The Wicks Building is a historic

commercial building Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

Courthouse Square Courthouse Square is a backlot located at the Universal Studios Lot in Universal City, California. The set is composed of several facades that form an archetypal United States, American town square with a courthouse as its centerpiece. The set wa ...

in downtown Bloomington,

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Built in the early twentieth century in a distinctive style of architecture, it has remained in consistent commercial use throughout its history, and it has been named a

historic site A historic site or heritage site is an official location where pieces of political, military, cultural, or social history have been preserved due to their cultural heritage value. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have been rec ...

because of the importance of its architecture.

History

A veteran of the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, Colonel W.W. Wicks was a Bloomington businessman who owned one of the area's economically dominant

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

quarries. Because of his prosperity, he decided to diversify his business; as a result, he chose to open a general store and to enter the

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and t ...

market. Unfortunately for Wicks, the destruction of his property by fire forced him to erect a new structure. Purchasing property at 116 Sixth Street on Courthouse Square, he erected the present building in 1915. One of Bloomington's first

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

s, the Wicks Company operated out of the Sixth Street building until its closure in 1976.Miracle, Rick.
National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Wicks Building
'.

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

, 1982-02-01.

Architecture

Alley and eastern side of the Wicks Building

Three

stories Story or stories may refer to: Common uses * Story, a narrative (an account of imaginary or real people and events) ** Short story, a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting * Story (American English), or storey (British ...

tall, the Wicks Building is a brick structure with a limestone facade. Reflecting its commercial origin, the majority of the facade is glass: the middle and upper stories feature large windows from floor to ceiling, the entirety of the first floor (aside from the entrance) is composed of

display window A display window, also a shop window (British English) or store window (American English), is a window in a shop displaying items for sale or otherwise designed to attract customers to the store. Usually, the term refers to larger windows in the f ...

s, and the gap between the first and second stories is filled with a large leaded glass window. Bracing the sides of the building are massive limestone piers; between them, the only non-glass surfaces in the facade are seven smaller limestone piers on the second and third stories, which separate the windows of those floors into eight

bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a narr ...

. Below the second story and above the third are prominent horizontal limestone piers: the lower carries large letters proclaiming "The Wicks Company," while the higher lacks written details but is far taller from top to bottom. Large numbers of ornamental details grace the building's exterior. Each of the sixteen large window bays of the second and third stories features five pieces of glass: a single large pane that occupies the vast majority of the bay's area, and four smaller panes (two above the large pane and two below) that divide the small remaining area. Cast ironwork is also common on the facade: a small

balustrade A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its con ...

of iron has been placed at the bottom of each window, and the space between the second and third story windows is composed of large iron

spandrel A spandrel is a roughly triangular space, usually found in pairs, between the top of an arch and a rectangular frame; between the tops of two adjacent arches or one of the four spaces between a circle within a square. They are frequently fill ...

s decorated with cartouches. Similar details are reproduced in the stone of the building's summit; it is crowned by the tips of the piers, which rise slightly above the main roofline. Aside from its facade, the Wicks Building is an undistinguished commercial structure, both in its other walls and in its ordinary rectangular shape. Surrounded by brick buildings, the side walls are plain brick, and the rear is composed of a painted brick wall, a fire escape and ordinary windows, and a service entrance. Covering the entire structure is a simple sloping roof. Taken together, the overall design and the many details of the facade combine to form a distinctive example of the Chicago school of architecture. Most buildings in this style are significantly taller than the three stories of the Wicks, but the placement and size of the windows, the roofline, and the general plan of the building are all similar to buildings considered typical of the Chicago school.

Historic designation

In 1983, the Wicks Building was listed on 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 ...

, due to its distinctive historic architecture. Key to this designation is its unusual style: no other Bloomington building that survives to the present day was built according to the Chicago school. Also of great significance is the building's rare degree of preservation: although the stonework deteriorated slightly over the building's first seventy years, the structure has remained structurally sound, and (unlike on surrounding buildings) virtually no changes to the exterior have been made since construction. In the early 1980s, the building was

restored ''Restored'' is the fourth studio album by American contemporary Christian music musician Jeremy Camp. It was released on November 16, 2004 by BEC Recordings. Track listing Standard release Enhanced edition Deluxe gold edition Standard ...

and converted to offices.Brubaker, Cynthia J.
National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Courthouse Square Historic District
'.

, 1990-02-16, 11. It is also a

contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distri ...

to the Courthouse Square Historic District, which is listed on the National Register.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Indiana Commercial buildings completed in 1915

Art museums and galleries in Indiana Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as th ...

Buildings and structures in Bloomington, Indiana Chicago school architecture in Indiana Defunct department stores based in Indiana Department stores on the National Register of Historic Places Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Indiana Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Indiana National Register of Historic Places in Monroe County, Indiana