LOCATION.

CONCEPT.

Historic Gary State Bank - 504 Broadway Avenue, 6th Floor, Gary, IN 46402

DUE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, THIS PROJECT IS CURRENTLY ON HOLD + RELAUNCHING SPRING 2021!

To support creative and entrepreneurial-based practices working locally, making transformational impacts in downtown Gary, Indiana. In creating meaningful connections between architecture, public space, and various publics, a 10,000 square foot hybrid creative and innovation platform in the historic Gary State Bank building aims to stimulate community involvement, economic revitalization, and catalyze regional artistic and cultural connections.

The Sixth Floor Project will connect people and spaces. We do this by activating vacant spaces to maximize social interaction, create new identities, or strengthen existing ones.

PARTNERS.

LOCATION.

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HISTORY.

Latent Design > Thirst > City of Gary’s Office of Redevelopment > East Lake Management > School of the Arts, Indiana University Northwest > Span > Thirst > Art+Action Lab

In 1906, the first cast-stone building, the Gary State Bank, was constructed on 5th Street and Broadway Avenue. In 1929 the building was demolished and replaced by the current Gary State Bank building. The architectural firm that originally designed the Gary State Bank Building was the Ivar Viehe Naess & Company of Chicago. A towering Corinthian colonnade and a grand arched entry welcome patrons inside. Under Wilbert W. Gasser's leadership, the bank was the only financial institution in the City to not collapse during the Great Depression. How did the bank survive? The Gary State Bank's largest client was U.S. Steel, which issued payroll checks through the bank. Today, the Gary State Bank building is still in use with very few tenants.

Gary City Center Historic District is a national historic district located in Gary, Indiana. The area encompasses 60 contributing buildings and two contributing sites in Downtown Gary. It developed between 1906 and 1944, including notable examples of Tudor Revival, Late Gothic Revival, and Classical Revival style architecture. (Scooped this info from Wikipedia)

Notable buildings include:

The City Hall and Superior Courthouse (1927).

The second Gary Land Company Building (c. 1907).

Olympic Hotel (c. 1928).

The "Modern Apartments" (c. 1929).

Dalton Apartments (c. 1929).

Gary State Bank Building (1929).

Hotel Gary (1926).

City Methodist Church (1926).

YWCA Building (1922).

Former U.S. Post Office Building (1936).

Read More > "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Gary City Center Historic District"