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Bankers Trust Company Building, Detroit

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Coordinates: 42°19′44″N 83°2′53″W / 42.32889°N 83.04806°W / 42.32889; -83.04806
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Bankers Trust Company Building
Location205 West Congress Street
Detroit, Michigan
Coordinates42°19′44″N 83°2′53″W / 42.32889°N 83.04806°W / 42.32889; -83.04806
Built1925
ArchitectWirt C. Rowland of Smith, Hinchman & Grylls
Architectural styleRomanesque Revival
Part ofDetroit Financial District (ID09001067)
Designated CPDecember 14, 2009

The Bankers Trust Company Building is an office building located at 205 West Congress Street in Downtown Detroit, Michigan, within the Financial District. Designed by Wirt C. Rowland of Smith, Hinchman & Grylls and completed in 1925 the ornately modeled building is an exquisite example of Italian Romanesque Revival architecture.[1]

History

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The Bankers Trust Company was founded in 1917[2] and its offices were originally located in the State Savings Bank Building, at the northeast corner of West Congress and Shelby Streets.[3] The bank later hired the architectural firm of Smith, Hinchman & Grylls to design a new headquarters building down the street; the structure, designed by Wirt C. Rowland, was completed in 1925.[4][5] The Bankers Trust Company occupied the building from 1925 to 1948, when a brokerage firm moved in.[3] The structure later housed a fast food restaurant, a diner, and several nightclubs, before being sold in 2015 to an unidentified buyer for $3 million.[3][6]

Description

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The two-story building is faced with terra cotta and includes elaborate exterior Italian Romanesque–style decorations, with massive arched windows designed to admit light to the banking room.[1] The large first-floor arches are echoed on the second floor. Green marble columns topped with lions flank the corner entrance, which once had a revolving door (now removed).[7] The interior has been remodeled multiple times as the structure served different uses; the three-story addition on Shelby Street, designed in the International Style, was completed in 1960.[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b Bankers Trust Company Building. Detroit1701. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  2. ^ Clarence Monroe Burton, William Stocking, Gordon K. Miller, The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Volume 5, The S. J. Clarke publishing company, 1922, p. 667.
  3. ^ a b c d McGeen, Denise. Bankers Trust Company Building. Historic Detroit. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  4. ^ Hill, Eric J. & John Gallagher (2002). AIA Detroit: The American Institute of Architects Guide to Detroit Architecture. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-3120-3. P. 88.
  5. ^ Sharoff, Robert (2005). American City: Detroit Architecture, 1845-2005. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-3270-6. P. 42.
  6. ^ Austin, Dan. "Historic Detroit bank building fetches $3M at auction". Detroit Free Press. March 4, 2015.
  7. ^ Robert O. Christensen & Rebecca Binno Savage (October 2009). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Detroit Financial District" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved January 10, 2010.

Further reading

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  • Meyer, Katherine Mattingly & Martin C.P. McElroy (1980). Detroit Architecture A.I.A. Guide. Introduction by W. Hawkins Ferry, Hon A.I.A. (Revised ed.). Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-1651-4.
  • Savage, Rebecca Binno & Greg Kowalski (2004). Art Deco in Detroit (Images of America). Arcadia. ISBN 0-7385-3228-2.
  • Sobocinski, Melanie Grunow (2005). Detroit and Rome: building on the past. Regents of the University of Michigan. ISBN 0933691092.
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