Lincoln Bank Tower
| Lincoln Tower | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| General information | |
| Type | Office |
| Location | 116 East Berry Street, Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States 
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| Coordinates | 41°4′45.23″N 85°8′19.67″W / 41.0792306°N 85.1387972°WCoordinates: 41°4′45.23″N 85°8′19.67″W / 41.0792306°N 85.1387972°W |
| Completed | 1930 |
| Height | |
| Roof | 312 feet (95 m) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 22 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Alvin M. Strauss |
| References | |
The Lincoln Tower in Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States, is an Art Deco highrise building. Construction started in late 1929 with the building's opening in 1930. For decades, it was the tallest building in the state. The building was also known as "Lincoln Bank Tower" to distinguish it from the building at 215 Berry Street, which had been known as the "Lincoln Life Building" from 1912 until 1923. Today, that other building is commonly known by the original Elektron Building name.
Lincoln National Bank and Trust was chartered as The German American National Bank in 1905. During World War I, anti-German sentiment was running high and therefore on May 31, 1918, the German American National Bank became Lincoln National Bank.
The choice of Lincoln as a name was fairly appealing, not only was there the thriving insurance company, also founded in 1905, down the street, but people were still excited about the Lincoln Highway, (the main street of America) that passed through Fort Wayne to be the first coast-to-coast highway in America. In 1928, Lincoln National Bank merged with Lincoln Trust Company (formerly known as Strauss Brothers Commercial Bank) to become Lincoln National Bank and Trust.
Shortly after Lincoln National Bank and Trust was formed, President Charles Buesching commissioned a skyscraper to serve as headquarters for the new bank. Buesching considered it to be a monument to the German immigrants who settled the Fort Wayne area at the turn of the 20th century and formed the backbone of his investors, depositors, and customers. Buesching himself was a German immigrant.
Alvin M. Strauss of Fort Wayne was architect, while Buesching and Hagerman were contractors for the building. Some design elements were based on the Tribune Tower in Chicago. Ground was broken on August 16, 1929, for the building, and despite the Great Crash on October 24, construction continued on the $1.3 million structure.
It was the tallest building of any kind in the state until 1962, and tallest in Fort Wayne until the Fort Wayne National Bank Building (known as National City Center from 1999-2009 and as PNC Center since 2009) was built in 1970.
In 1995, the former Lincoln National Bank and Trust, by then part of Norwest Bank, moved into new facilities at Norwest City Center (now known as Wells Fargo Indiana Center). Lincoln Tower was 60% vacant after this move. In 1997, Lincoln Tower was sold at a sheriff's sale. There had been a $2 million default on the mortgage of a building that originally cost $1.3 million to build. In 1998, Tippmann Properties bought Lincoln Tower, and began to carefully refurbish it. A new bank, calling itself Tower Bank, announced it would open in Lincoln Tower, occupying the lobby and some office space. The new bank used a stylized gold version of the Lincoln Bank Tower as its corporate logo, which was designed by prominent Fort Wayne ad agency Boyden & Youngblutt.
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