The Idaho Building in
Boise
Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown area's ...
,
Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...
, is a 6-story,
Second Renaissance Revival
Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...
commercial structure designed by Chicago architect,
Henry John Schlacks. (The National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination Form lists Tourtellotte and Hummel as building designers, but "Tourtellotte may have been only a supervising architect...) Constructed for Boise City real estate developer
Walter E. Pierce
Walter E. Pierce (January 9, 1860 - August 21, 1951) was a prominent real estate speculator in Boise, Idaho, Boise City, Idaho, USA, in the late 19th century and in the first half of the 20th century. Pierce served as mayor of Boise City 1895-97 a ...
in 1910–11, the building represented local aspirations that Boise City would become another
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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. The facade features brick pilasters above a ground floor stone base, separated by seven bays with large plate glass windows in each bay. Terracotta separates the floors, with ornamentation at the sixth floor below a denticulated cornice of galvanized iron.
[ With ]
The building replaced Thompson's Livery barn at 8th and Bannock Streets. The Chicago firm of H. Ellenberger was responsible for construction, and the ''Idaho Statesman'' said of the building in 1911, "The architectural scheme is one of extreme simplicity, and the builder has given his work the appearance of massive solidity."
The building was added to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
December 8, 1978.
[
]
History
Early tenants of the building included W. E. Pierce & Co., Pierce-Hopper Insurance Agency, Boise Title & Trust Co., Senator William Borah
William Edgar Borah (June 29, 1865 – January 19, 1940) was an outspoken History of the United States Republican Party, Republican United States Senator, one of the best-known figures in History of Idaho, Idaho's history. A Progressivism ...
, United States Forest Service
The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...
, Joy Drug Store, Ada County Attorney, Wayland & Fennell
Wayland & Fennell was an architectural firm in Idaho. Many of their works are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
Charles W. Wayland (1874-1953) worked as a drafter in the office of Boise architect William S. Campbell for tw ...
, Margaret Giles beauty parlor, and the chairman of the local Republican Party. Later, the Democratic Central Committee leased offices in the building.
In 1969 the Idaho Building was considered for demolition along with other buildings in a 60-block area of Boise's historic core when a developer designed a large, outdoor shopping mall as part of a plan for urban renewal
Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...
. In 1970 the outdoor mall plan was adjusted to spare the Idaho Building, but in 1976 the building was again slated for destruction. The mall was not constructed, however, and the Idaho Building was preserved.
The building was renovated to include residential space above the second floor in 2000, and space in the building was leased to a Boise hostel from 2010 until 2013.
Other buildings named Idaho Building
The Idaho Building in Boise is not the only structure named "Idaho Building." In 1913 an Idaho Building opened in Meridian
Meridian or a meridian line (from Latin ''meridies'' via Old French ''meridiane'', meaning “midday”) may refer to
Science
* Meridian (astronomy), imaginary circle in a plane perpendicular to the planes of the celestial equator and horizon
* ...
, Idaho.World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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in Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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; an Idaho Building won second place at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition
The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an World's fair, international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federal funds tota ...
in St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
; and an Idaho Building won a gold medal at the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition
The Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition, commonly also known as the Lewis and Clark Exposition, and officially known as the Lewis and Clark Centennial and American Pacific Exposition and Oriental Fair, was a worldwide exposition held in Portlan ...
in Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States
* Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
.
See also
* Downtown Boise
Downtown Boise is the central business district of Boise, Idaho, located north of the Boise River. It is the largest city center in the state of Idaho.
Economy
Largest private sector employers
* Note: this list only includes companies who hav ...
References
External links
{{National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places in Ada County, Idaho
Commercial buildings completed in 1910