ST. LOUIS — The move last month by city and state officials to list the AT&T tower on the National Register of Historic Places surprised some St. Louisans who have never viewed the building, originally built as the headquarters of telephone company Southwestern Bell, as particularly historic compared to others downtown.
Gaining historic status for the 44-story skyscraper at 909 Chestnut St., the state's largest office building, would allow new owner SomeraRoad to use historic tax credits to fund a long-anticipated redevelopment. Opened in 1986 as the headquarters of telephone company Southwestern Bell, the building once known as One Bell Center has been vacant since 2017. New York-based SomeraRoad bought the building in April for $4.05 million and has not yet publicly discussed its plans for the tower.
Buildings typically aren’t listed on the National Register of Historic Places until they’re at least 50 years old, although exceptions can be made for buildings of “exceptional importance,” according to the criteria. But preservationist Rachel Consolloy of Kansas City-based preservation consultant Rosin Preservation said she expects the tower to be named to the list by late September.
Rosin, which drafted the nominating documents for the building, built its case in part around the stature of its principal designer, Gyo Obata, co-founder of St. Louis-based architecture firm HOK, who died in March. He designed the tower as a “precedent in innovative ways, creating a design that clearly related to the context of its surroundings while it rose to new heights in downtown St. Louis," the firm said.
Here are some of the reasons why Rosin believes the AT&T tower is historic, according to its nomination form.
1. It’s more than a basic office tower.
The report from Rosin lists key architectural details that passersby probably miss. The footprint of the building is octagonal, creating eight separate wall planes. Elongated octagons make up the building’s base. That shape is repeated throughout the building, from the receptionist’s desk to granite planters.
That repetition and the exaggerated base affect how viewers perceive the skyscraper, leading to an “inability to read its size in human terms,” according to the report. At the same time, single windows that repeat in a grid make the facade seem indefinite.
“The viewer is drawn into One Bell Center at the tall, fortress-like base, but then up and out to the edges that are not designed as expected,” the report said.
2. Lack of updates works to its advantage.
The building has barely been updated since it was built in 1985, which works in its favor for historic status.
The report said, “The building retains historic integrity from its period of significance, 1985, as an excellent local example of Postmodern architecture.” In preservation terms, the lack of updates means the tower “retains a high degree of its historic design, materials, and workmanship.”
3. It’s a “Postmodern skyscraper” with links to the past.
The tower’s concrete and steel structure, open floor plans and stepped roof signified Postmodernism design, but also recalled the stepped rooflines popular in the 1920s, the report said. Inland Architect magazine wrote when the building opened: “The climbing setbacks push the tower’s flat top skyward, slimming the massive shaft and creating a distinctive profile on the skyline. It is a fascinating conclusion to a basically modern building, and demonstrates that the tall, flat-topped box is still a valuable building shape that readily lends itself to manipulation.”
You can read the final two reasons on the St. Louis Business Journal website.
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