Farmers and Mechanics Savings Bank (1891)

Farmers and Mechanics Savings Bank
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Built: 1891
Architect: Long,Franklin B.; Kenyon,William
Architectural style: Classical Revival, Beaux-Arts
Governing body: Private
NRHP Reference#: 84001419 [1]
Added to NRHP: January 12, 1984

The 1891 Farmers and Mechanics Savings Bank building in Minneapolis, Minnesota is a Beaux-Arts style building that formerly served as the headquarters of Farmers and Mechanics Savings Bank. In 1942, the bank moved to a new location at 88 S. 6th St. at the corner of Sixth and Marquette.

The building was designed by the locally prominent firm of Long and Kees as a one-story building. Long and Kees usually preferred the then-popular Richardsonian Romanesque style for their buildings, but deviated from this style for the bank. In 1908, architect William Kenyon designed a second-story addition that enlarged the façade while retaining the Beaux-Arts style. The exterior is faced with white limestone, with five piers of rusticated stone supporting fluted Corinthian pilasters.[2] The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984

The building is now home to The Downtown Cabaret, a strip club. Architecture critic Larry Millett writes, "If you step inside for a view of the, ahem, scenery, you'll discover a glass dome that once illuminated a 'ladies banking lobby' but is now the scene of activities not everyone would consider ladylike."[3]

References

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2007-01-23. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 
  2. ^ "Farmers and Mechanics Savings Bank". Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Commission. 2006. http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/hpc/landmarks/4th_St_S_115_Farmers_and_Mechanics_Savings_Bank.asp. Retrieved 2007-09-03. 
  3. ^ Millett, Larry (2007). AIA Guide to the Twin Cities: The Essential Source on the Architecture of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Minnesota Historical Society Press. pp. p. 35. ISBN 0-87351-540-4.