West Coast, which is reserved for first-class sleeping car and business-class passengers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meier & Frank Building</span> Historic building in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

The Meier & Frank Building is a fifteen-story, glazed terra cotta building located in downtown Portland, Oregon, across from the northeast corner of Pioneer Courthouse Square. The building is the former flagship store and headquarters building for the Meier & Frank department store chain, which was taken over by Macy's in 2006. In 2006–2007, the building's lower five floors were remodeled as a Macy's, while the upper eleven floors were renovated in 2008 into a luxury hotel known as The Nines. Macy's closed in April 2017 and the lower levels were rebuilt as office space.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A. E. Doyle</span> American architect

Albert Ernest Doyle was a prolific architect in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington. He opened his own architectural practice in 1907. From 1908 to 1914, he partnered with William B. Patterson, and their firm was known as Doyle & Patterson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olds, Wortman & King</span> Historic building in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

Olds, Wortman & King, also known as Olds & King, was a department store in Portland, Oregon, United States, established under a different name in 1851 and becoming Olds & King in 1878, on its third change of ownership. The store was renamed Olds, Wortman & King in 1901; Olds & King again in 1944; and Rhodes in 1960. Moving several times within the downtown Portland area, the store settled at 10th & Morrison in 1910, in a large new building that remained in operation as a department store until 1974 and is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Since 1976, the building has been known as The Galleria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1 Wall Street Court</span> Residential building in Manhattan, New York

1 Wall Street Court is a residential building in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The 15-story building, designed by Clinton and Russell in the Renaissance Revival style, was completed in 1904 at the intersection of Wall, Pearl, and Beaver Streets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pittock Block</span> Historic building in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

The Pittock Block is a historic building in downtown Portland, Oregon, occupying a city block between SW 9th and 10th Avenues, SW Stark and Washington Streets, and west of O'Bryant Square.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacific Building (Portland, Oregon)</span> Historic building in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

The Pacific Building is a historic office building in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since March 5, 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flatiron Building (Portland, Oregon)</span> Historic building in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

The Flatiron Building, also known as Ringlers Annex and Espresso Bar is a historic two-story building in downtown Portland, Oregon. Since 1989, it has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Previously, it had been designated a Portland Landmark by the city's Historic Landmarks Commission in 1988. This small building has a triangular footprint, as it sits at the end of a triangular lot bounded by West Burnside, SW Stark, and 12th Streets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Public Service Building (Portland, Oregon)</span> Historic building in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

The Public Service Building is a historic 67.06 m (220.0 ft), 15-story office building in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. The building and its attached parking garage have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Public Service Building and Garage since 1996. It was built to house the offices of the Portland Gas and Coke Company and the Pacific Power and Light Company. The building's name reflects the fact that these utilities were "public services". A space in the Public Service Building fronting the corner of Salmon and Sixth streets became the first Niketown store.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Library (Portland, Oregon)</span> Library building in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

The Central Library is a three-story public library branch in the downtown core of Portland, Oregon, United States. Opened in 1913, it serves as the main branch of the Multnomah County Library system. In 1979, the Georgian style building was added to the National Register of Historic Places as the Central Building, Public Library. The library underwent major structural and interior renovations in the mid 1990s. The library also underwent a refresh in 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McDougall–Campbell House</span> Historic building in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

The McDougall–Campbell House is an English Arts and Crafts-Style house in Portland, Oregon, United States. It has elements of the English Cottage style incorporated into the design. The house was designed by architect Josef Jacobberger for Gilbert H. Durham and built in 1910 or earlier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montgomery Park (Portland, Oregon)</span> Historic building in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

Montgomery Park is an office building and former Montgomery Ward mail-order catalog warehouse and department store located in Portland, Oregon, United States, built in 1920. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places under its historic name Montgomery Ward & Company Building. The building is located on property once used for the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition, of 1905. It was occupied by Montgomery Ward from 1920 until 1985, although the majority of the company's operations at this location ended in 1982. After the U.S. Bancorp Tower and the Wells Fargo Center, the building is the third-largest office building in Portland with 756,055 square feet (70,239.8 m2).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yale Union Laundry Building</span> Historic building in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

The Yale Union Laundry Building, also known as the Yale Laundry Building, the City Linen Supply Co. Building, Perfect Fit Manufacturing and simply Yale Union (YU), in southeast Portland, Oregon, is a two-story commercial structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Built largely of brick in 1908, and embellished with Italian Revival and Egyptian Revival decorations, it was added to the register in 2007. Two-story additions in 1927 and 1929 changed the original building into an L-shaped structure that shares a party wall with a building to the east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States National Bank Building</span> Historic building in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

The United States National Bank Building in downtown Portland, Oregon was designed by A. E. Doyle in a Roman classical style, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The four-story building's first section, facing Sixth Avenue, was completed and opened in 1917. The building features a four-story Corinthian colonnade at its eastern end and makes extensive use of glazed terracotta. The interior is also decorated extensively with highly textured materials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portland Van and Storage Building</span> Historic building in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

The Portland Van and Storage Building is a building located in north Portland, Oregon listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Jacob Astor Hotel</span> United States historic place

