Irwin Union Bank and Trust
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The Irwin Conference Center (formerly known as Irwin Union Bank) was designed by
Eero Saarinen Eero Saarinen (, ; August 20, 1910 – September 1, 1961) was a Finnish-American architect and industrial designer noted for his wide-ranging array of designs for buildings and monuments. Saarinen is best known for designing the General Motors ...
and built in 1954 in
Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...
,
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 ...
. It is currently owned and operated by
Cummins Cummins Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and distributes engines, filtration, and power generation products. Cummins also services engines and related equipment, including fuel systems, controls, air ...
, whose world headquarters is located across Jackson Street in the
Cummins Corporate Office Building The Cummins Corporate Office Building in Columbus, Indiana is a modernist office building designed by Kevin Roche. Constructed in 1983, the building serves as the corporate headquarters of the Cummins engine company. It was constructed on an old r ...
. In recognition of its unique and beautiful design, the resource was designated a
National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
by the
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 ...
in 2001. The building consists of a one-story bank structure and adjacent three-story office annex. A portion of the office annex was built along with the banking hall in 1954. The remaining, much larger portion, designed by
Kevin Roche Eamonn Kevin Roche (June 14, 1922 – March 1, 2019) was an Irish-born American Pritzker Prize-winning architect. He was responsible for the design/master planning for over 200 built projects in both the U.S. and abroad. These projects i ...
,
John Dinkeloo Roche-Dinkeloo, otherwise known as Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates LLC (KRJDA), is an architectural firm based in Hamden, Connecticut founded in 1966. About The principal designers were 1982 Pritzker Prize laureate Kevin Roche (June 19 ...
and Associates, was built in 1973. and


History

Irwin Miller became president of the Irwin Union Trust Company after his father's death in 1947. Three years later, he commissioned
Eero Saarinen Eero Saarinen (, ; August 20, 1910 – September 1, 1961) was a Finnish-American architect and industrial designer noted for his wide-ranging array of designs for buildings and monuments. Saarinen is best known for designing the General Motors ...
to design a new building for the bank. The building was designed to distance the Irwin Union Bank from traditional banking architecture, which mostly echoed imposing, neoclassical style buildings of brick or stone. Miller wanted the building to symbolize the bank's progressive mission, which included offering some of the first credit cards and earliest drive-through banking. Instead of having tellers behind iron bars and removed from their customers, Saarinen worked to develop a building that would welcome customers rather than intimidate them. The structure has changed ownership twice since 2008 and is now operated by the corporate hospitality division of Cummins.


Design

The glass building may look simple, but like all Saarinen's projects, every aspect of the space was designed after extensive research of its use. The ceiling was designed at in height so the space would not feel oppressive. A freestanding structure for files occupies the center in the building, so that the office floor would be open and uncluttered. The colorful counters where tellers worked were equipped with removable plastic hoods when traffic demanded additional counters. A small elevator and spiral staircase gave tellers secure access to the cash vault below and two steel and glass vestibules connect the glass pavilion to the three-story office annex, where customers could transact business privately. The grid of large domes on the roof of the bank was a source of amusement for the townspeople, who jokingly called the bank a "brassiere factory". Nevertheless, they loved the building and customers increased fourfold.


Landscape

The bank building only occupied one-third of the site, the rear portion housed a drive-through window and large parking lot surrounded and intersected with trees. Landscape architect
Dan Kiley Daniel Urban Kiley (2 September 1912 – 21 February 2004) was an American landscape architect, who worked in the style of modern architecture. Kiley designed over one-thousand landscape projects including Gateway Arch National Park in St. Louis ...
chose specific types of trees and foliage in order to integrate the bank with its neighboring buildings and help shade the inside of the bank. He used littleleaf linden trees as the basis of the space, with
euonymus ''Euonymus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the staff vine family, Celastraceae. Common names vary widely among different species and between different English-speaking countries, but include spindle (or spindle tree), burning-bush, strawb ...
as ground cover and seasonal spring bulbs,
begonia ''Begonia'' is a genus of perennial flowering plants in the family Begoniaceae. The genus contains more than 2,000 different plant species. The Begonias are native to moist subtropical and tropical climates. Some species are commonly grown ind ...
s,
geranium ''Geranium'' is a genus of 422 species of annual, biennial, and perennial plants that are commonly known as geraniums or cranesbills. They are found throughout the temperate regions of the world and the mountains of the tropics, but mostly in ...
s, and
chrysanthemum Chrysanthemums (), sometimes called mums or chrysanths, are flowering plants of the genus ''Chrysanthemum'' in the family Asteraceae. They are native to East Asia and northeastern Europe. Most species originate from East Asia and the center ...
s as accents. The goal was to create a green space in the middle of downtown Columbus and provide the city with some breathing room. Since the bank building is lower than the surrounding buildings, its landscape feels more park-like. As the number of automobiles on the streets grew in the early 1950s, spaces like this helped relieve the congestion of busy downtown areas.


Bank closure

On September 18, 2009, the Indiana Department of Financial Institutions closed the Irwin Union Bank and Trust Company and named the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is one of two agencies that supply deposit insurance to depositors in American depository institutions, the other being the National Credit Union Administration, which regulates and insures cred ...
(FDIC) as receiver. First Financial Bank of
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...
,
Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
, purchased all deposits and virtually all assets of Irwin Union Bank and participated in a loss-share transaction jointly with the FDIC. The FDIC estimated that the cost to the
Deposit Insurance Fund The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is one of two agencies that supply deposit insurance to depositors in American depository institutions, the other being the National Credit Union Administration, which regulates and insures credi ...
(DIF) for both institutions was $850 million.


Cummins ownership

In 2010, Cummins purchased the building from First Financial and announced its intention to remodel the bank and associated buildings at a cost of $5.25 million. First Financial would continue to occupy the building until its new facility is completed in 2012. Cummins then expects to complete renovations by summer 2014. The Saarinen-designed structure will be used for a corporate conference center and meeting space.


References


External links


Irwin Union Bank History
* Link to National Register of Historic Places

{{National Register of Historic Places in Indiana Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Indiana Commercial buildings completed in 1954 Bank buildings in Indiana Columbus, Indiana National Historic Landmarks in Indiana Buildings and structures in Bartholomew County, Indiana Modernist architecture in Indiana Eero Saarinen structures National Historic Landmarks in Columbus, Indiana Tourist attractions in Bartholomew County, Indiana National Register of Historic Places in Bartholomew County, Indiana 1954 establishments in Indiana