Throwback Thursday - Central National Bank

For this weeks Epstein Throwback Thursday we visit 1966 Des Moines for the grand opening of the Epstein designed and engineered 14-story Central National Bank building. This 180,000 square foot commercial building located at the southeast corner of Sixth Avenue and Locust Street, was designed for the Central National Bank & Trust, which would occupy the first 3 levels and also provided office space for other organizations, like New York Life Insurance & Blue Cross-Blue Shield on the 4^th through 14^th floors.

Developed by Collins Tuttle & Company for $4M ($28.3M in 2014) this facility was called by Des Moines Mayor, Charles F. Iles, as a symbol of a new era for Iowas capitol. Additionally, the Central National Bank building was fully occupied within months of completion and became a huge investment success for Collins Tuttle, which resulted in further collaborations with Epstein including one of most famous buildings, the 41-story Smurfit-Stone Container Building in Chicago.

Constructed of reinforced concrete, black aluminum and featuring gray glass glazing the Central National Bank building is another example of Epsteins mid-century modernist design aesthetic. This building, which is ranked as the 10^th largest building in Des Moines, is now home to Bank of Americas Des Moines operations.