The Heritage Tower is a mixed-use commercial and residential building located at 25 West Michigan Avenue in Battle Creek, Michigan. It was originally built as the Old-Merchants National Bank and Trust Company Building, and designed as an office building. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2018.
History In July of 1851 in Battle Creek, Michigan, Loyal Case Kellogg (December 25, 1822-January 30, 1907), who lived at 118 Maple Street(Capital Avenue Northeast) owned a private bank where he swapped due bills and brought buyers and sellers together. At the time, there was not a lot of money to be exchanged in the small village, Kellogg facilitated the use of trading and exchanging of goods and business notes. In September of 1865, Kellogg signed an application for a nationally-chartered bank. His bank was the first bank to be chartered in the city. The bank then changed its name to First National Bank and relocated its headquarters to a building that was part of the Whitcomb Block located at 1 East Main Street(East Michigan Avenue).
In August of 1867, Kellogg sold his interest to Victory Phelps Collier (April 25, 1819-June 28, 1898), Clement Wakelee (March 7, 1821-April 7, 1889), Thomas Brockway Skinner (November 17, 1822-February 26, 1901), William Merritt-. In 1855 the Leon & Jennings Private Bank was founded and in 1856, Jennings sold his interest and the bank became the Leon & Sanborn Private Bank. In 1859, A.C. Hamblin & Company, another private bank, succeeded it. On June 2, 1888 the bank received a national charter and became the Merchants National Bank of Battle Creek. Federal charters required banks to meet certain regulatory standards, creating more reliability and safety than the private banks of the 'Free-banking' era. In 1891 First National Bank opened a savings department. The Merchants National Bank reorganized as the Merchants Savings Bank on April 1, 1895. The name change emphasized the expanding capabilities of the bank, which now allowed for depositors to receive interest from deposits. In 1898 First National Bank merged with the Farmers & Mechanics Bank. In 1905, First National Bank went through multiple reorganizations and became the Old National Bank & Trust Company.
In the early 1910s, the Merchants Savings Bank built a new headquarters at 23 West Main Street. During a three-week financial panic in October of 1907, when most banks required a month's notice to withdraw funds to stem bank-runs, Old National remained financially solvent, and met the withdrawal demands of its customers. In 1915, Old National Bank moved into a building at 29-31 West Main Street. In the mid-1920s, Old National Bank operated the Calhoun County Abstract of Title, which was house in the building at 29 West Main Street. Around 1929, the two banks were nestled by the Grand Leader Department Store(17-21 West Main Street, Formerly the Hamblin Opera House until 1902), People's Outfitting Company(25-27 West Main Street), an unknown shop, Calhoun County Abstract & Title, another unknown shop. There was also the No. 1 Fire Station, also called the Central Fire Station located near the back of the Merchants Savings Bank. This building was later demolished somewhere around 1974. These two banks were fairly popular in the area, along with competitors such as the Central National Bank, which was located at 2 West Main Street right beside Old National Bank. Also in 1929, Old National Bank & Trust Company and the Merchants Savings Bank merged, creating the Old-Merchants National Bank and Trust Company of Battle Creek. At the time, this was the largest financial institution between Detroit and Chicago.
The newly-merged Bank decided to commission a new, larger structure for their headquarters, and hired the Chicago firm of Weary and Alford, who designed the nearby American National Bank(Kalamazoo) building and the Kalamazoo City Hall, to design a new building. Construction began in early 1930, under the supervision of Detroit contractors, Walbridge and Aldinger. Buildings from 23-27 West Main Street were demolished first. Merchants Savings Bank moved in with Old National Bank at 29-31 West Main Street temporarily, closing off the under construction base of the building with a false wall. When the base of the building was half completed, they had the bank move into the completed half of the building, and demolished the former Old National Bank Building at 29-31 West Main Street. During construction of the tower, a couple floors were added to mess with the nearby competition of Central National Bank. This made the Central National Bank Tower the second tallest in Battle Creek, being 233 feet tall At the time of its construction, it was one of two high-rises that seemed to race to the sky. The architects Weary & Alford were leaders in the design of banks, both regionally and nationally.
Old-Merchants National Bank and Trust Company/The Building When it was completed in August of 1931, the base of the 238 foot, and 6 inch, 20-story tower was 4-stories tall, and housed the main entrance from West Michigan Avenue, the escalator lobby, Grand staircase, three-story second floor central vaulted space, and a lounge and office spaces. The central vaulted space sat to the south of the tower and was topped with a flat roof that had three raised concrete framed skylights that were used to let in light into the space below. The skylights were originally created with inset glass blocks.* The basement of the central area held mechanical spaces(especially in later stages of the tower), and storage rooms. The recessed ornamental metal gate that would rise to seal off the Grand staircase, a small elevator lobby, and some parking areas that extend to the south wing's street side access.