The John Jacob Astor Hotel, originally known as the Hotel Astoria, is a historic former hotel building located in Astoria, Oregon, United States, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). It is one of the tallest buildings on the Oregon Coast and is a "prominent landmark" in Astoria. Constructed in 1922–23, the hotel opened in 1924 and initially was the city's social and business hub, but soon was beset with a variety of problems, and struggled financially for years. It was renamed the John Jacob Astor Hotel in 1951, but a decline in business continued, as did other problems. The building was condemned by the city for safety violations in 1968 and sat vacant for several years until 1984, when work to renovate it and convert it for apartments began. It reopened as an apartment building in 1986, with the lowermost two floors reserved for commercial use. The building was listed on the NRHP in 1979. The world's first cable television system was set up in 1948 using an antenna on the roof of the Hotel Astoria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portland Fire Station No. 7</span> Historic building in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

Portland Fire Station No. 7, located in southeast Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon, is a two-story structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Built in 1927, it was added to the register in 1989. It was the last of numerous Portland firehouses to be designed by fire chief and architect Lee Gray Holden, who died of a stroke while visiting the No. 7 firehouse in 1943. The building continued to be used by the city's Fire Department until the 1980s, when it was sold off and used as an automobile garage. It was acquired by a local developer in 2009, and was restored and remodeled for office and retail use.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Astoria City Hall</span> City hall in Oregon , United States

Astoria City Hall is the current city hall for the town of Astoria, Oregon, United States. Built in 1923 to house a bank, the building became the city hall in 1939, and it has remained Astoria's seat of government for more than 75 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Merchant Hotel (Portland, Oregon)</span> Hotel in Portland, Oregon

The Merchant Hotel, also known as the Merchants' Hotel, is a historic former hotel building in Portland, Oregon, United States. It is located at 121 N.W. Second Avenue in Old Town Chinatown. It is a contributing property in the Portland Skidmore/Old Town Historic District, which was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1975 and designated a National Historic Landmark District in 1977. It is one of the few remaining examples of Victorian Italianate, cast iron architecture on the West Coast. It occupies half of a city block, specifically along the south side of N.W. Davis Street from Second to Third Avenues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodlark Building</span> Historic building in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

The Woodlark Building is a historic commercial building in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The nine-story building was designed by Doyle, Patterson & Beach, and constructed in 1911–12. It has been described as "one of Portland's earliest commercial skyscrapers". From its completion until 1924, it was the headquarters of two jointly owned and very similarly named pharmaceutical companies based in Portland, the retail Woodard, Clarke & Company, and the wholesale Clarke-Woodward Company. It was converted into an office building in 1924. The retail space on the ground floor, mezzanine and basement has held a variety of businesses, in succession over the building's history, among the longest-lasting ones being a drugstore (1912–1927), a Sherman Clay piano and music store (1930–1974), and an independent shoe store (2000–2016).

References

  1. ↑ Portland Historic Landmarks Commission (July 2014). "Historic Landmarks – Portland, Oregon" (XLS). Retrieved September 17, 2016.
  2. ↑ Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, City of Portland (July 12, 2011). "Portland Plan Background Report – Historic Resources, Report 2: Data and Maps" (PDF). p. 35. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  3. ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 H. Curtis Finch (December 5, 1977). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form: Bank of California Building (Old)" (PDF). National Park Service . Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  5. ↑ "Oregon National Register List" (PDF). Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. June 6, 2011. p. 30. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 9, 2011. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  6. 1 2 "Three Kings" (PDF).
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "Bank ready to go to new quarters". The Sunday Oregonian . July 19, 1925. Section 1, p. 14.
  8. ↑ MacColl, E. Kimbark (1979). The Growth of A City. Portland, Oregon: The Georgian Press Company. pp. 528–529. ISBN   0-9603408-1-5.
  9. ↑ King, Bart (2001). An Architectural Guidebook to Portland. Gibbs Smith. p. 61. ISBN   978-0879-0599-10.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Leeson, Fred (September 14, 2006). "Roaring '20s palace in need of new life". The Oregonian . Portland Neighbors section, p. MP10.
  11. ↑ "Building To Be Torn Down". The Oregonian . February 17, 1971. Section 2, p. 1.
  12. ↑ Leeson, Fred (April 26, 2007). "Hotel conversion may change building's luck". The Oregonian. Metro Portland Neighbors section, p. 4.
  13. 1 2 "Photos accompanying the National Register of Historic Places nomination form" (PDF). National Park Service. December 5, 1977. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  14. ↑ Swanson, Dale (December 5, 1969). "Imposing structure, new Bank of California, soon ready". The Sunday Oregonian . Section 3, p. 6.
  15. ↑ Ota, Alan K. (August 21, 1996). "Union Bank will add Northwest branches". The Oregonian . p. D1.
  16. ↑ "New name [photo and caption only]". The Oregonian. September 14, 1970. Section 3, p. 7.
  17. 1 2 3 Sullivan, Tara (November 9, 2000). "Real estate: Bidwell & Co. moves into restored bank building". The Oregonian . p. B4.
  18. ↑ King, Bart (2001). An Architectural Guidebook to Portland. Gibbs Smith. p. 16. ISBN   978-0879-0599-10.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.