The Elliott-Larsen Building is a state government office in downtown

Lansing, Michigan Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, making ...

, named after Democratic State Representative

Daisy Elliott Daisy L. Elliott (November 26, 1917 – December 22, 2015), was an American politician and realtor from the state of Michigan. Early life Elliott was born Daisy Elizabeth Lenoir in Filbert, West Virginia, and resided in Detroit, Michigan. She w ...

and Republican State Representative Melvin Larsen, primary sponsors of the

Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act The Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, or Public Act 453 of 1976, prohibits discrimination in Michigan on the basis of "religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, height, weight, familial status, or marital status" in employment, housing, ed ...

. It was formerly known as the Lewis Cass Building, named after territorial governor

Lewis Cass Lewis Cass (October 9, 1782June 17, 1866) was an American military officer, politician, and statesman. He represented Michigan in the United States Senate and served in the Cabinets of two U.S. Presidents, Andrew Jackson and James Buchanan. He w ...

. It is the Michigan state government's oldest standing office building. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places as "State Office Building" in 1984.

History

The first state office building in Lansing was constructed in 1853; this was replaced with another building in 1872 and demolished the following year. By the 1910s, the state realized the need for a new office building, and funds were appropriated beginning in 1917 for a new structure. Architect

Edwyn A. Bowd Edwyn is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Edwyn Alexander-Sinclair, GCB, MVO (1865–1945), British Royal Navy officer *Edwyn ap Gwriad, Welsh king of Gwent from 1015 to 1045 * Edwyn Bevan OBE (1870–1943), versatile English ph ...

of Lansing was commissioned to design the building, and plans were approved in 1918. Construction commenced in 1919 on the Classical Revival style building, and was completed in 1921. On February 8, 1951, the building was intentionally set on fire by a state office employee. The following morning, part of the seventh floor collapsed down to the next level, which destroyed a large number of state historical records. In the reconstruction, the seventh floor was removed. The building served as the primary state office building until the completion of the first part of a new state government complex in 1953. The building remains in use by the state. On June 30, 2020, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced the renaming of the building as the Elliott-Larsen Building in honor of lawmakers who sponsored Michigan's bipartisan civil rights law of 1976.

Description

The Elliott-Larsen Building is a six-story (originally seven-story) U-shaped Classical Revival structure with a flat roof, with a facade of cream-colored sandstone above a granite basement. A

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

separates the second and third floors, forming a base for four-story pilasters with Tuscan capitals above. An

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

with cornice runs above the pilasters. As originally built, the building had three arched entrances. After the 1951 fire, two entrances were removed, and the main entrance completely rebuilt as a projecting gray granite entryway.

Government agencies

State of Michigan government agencies located in Elliot-Larsen Building: *Department of Technology, Management and Budget *Department of Health & Human Services *Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity

References

External links

*http://skyscraperpage.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=54437 *http://skyscraperpage.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=57550 *http://skyscraperpage.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=61157 *http://skyscraperpage.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=61971 Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan Neoclassical architecture in Michigan Buildings and structures completed in 1919 Buildings and structures in Lansing, Michigan State government buildings in the United States Government buildings in Michigan National Register of Historic Places in Lansing, Michigan Name changes due to the George Floyd protests {{Michigan-NRHP-stub