Passersby in downtown Seattle might notice a bronze plaque that hangs in front of the
Exchange Building, an Art Deco-themed building with beautiful metal and woodwork ornamentation inside and outside of the structure. The plaque says the following:
Opened in May 1930, the Exchange Building
was designed to house more stock and
mercantile exchanges than any building in
the United States. It was constructed as one
of the tallest and largest reinforced concrete
structures in the world.
Designed in the Art Deco style, it features
architectural ornamentation unique to the
Pacific Northwest. Both lobbies and the
exterior of the building are protected by
the Seattle Landmark Preservation Board.
Renovated in 1999-2000, the building has
been both restored and modernized for
the new millennium. |
There is also a lighted display inside the lobby that highlights more of the history of this beautiful building and some of the text from the display says the following:
1. John Graham Sr., architect of the Exchange Building, was one of Seattle's most prolific designers of large scale commercial and office buildings. Born in the Isle of Man and apprenticed in England, Graham arrived at the turn of the last century. Among his major works in downtown Seattle are the Bon Marche, The Roosevelt Hotel, Dexter Horton Building, The Bank of California (adjacent to the Exchange Building), Frederick and Nelson (now Nordstrom's), the Joshua Green Building and the Plymouth Congregational Church.
2. The Exchange Building was constructed in 14 months and extends from Second to First Avenue in an unusual "L" shape. Structurally, the building rises 278 feet above ground level, which made it the second tallest reinforced concrete structure in the United States at the time. As with other "skyscraper" type building of this period, a massive solidly grounded base structure lightens and narrows at the upper stories to a tower-like roofline. At grade, the building is faced in a polished granite. The rest of the building is faced in Romanite Stone, a cast stone product in an ochre color.
3. Formal Opening: The Exchange Building was created to house the city's produce, grain, ore and stock and bond market exchanges, to become the single largest exchange in one location in the United States. It was the last major downtown building built before the depression. Due to the stock market crash in October 1929, the dream was muted, although the building was still home for many commodity markets. The Merchant's Exchange occupied the first four floors, including the First and Second Avenue levels, with trading floors on floors two and four, with double height floors and balconies for spectators. At its opening, 80% of the cash deposited in Seattle was within two blocks of the Exchange Building.
The Exchange Building housed Pacific Northwest Bell from 1953 until 1977. In 1977, Metro became a major tenant, occupying through its merge with King County, over 85% of the building until 1999.
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I also located a website that discusses the history of the Exchange Building and says:
Hard Times
The Exchange Building was originally built to house the Seattle Stock Exchange and the Seattle Curb and Mining Exchange, two local stock clearinghouses. The exchanges had just moved into offices in the still-unfinished building when the New York stock market crashed on October 29, 1929.
The biggest single loser on the Seattle Stock Exchange that day ("Black Tuesday") was one of Ben Ehrlichman’s own companies, the United National Corporation, which lost more than 20 percent of its value between the opening and closing bells.
Business at the local exchanges evaporated in the wake of the crash. The Seattle Curb and Mining Exchange limped along until October 1, 1935, when it merged with the Seattle Stock Exchange. The latter ceased operations on October 1, 1942. Meanwhile, the Exchange Building was converted to general office use.
Many investors abandoned the stock market after the crash but Ehrlichman saw the opportunity for bargain hunting. In 1932, he founded the Equity Fund, the first mutual fund in the Northwest. In the 1960s, the fund became part of the Fidelity group, now the nation’s largest mutual fund company.
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I highly encourage any visitor to pause and reflect at all the extremely ornate elements that exist in the lobby as well as on the outside of the building. It's a true marvelous partnership of art and architecture.