First National Bank Building (Chicago)

First National Bank Building (Chicago)
Name	First National Bank Building
Location	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Status	Demolished
Start date	1922
Completion date	1924
Demolition date	1975
Building type	Commercial office
Roof	550 ft
Floor count	38
Architect	Graham, Anderson, Probst & White
Developer	First National Bank of Chicago

First National Bank Building (Chicago) was a landmark commercial skyscraper in the Loop of Chicago, Illinois, completed in the early 20th century and serving as a major financial center for the First National Bank of Chicago, later part of Bank One Corporation and antecedent to JPMorgan Chase & Co. The tower stood near key transportation nodes including LaSalle Street Station and functioned amid the wave of Chicago school architecture and Beaux-Arts influenced high-rise development that followed the Great Chicago Fire urban rebuild. Its life spanned eras defined by the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, and postwar urban renewal leading into the late 20th century.

History

The building was commissioned by executives of the First National Bank of Chicago to consolidate banking operations displaced by earlier 19th-century expansions of the bank, reflecting trends observed in New York City financial centers such as Wall Street and the New York Stock Exchange. Designed during the post-World War I construction boom, the project involved local banking magnates who interacted with municipal authorities including the Chicago Plan Commission and elements of Cook County urban policy. Opening ceremonies drew figures from the worlds of finance and civic leadership, mirroring inaugurations at contemporaneous projects like Chicago Board of Trade Building and Sears Roebuck Tower planning discussions. Over decades the building accommodated reorganizations tied to national banking legislation such as the Banking Act of 1933 and institutional mergers culminating in its association with Bank One Corporation.

Architecture and design

The design team at Graham, Anderson, Probst & White produced a skyscraper that synthesized Chicago school verticality with Beaux-Arts ornamentation, echoing motifs seen in the Masonic Temple Building (Chicago) and the work of architects from the Burnham and Root lineage. The façade incorporated limestone cladding and classicized cornices, aligning with façades on LaSalle Street known for their neoclassical banking palazzo precedents derived from Palazzo Medici Riccardi concepts. Interior spaces featured banking halls with coffered ceilings, marble finishes, and sculptural allegories akin to commissions by artists who executed work for the Auditorium Building and the Field Museum of Natural History. The tower's massing used setbacks compliant with zoning influences from international examples such as the Equitable Building (New York City) while retaining a monumental base appropriate to the Loop financial district.

Construction and engineering

Construction employed leading engineers and contractors who had worked on prominent projects including Chicago Tribune Tower and Union Station (Chicago). Structural design used a steel-frame skeleton characteristic of late skyscraper technology pioneered in Chicago during the 1890s and evolved with lessons from earlier projects like Home Insurance Building. Elevators were installed by firms active on high-rise jobs for the Wrigley Building and incorporated safety systems influenced by advances documented at Empire State Building projects. Mechanical systems for heating and ventilation paralleled installations in civic structures such as the James R. Thompson Center antecedent technologies; electrical distribution tied into municipal grids serving landmarks including Old Post Office facilities.

Tenants and usage

Primary tenancy was occupied by the First National Bank of Chicago corporate offices and banking halls, while upper floors leased to law firms, commodity brokers, and insurance underwriters with clientele intersecting institutions like the Chicago Board of Trade and Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Corporate tenants over time included regional branches of national firms analogous to Armour and Company corporate legal departments and professional services comparable to offices of S. S. Kresge Corporation executives. Public and private events used the banking hall for civic gatherings similar to receptions held at Rookery Building and exhibitions associated with the Century of Progress promotional era. Retail establishments at street level mirrored patterns seen along State Street and catered to workers from nearby transit hubs such as Van Buren Street Station.

Preservation and landmark status

Advocacy for preservation engaged civic groups inspired by campaigns that protected buildings like Auditorium Building and Monadnock Building (Chicago). Debates involved the Commission on Chicago Landmarks and preservationists influenced by the work of commentators who had campaigned for the Chicago Architecture Foundation and other cultural institutions. Despite recognition of its architectural pedigree related to projects by Daniel Burnham successors and its contribution to the LaSalle Street Historic District streetscape, competing priorities from municipal redevelopment agencies and developers paralleling the Chicago 21 Plan complicated landmark designation efforts.

Demolition and legacy

Faced with mid-20th-century economic shifts mirroring demolitions elsewhere, the building was sold and ultimately demolished in the 1970s amid redevelopment pressures comparable to demolitions of other historic towers during urban renewal projects in cities including New York City and Detroit. The site’s redevelopment reflected the larger transition of downtown Chicago toward glass-and-steel office blocks akin to later works by firms such as Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. The building’s photographic archives, drawings, and fragments entered collections at repositories like the Chicago History Museum and informed retrospective exhibitions by the Art Institute of Chicago and the Chicago Architecture Center, contributing to scholarly reassessments of early 20th-century high-rise banking architecture and influencing later preservation victories.

Category:Buildings and structures in Chicago Category:Demolished buildings and structures in Chicago