The Federal Office Building, also known as the Old Federal Building, is a thirteen story, stripped classical style building with

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

elements located in

Downtown Omaha, Nebraska Downtown Omaha is the central business, government and social core of the Omaha–Council Bluffs metropolitan area, U.S. state of Nebraska. The boundaries are Omaha's 20th Street on the west to the Missouri River on the east and the centerlin ...

. The building was designed and built from 193234 by architects Thomas R. Kimball, William L. Steele, and Josiah D. Sandham as part of the firm Kimball, Steele & Sandham, and associated architect George B. Prinz. It was built on the site of first U.S Courthouse and Post Office. The building was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

on March 19, 2009 and was converted into a hotel in 2013.

History

The Federal Office Building was announced in March 1929 to consolidate several agencies into one space. The building received federal approval in February 1931. Later that month, construction was delayed due to opposition to the

United States Department of War The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, als ...

. Development officially began in May 1931. Site preparation was completed in February 1932 and construction began shortly after. The building was officially dedicated in February 1934. In 1995, the building was allegedly examined as a target by

Timothy McVeigh Timothy James McVeigh (April 23, 1968 – June 11, 2001) was an American domestic terrorist who masterminded and perpetrated the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995. The bombing itself killed 167 people (including 19 children), injured ...

prior to his involvement in the

Oklahoma City Bombing The Oklahoma City bombing was a domestic terrorist truck bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, United States, on April 19, 1995. The bombing remains the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history. Perpetr ...

. However, the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

said there was little evidence to prove that he was in fact in the building. In July 2008, the

US Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wor ...

, the final occupant of the building, moved out of the building. On March 17, 2009, the Federal Office Building was listed on the

and was put up for sale. In December 2011, the building was sold to developers who planned on turning it into a 152-room Residence Inn by Marriott. The $23 million hotel opened to guests in October 2013. In order to keep the building on the NRHP, the exterior facade remains the same, as do some of the original interior features, such as terrazzo marble floors.

Design

The Federal Office Building is 13 stories tall and its architectural style is striped classical with

elements. The building was designed by Thomas R. Kimball, William L. Steele, and Josiah D. Sandham as part of the firm Kimball, Steele & Sandham, and associated architect George B. Prinz.

Tenants

Part of the

New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...

building program, the structure's original occupants were all federal agencies including the US Weather Bureau, the

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...

(IRS), the

Department of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

Civil Service Commission A civil service commission (also known as a Public Service Commission) is a government agency or public body that is established by the constitution, or by the legislature, to regulate the employment and working conditions of civil servants, overse ...

Customs Service Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country. Traditionally, customs ...

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

, and

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

. The federal District Court for Nebraska met in the building until the late 1950s or early 1960s. The

was the last federal agency officed in the building. Since their departure in July 2008, it has not been in use by the federal government. After its sale in 2011, the building is currently a 152-room

Residence Inn Residence Inn by Marriott is a brand of extended stay hotels. , there were 874 Residence Inn hotels in the United States, Canada and Mexico with 107,680 rooms, plus an additional 243 hotels with 30,417 rooms in the development pipeline. History ...

References

External links

* *{{usurped,
Emporis.com.
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Historic Federal Courthouses
from the

Federal Judicial Center The Federal Judicial Center is the education and research agency of the United States federal courts. It was established by in 1967, at the recommendation of the Judicial Conference of the United States. According to , the main areas of re ...

Federal buildings in the United States Buildings and structures in Omaha, Nebraska Art Deco architecture in Nebraska