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THE CHICAGO BANKER
August 14, !pop]
CHAPTEE1EC©1®
(Department of Chicago Banker)
An Open Forum Dedicated to the American Institute of Banking in Which to Advance the Great Movement for Systematic Education and Universal Membership
public and the bank’s employees of any institution in the country.
In order to leave the banking room as free and unobstructed as possible for future expansion, all of the vaults have been placed in the basement directly below the bank. Access to these is had by means of both elevator and stairway. The cash vault, 27x9 feet, is lined throughout with 25-4 inches of laminated steel built up in three layers. The center layer is of five-ply welded chrome steel. All of the mechanism will be of the most improved manufacture, and the vault will be absolutely fire and burglar proof.
The entrance door to the vault is an entirely new feature, being so designed that it opens in two panels instead of. one enormously heavy one as heretofore, each panel being opened separately and independently, thus doing away with the necessity for the usual emergency doors.
This will be the first bank in the West in which this improved vault entrance will be used.
Another ingenious and unique feature in the construction of this vault is the sinking of the floor immediately surrounding it, to a depth allowing the full swinging of the doors, thereby effecting a perfectly level entrance into it from the level of the corridor floor. Altogether, the vault may be said to be the most modern and complete in every detail that it is possible to provide.
The vaults are designed by Mr. E. A. Strauss of Chicago, a vault engineer of reputation and a noted authority on all classes of burglar and fire proof construction. He has made a life study of the relative strength, resisting power and drill proof qualities of metals, and is the designer of many of the latest patented locking mechanisms and devices now used in modern safes and vaults.
The Farmer and the Banker
The farmer has come to realize what an inestimable boon the present banking system is. He knows that nothing is simpler than to deposit his money and to pay all bills by check, minimizing the risk of loss and swindle, simplifying farm bookkeeping and taking a load of worry off his mind. He has learned that the man with a bank account is on a higher scale than the man without a bank account, even in this republic where all men are supposed to be equal. He has been pleased with the deference shown him by merchants when he pays with check, thus establishing himself as one of the financially reliable men of the community. He has found that a minute spent in writing on the. stubs of his check book the amount of deposit, adding it to the balance brought forward and subtracting the amount of the check has given him his present financial standing—showing him at a glance how much money he has—whereas in the old days a half dozen well-thumbed account books and any number of undecipherable figures were involved. He is proud to drive up to the home bank, sure of courteous treatment at the counter and certain of meeting the fellow farmers whose acquaintance is most desirable. The country bank has become the clearing house not only of money, but of ideas, market quotations and reports of stock and produce transactions of inestimable value in future dealings.
W. W. Heaton of Waco, W. W. Summerlin of Tallapoosa and others are organizing a bank at Bremen, Ga.
“Now that the plans of our new bank and office building are nearly completed we are ready to proceed with the construction as soon as the contracts can be let, which will be about September 1st,” said Mr. D. W. Twohy, president of the Old National Bank.
“The rapid growth and expansion of our business make it imperative that we take possession of our new home as soon as possible. I am more than pleased with the manner in which the plans have worked out. Nothing had to be sacrificed in either banking room or office building out of consideration one for the other, in obtaining the most ideal and desirable arrangement. The result is that we have a complete realization of all that is requisite to meet the most modern demands of either.
“A separate company will be organized by the shareholders of the Old National Bank, which will take over the property and erect the building.
“I would like to state here, that in the letting of the contracts we have invited practically all of the leading Spokane firms to participate in the bidding on the different branches of construction, it being the express desire of our shareholders, so far as possible in an undertaking of this magnitude, to extend our patronage to home industry and enterprise.
“Barring delays in shipments, or labor disturbances, we confidently expect the building to be ready for occupancy not later than January 1, 1911.”
The spacious lobby will be in the center of the banking room, and affords direct access to the officers’ quarters; and at the same time, to all the wickets of the different cages. The public lobby will be surrounded by great columns of majestic proportions, while the skylight directly above the lobby will be carried up one story higher than the surrounding portions of the room, thus producing a most stately and dignified architectural effect. The ceiling of the banking room will be richly but simply decorated in ornament and color. The floor will be of marble surmounted by a screen of bronze and glass in which the wickets will be placed. A special apartment is provided for the use of the ladies, with telephone booth, retiring room, and special wickets where they may transact their business. A public waiting room with telephones is also provided just off to the right of the main lobby for general use of the bank’s patrons.
The officers of the bank will be located at the left, just inside the main entrance, and directly opposite is the only other entrance, leading from the elevator lobby of the office building. This arrangement places the officers in the closest possible touch with its customers and the public, and affords them an unobstructed view of the entire room. Private consultation rooms adjoin the officers’ quarters at the extreme left. The plans are so elastically made that at any time in the future the room may be readily extended to the full depth of the building, forming one great banking room of the most imposing proportions, and decorated architecturally as befits a great institution of this character.
Special study and attention have been given to the laying out of the working space of the bank, and a number of the foremost institutions of the country, both East and West, were visited and studied before the arrangement now adopted was decided upon. It is the opinion of those who know of this arrangement that it will be the most convenient and up-to-date for both the
Description Old National Bank Building, Spokane, Washington
Ground will be broken for the new bank building, September 1st, by which time the present building on the premises will have been razed.
The new building will be a modern fireproof steel skeleton structure, with enameled terra cotta exterior.
The entire ground floor and basement will be reserved for the use of the bank, though only about two-thirds of the area will be occupied by it at the start. All of the upper floors will be rented for offices.
There will be two entrances, both on Riverside Avenue, one each for the bank and the office building and level with the street. The bank entrance will lead directly into the center of the public lobby of the bank. The office building entrance will lead into the elevator lobby where five elevators of the most modern type, two express, two local, and one combination, are provided, insuring the best possible service to tenants and their clients.
The lower story, corresponding to the bank, will have a base course of polished granite to a height of four feet, and this story will be distinguished from the rest of the facade of the building by an ordnance of strong pilasters crowned by a rich cornice. The next story of the building will be treated as a transition story between this banking story and the typical office stories of the building. At the 12th story, and extending to the attic above the 14th floor, will be an arcade serving as a crowning feature to the whole building; this arcade being surmounted by a broad frieze in which are placed the windows of the attic story. A richly decorated cornice crowns the whole structure. The roof will be provided with a walk or passageway near the parapet for the convenience of people wishing to view the city.
The elevator corridor on the main floor will be treated with marble walls and floors and rich metal elevator grilles. The corridors of the office floors of the building will also be faced with marble to a height even with the doors, and the floors laid in marble. This not only enhances the light throughout their whole extent, but gives a clean sanitary effect, always so essential in public passageways.
The heating plant is located in the basement, and consists of the most modern of boilers, pumps, fans, etc., and makes a perfect heating installation. In the different offices thermostats are provided, automatically regulating the heating of these offices and keeping them at a uniform temperature, no matter what the weather may be outside.
The foundations will rest directly on rock, and the entire structure above foundation will be of steel, thoroughly fireproofed inside and out, so that the only inflammable materials will be the wood floors of the offices, and the furniture, etc., belonging to the tenants.
The designers of the building are the eminent architects, D. H. Burnham & Co. of Chicago. Their genius and ability have won for them an international reputation and they are recognized among the first in their profession in America. They are the creators of the modern office building of the steel skeleton type, and number among their works many of the notable bank buildings, department stores, and office structures of Chicago, New York, and other large cities of this country and in London, England.