Bank of America Building (Providence)

Infobox Skyscraper
building_name= Bank of America Building


location= Kennedy Plaza, Providence, Rhode Island, United States
roof= 428 ft (130 m)
height_stories= 26
built= 1925 - 1928
use= Office
ZIP Code: 02903
architect= Walker & Gillette, George Frederick Hall
developer= Industrial Trust Company

The Bank of America Building (or "The Superman Building" to locals) is the tallest building in the city of Providence and the state of Rhode Island, and the 28th tallest in New England. [ [http://www.skyscraperpage.com] ] Standing at 428 feet (130 m) and comprising 26 floors, it was the third tallest building in New England when completed, behind the Traveller's Tower in Hartford, CT [ [http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=122589] Emporis.com, Traveller's Tower, Hartford, CT] and the Custom House Tower in Boston [ [http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=119258] Emporis.com, Custom House Tower, Boston, MA] Verify source|date=July 2007. [ [http://www.pvdbldgs.woneffe.com/2006/01/05/test-post-superman-building/ Superman Building] . "Pdvbldgs.com. Accessed April 7, 2006.] .Woodward, Wm McKenzie. Guide to Providence Architecture. " 1st ed. United States: 2003. ISBN 0-9742847-0-x. p101.]

History

The building was built as the Industrial Trust Tower in 1927, and designed in the Art Deco style popular at the time. Stepped buildings in New York had been architects' solution for Manhattan's strict zoning regarding adequate amounts of light and air. Facing no such restrictions in Providence, the New York architects, Walker & Gillette, chose to keep the stepping. The base and the trim at the base's top was built to match the cornice height of existing adjacent (now gone) four-story buildings. The building was previously known as the "Fleet Bank Tower". The building has remained relatively unchanged over the years with the exception of the lobby, the upper windows and several stone eagles at the top of the tower on the light beacon which were removed decades ago after an eagle fell to the street below.At night the peak of the building glows a bright blue (red and green at Christmas, red for Valentines Day) the lights shut off at midnight.

Trivia

* The Bank of America building is one of three Providence buildings commonly shown in the background of outdoor scenes in the television series Family Guy, in company with 50 Kennedy Plaza and One Financial Plaza.

* The Bank of America building, built in 1927, is the oldest building to have a state record for tallest in state. The next oldest building to hold a state height record is the Empire State Building, built three years later.

* During the 1950s, it was rumored that the Bank of America building served as the model for the Daily Planet building in "Superman" comic book.Fact|date=February 2007 The building is still referred to by Providence locals as the Superman Building for its resemblance to that of the comic and 1950s television series, however "Superman" co-creator Joe Shuster claims he drew his inspiration not from this, (nor the also rumored AT&T Huron Road Building in Cleveland, Ohio, where Shuster was living at the time,) but, rather, from his home city of Toronto. [CTV.ca: [http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060628/superman_returns_cdn_060628/20060628?hub=Entertainment "Superman co-creator has humble Canadian roots"] . Accessed 2007-07-25.]

ee also

*List of tallest buildings by U.S. state

References

External links

* [http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=272 Entry on Skyscraperpage.com]
* [http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=bankofamericabuilding-providence-ri-usa Entry on Emporis]

###@@@KEY@@@###succession box
before=Rhode Island State House
title=Tallest Building in Providence
years=1927—Present 130m
after=None