Farmers Bank Building (Pittsburgh)

The Farmers Bank Building was a 27-story, 105 m (344 ft) skyscraper in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania completed in 1902 and demolished on May 25, 1997.[3] The University of Pittsburgh's online digital library states the building was constructed in 1903 and had 24 stories.[4] To a generation of Pittsburgh sports fans the building is well remembered for being resurfaced in the mid 1960[5] in a failed rehabilitation but also fondly for a 15 story high mural of Roberto Clemente, Bill Mazeroski, Jack Lambert, Mean Joe Greene and Mario Lemieux completed in 1992 by Judy Penzer, who was killed in the crash of TWA Flight 800 four years later. For the five years the mural existed it was often the centerpiece for national networks cutting to or from games while they were in town for sporting events.

Farmers Bank Building
Alternative namesFarmers Deposit National Bank Building
Rockwell-Standard Building
500 Wood Street
General information
StatusImploded
TypeCommercial offices
Location305 Fifth Avenue
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Coordinates40.440750°N 80.000154°W / 40.440750; -80.000154
Completed1902
Renovated1967
DemolishedMay 25, 1997
OwnerPenzer Inc.
ManagementPenzer Inc.
Height
Roof105.01 m (344.5 ft)
Technical details
Floor count27
Design and construction
ArchitectAlden & Harlow
References
[1][2]

Rockwell International owned the building starting in the mid-1960s and used it as its global headquarters, selling it in early 1972 and consolidating its headquarters staff in the U.S. Steel Tower blocks away.[6]

For a time, the father of Pittsburgh hockey, some claim of professional hockey, James Wallace Conant was the building manager for the complex. He also was the longtime manager of the Schenley Park Casino and Duquesne Gardens.

The building was imploded by Controlled Demolition, Inc. on the afternoon of May 25, 1997. In its place, a low-rise department store named Lazarus was built on the site. That building has since been extensively redesigned and now operates as a condominium development named Piatt Place.

See also

References
  1. Farmers Bank Building at Emporis
  2. "Farmers Bank Building". SkyscraperPage.
  3. "40-Story Pittsburgh Bank; Tallest in World Outside New York – Firm Here to Build It". The New York Times. August 14, 1911. p. 7.
  4. "Historic Pittsburgh – Chronology by Year: 1903". University of Pittsburgh Digital Research Library. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
  5. Trump, James D. Van & Arthur P. Zigler Jr., Landmark Architecture of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1967 p. 4
  6. Staff writers (4 February 1972). "NA Rockwell Building sold to Galbreath". The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 13. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.