Vacation Special: Iconic ‘Mushroom’ Bank Focus Of Preservation Fight
Published June 19th, 2007 in Obligations, Treasure Tags: Arizona, History, Photos.
Recently, I’ve been meaning to get some photos of the old Valley National Bank building on the corner of 44th St and Camelback Road here in Phoenix. This year has already seen the demolition of the Washburn Piano Company building on 20th St. and Camelback and the Tempe Geodesic Dome Branch building, on Rural and Apache, so I knew I’d better get out there soon. Sure enough, over the weekend, a story appeared in the Arizona Republic entitled “Iconic ‘Mushroom’ Bank Focus Of Preservation Fight.” Here’s an excerpt:
JP Morgan Chase & Co. owns the building and is willing to save the bank…if the neighborhood will play nice and let developers rezone and make over the bank’s yard with four-story condos and luxe shopping…The neighborhood wants nothing of the kind: no more condos, no demolition…Preservationists lean in favor of giving up the green space in order to save the bank. “In order to keep this icon,” Councilman Tom Simplot said, “they need to develop that green space. They are not going to be able to save the building if they don’t give it up.” But wedging condos onto the lawn, said Frank Henry, 73, the building’s celebrated architect [sic], is “like taking a painting and cutting off a corner of it.”
The empty land has been a pawn before. The bank was the first commercial development in that area, and the space was offered to placate neighbors. Now, it’s the only grassy expanse on a heavily commercial intersection that has grown up around it. Neighbors insist that the bank made a promise to keep that land green, but according to Chase and city zoning officials, no formal record requires the space to remain open.
It’s just a shame, Henry said. “The whole park and the building are all one thing, one composition. The geometry of it all was together…” When Henry was dreaming up the building in the ’60s, he was making an anti-war, anti-establishment statement. He took his inspiration from the circle so that he could combat the boring square box. “I always thought that the circle, the curved line, the curved space is so beautiful,” Henry said. “It’s always changing.”
(Note: Walt Lockley informs me that Frank Henry was the designer; Weaver & Drover were the actual architects.)
I have house guests this week, relatives visiting from out of town. But when I read the article, I had to drag them out in 110 degree temperatures to get my pics. They’re not great: it was afternoon and half the building was in shadow. But I managed to stitch together some nice panoramas. The Modern Phoenix web mag offers much greater detail on the subject.
Of all the VNB buildings left in the Phoenix area, this one is the jewel. It combines space age aesthetics with desert motifs, playing nice with civic responsibilities in the bargain. It’s even got two bronze nudes which I can only assume are the work of John Henry Waddell. I still remember when it was built in 1967. I’ll miss it when it’s gone, and the best intentions of various factions notwithstanding, I full expect it to go away soon.
wah! that was my bank!
did they use that for the bank in “what planet are you from?” — the shandling movie…?
I never saw that movie, but from reading the plot summary, I’d say it would have been a good choice.
Wow, that is a fabulous looking building. Thanks for the photos. There is some terrifically strange architecture in the Western US, and it’s a shame that so many buildings are giving way to strip malls and condos. Like architect Frank Henry, I too love the incorporation of curved lines in buildings. One of my all-time favorites is Charles Deaton’s “Sculpted House” (featured in Woody Allen’s Sleeper) near Denver:
http://www.kentwoodhomestour.com/kentwood/sculpturedhouse/home.html
I was in the business of archaeological/historical consulting for 12 years or so, and evetually found it to be a very unsatisfying job because it seemed so pointless and futile. I remember one occasion when my company was asked to document and photograph several standing structures in a late 1800’s mining town (one was a false front saloon!), only to see them blown to bits days later by a series of modern gold mining ANFO explosions.
Prehistoric and Historic preservation laws often carry a bit more weight when a particular undertaking is federal (e.g. public land or a federal license). It’s a different story altogether when the preservation fight is at the local level. Developers usually win after granting a few token concessions, as will likely be the case with the bank. I hope not.
Documenting classic buildings so they can be destroyed does indeed sound unsatisfying. Even the opportunities afforded to lazy bloggers by such policy is bittersweet at best.
The Deaton house is indeed beautiful. Speaking of futuristic round buildings, Biosphere II outside of Tucson was also recently snapped up by a developer:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19055888
Hi Derrick —
Appreciate you adding your voice to those who love this odd wonderful bank. The way to win this fight is to be NOISY. Opus was defeated on its zoning ruling; now the city must decide whether or not to give it landmark status.
Those two bronzes are indeed John Waddell. And just for the record, the architects were Weaver & Drover, and Frank Henry was the designer of this bank, not the architect. I’ve been reminded that it’s an important distinction to some of Fred Weaver’s family.
…. Go inside the bank if you possibly can. I didn’t ‘get’ this building until I stood inside, where there are few straight lines or flat surfaces, and the ceiling is held up in a mysterious way, and there’s a terrific view of Camelback Mountain.
cheers
Walt
Thanks Walt!
I’ve been in the bank many times; I lived in the neighborhood 40 years ago when it went up! I can no longer remember, however, when that corner was all desert, but I have photos that once belonged to my grandparents, showing the area before the canal went in, and when the area was mostly orange groves. I need to dig those out…
Great slide show. That is close to my old neighborhood also. I grew up off 44th and Thomas and my old hang out Thomas Mall along with my highschool East High is long gone. My husband actually lived right across the street from that bank in the early 80’s in a house that was torn down not to long ago.
Are you familiar with Kenilworth Elementary in downtown Phoenix? I think it’s the oldest school here and it’s still there. My husband and I were in the first grade there together and lived next door to each other in a duplex downtown before our families split off to different suburbs. At least downtown Phoenix is fairly well preserved but also going through a lot of changes.