The Wells Fargo Tower (formerly named Dominion Tower, First Union Tower and Wachovia Tower) is a 21- story, office building in

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

Roanoke, Virginia. Completed in 1991, this stands as both the tallest building in Roanoke and the tallest building in Southwest Virginia.

History

The

groundbreaking Groundbreaking, also known as cutting, sod-cutting, turning the first sod, or a sod-turning ceremony, is a traditional ceremony in many cultures that celebrates the first day of construction for a building or other project. Such ceremonies are o ...

ceremony for its construction occurred on May 11, 1990. With both city and business leaders in attendance, a balloon released to a height of was also on display to give onlookers better context as to the finished height of the structure. By October construction had already brought the tower to its seventh floor. On October 29, a construction worker fell to his death from the seventh floor. This was the only fatality associated with the construction of the tower. The final concrete was poured for the tower in April 1991 and the first tenant moved in by October 1991.

Profile

postmodern Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by skepticism toward the " grand narratives" of moderni ...

and is the tallest building in both Roanoke and all of Southwest Virginia. It is topped with a

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

pyramid with a spire atop it, and was designed as a homage to the

Hotel Roanoke The Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center is a historic hotel located in the Gainsboro neighborhood of Roanoke, Virginia. Originally built in 1882, the hotel has been rebuilt and expanded many times. The central wing dates to 1938. The hotel is cur ...

, located to the north of the tower. At night, the tower is illuminated by 135 floodlights. Although the tower officially has its floor count at 21 stories, there is not a numbered 13th floor to quell the fear of persons that may have

triskaidekaphobia Triskaidekaphobia ( , ; ) is fear or avoidance of the number . It is also a reason for the fear of Friday the 13th, called ''paraskevidekatriaphobia'' () or ''friggatriskaidekaphobia'' (). The term was used as early as in 1910 by Isador Coria ...

Naming

After the purchase of Wachovia by

Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...

in late 2008, the name of the tower was set to change for the third time. In July 2011, the tower was officially renamed as the Wells Fargo Tower to reflect the official rebranding of Wachovia to Wells Fargo in Virginia.

References

External links

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Wells Fargo Tower at Phorio
{{Coord, 37.27276, -79.94016, type:landmark_region:US-VA, display=title Buildings and structures in Roanoke, Virginia Office buildings completed in 1991 Bank buildings in Virginia 1990 establishments in Virginia Skyscrapers in Virginia Skyscraper office buildings in Virginia Wells Fargo buildings