April 1959 page 4

18-STORY BANK BUILDING

ANOTHER TALL ONE
FOR CHARLOTTE

SITE preparation has begun on a
structure which in the months ahead
will sprout upwar 285 feet to become
Charlotte's tallest office building.

The $5-million project is being under-
taken by the American Commercial Bank
which will utilize 158,000 square feet of
the building's 260,000 square feet. The
rest will be available for lease as office
space. The huge structure will be 18
stories high and will have two basement
levels. The 18th floor will be a penthouse
equipped with lounge, kitchen, and dining
room. The bank itself will occupy all of
the four-story base and the first two
floors of the tower section.

Old building disappearing

Late this month workmen began the
task of dismantling the front part of the
present bank building and an adjacent
building to prepare the foundations for
the tall section of the building. During
this stage the bank will operate from the
rear of the former structure and from the
former Commercial Bank Building which
was consolidated with the American
Trust buildings when the two institutions
were merged not long ago. Many of the
bank's offices are temporarily situated in
the old Commercial Bank building on the
corner of S. Tryon and Fourth Street.

When the tower section of the hand-
some new structure has been completed
the bank will transfer its operations to
the new section and vacate the old one
for demolition. Workmen will then de-
molish the old Commercial Bank Build-
ing and the Fourth Street annex of the
former American Trust Building. Then
the base section of the new structure will
be extended to cover land previously oc-
cupied by the demolished buildings.

This scheule for demolition and con-
struction will enable the bank to continue
operating at its present site throughout
the various phases of construction. In a
sense, the bank will have its home built
around and over it while it continues to
occupy the premises.

Larger than first planned

Originally the bank had announced
plans to construct a smaller building over
a greater period of time. However, the
encouraging and continuing demand for
first-class office space in Charlotte's
downtown area influenced officials to in-
crease the proposed size by about 15 per
cent and to accelerate the construction
schedule.

The four-story base will be of marble
and the tower section will have an ex-
terior of aluminum and glass. Many
modern innovations will be included in
the design and decoration of the struc-
ture.

Plans for the building are being pre-
pared by Walter Hook & Associates,
Charlotte architects. The general con-
tractor will be a company organized spe-
cifically for this purpose by four leading
Charlotte general contractors -- South-
eastern Construction Co., Goode Con-
struction Co., McDevitt & Street Co. and
F. N. Thompson Inc. The project will be
under the supervision of Charles O.
Mikell, vice-president of F. N. Thompson
Inc.

APRIL 5