J.W. Knapp Company Building
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J.W. Knapp Company Building
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| Location | 300 S. Washington Ave., Lansing, Michigan |
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| Coordinates | 42°43′52″N 84°33′10″W / 42.73111°N 84.55278°WCoordinates: 42°43′52″N 84°33′10″W / 42.73111°N 84.55278°W |
| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1937 |
| Architect | Bowd–Munson Company |
| Architectural style | Moderne |
| MPS | Downtown Lansing MRA |
| NRHP Reference # | 83000851 |
| Added to NRHP | May 21, 1983 |
The J.W. Knapp Company Building is a historic five-story, 190,000-square-foot (18,000 m2) Streamline Moderne building in Lansing, Michigan, United States. Designed by Orlie Munson of the Bowd–Munson Company, which also designed several other Art Deco landmarks in Lansing, including the Ottawa Street Power Station, it was constructed by the Christman Company in 1937 through 1938. The curvilinear look of the streamlined structure comes from huge plates of concrete faced with enamel, called "Maul Macotta", a copyrighted product of the Maul Macotta Company and prismatic glass brick windows. Alternating horizontal bands of yellow macotta and glass block are interrupted by vertical blue macotta pylons, rising from the building's four principal entrances. The pylons are pierced by windows. The entrance portals, display window aprons, and decorative banding are dark blue macotta. Red, yellow and blue spandrels, incorporating the letter "K" as a design element, decorate the entrance portals.
The building housed the main department store of the Lansing-based J.W. Knapp Company. When completed in 1939, it was hailed in the contemporary press as "the most modern building in the Midwest". Today, it is considered to be one of the finest intact examples of Streamline Art Moderne commercial buildings in the Midwest, notable for its size, clarity of design and brilliant colors. The western end of the building was enlarged in 1949.
The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 21, 1983.
The Eyde Company, a local developer, purchased the building in 1983, and converted most of its selling floors to state government offices, renaming it the "Knapp's Center". The state offices moved out in 2003. During the holiday season, the storefront windows are used by the MSU Museum to display historic Santa Claus advertising cutouts in connection with the city's Silver Bells Parade.
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