History
Plans were initially announced by First Wisconsin National Bank to construct a new headquarters building on August 21, 1969. Although no architectural designs were complete at the time of its announcement, bank officials indicated it would rise at least 40 stories. On March 18, 1971, bank officials unveiled the final design as a 42-story, 601-foot (183 m) skyscraper, encompassing an entire block fronting on East Wisconsin Avenue. Designed by James DeStefano of the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, with Fitzhugh Scott Architects of Milwaukee serving as an associate planner for the project, the name of the tower was announced as the First Wisconsin Center.
Near the end of construction, a pair of fatalities occurred at the work site. In May 1973, a foreman died after being struck by a dump truck. That following July, one worker died and four others were injured when a derrick utilized in the installation of a 175-pound (79 kg) aluminum panel broke free and fell 41 floors to the ground. The building was topped-out on August 29, 1972, with the installation of the final 20-foot (6.1 m) steel beam atop the tower. In addition to bank officials, mayor Henry Maier, county executive John Doyne and Wisconsin governor Patrick Lucey were in attendance for the ceremony. The building was initially occupied on September 4, 1973, and celebrated its official opening on October 6, 1973.
Read more about this topic: U.S. Bank Center (Milwaukee)
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“History, as an entirety, could only exist in the eyes of an observer outside it and outside the world. History only exists, in the final analysis, for God.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)
“The one duty we owe to history is to rewrite it.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)
“History is more or less bunk. It’s tradition. We don’t want tradition. We want to live in the present and the only history that is worth a tinker’s damn is the history we make today.”
—Henry Ford (1863–1947)