The tower's exterior was built with 2,000 tons of gray Indiana limestone from Bedford, Indiana. The base of the main facade was trimmed with black granite, although in 1974, some of the original granite tiles were removed and replaced. This is mentioned deeper in the article. While the ornamental metal panels remain in the outer windows, the metal grilles that hung in front of all of the three windows are no longer there, and were most likely removed in the mid-1940s, although the spot where they were is now covered up with two fluted panels. The grilles were made of Swedish white iron and were cast in Minneapolis. Engraved on the face of the arched head was the words "OLD-MERCHANTS NATIONAL BANK & TRUST COMPANY." Which was later removed somewhere around 1934 and 1935, when the bank restructured as Security National Bank.
Two asymmetrically spaced cast metal columns supported the edges of two cast metal ornamental panels that were mounted about two feet short of the spring line of an arched head. The canopy was cantilevered out below a series of three large windows that began near the roof of the canopy and stopped at a decoratively carved limestone arch. The ornamental panels were topped with a cast sculptural ornament depicting stylized Peacocks. The birds were perched atop minor column forms that serve as vertical mullions for the glass panels behind it. The decorative metal work had horizontal structural supports at the floor lines that break the vertical opening roughly into thirds. At the sides and under the head of the arch were intricate carvings in the limestone depicting full female forms at the sides and a band of leafy plants and berries at the arch. Centered on either side of the arch was a flat section of limestone that housed a vertically fluted section with a fish's head in a relief near the top. The fish's mouth held a pendant for a large hanging decorative light fixture that no longer exists. These central elements were topped with a decorative horizontal band of carved limestone of vines and leaves extended up, visually, by aligning with the elements of the central arch below that housed the projected fish head sculptures.
These fifth story elements form large projected piers that ran all the way up to the roof of the twentieth floor. At the top, is a projected, peaked, limestone arch, topped with decorative carving, surrounding the two windows at the fifth-floor base of the tower. These elements set the magnificent vertical element apart from the rest. The spandrels of the vertical element are limestone while all the rest, going up, are made of decorative cast metal panels of a darker color. The vertical patterns created end at the top of the fifteenth floor with another continuous series of decorative and flat limestone panels in a horizontal pattern. At that point the corners stepped in to allow for a ledge, with a parapet, to cover up lighting anticipated in the original plans of the tower. The outer edge window slots are stopped at both sides and the pattern of windows and spandrels continue up to the top of the eighteenth floor. This vertical section also ended with a horizontal series of smooth and carved limestone panels.
The entire nineteenth floor steps in at the east and west sides to create a shelf with a parapet to conceal the lighting. At that point, all corners are chamfered at a forty-five-degree angle and head upward with fluted limestone panels leading to the top of the structure which is topped with a parapet and a continuous horizontal band of carved stone. This band was broken at the center by two 20-story tall three-quarter relief, stylized, limestone birds of prey sitting on top of two central minor piers that went up from the fifth floor. The nineteenth floor is reduced to five recessed steel windows with casements over hopper form while the twentieth floor had three single fixed steel windows centered in the recessed bays with a decorative carved panel below them. The center vertical element has three-over-three steel double hung windows, behind a steel fire escape, with vertical fluted metal spandrels and carved limestone matching the front facade.
Fire escape landings started in front of the southwestern slot and housed original four paneled steel and glass doors with transoms and metal spandrels above at floors 7, 10, 11, 12, 14 and 15. Almost all of the doors in the slot are contemporary hollow metal doors and frames with transoms. The eastern recessed slot is filled with double casement windows containing three lights on each side. The configuration matches that of the north facade with decorative metal spandrels and carved limestone as they travel up the facade. The top two window openings in the center and east bays are filled with louvers.
Both east and west tower facades start at the fifth floor above the fourth-floor flat roofs. Twin bays of typical, double casement over hopper windows are present on the north and south sides with decorative limestone spandrels above that establish the visual horizontal base of the facades. Both facades have a one story tall central, limestone cube topped with a flat roof and a parapet including three decorative carved panels that complete the horizontal base started by the spandrels just mentioned. These cubes housed stacks and air vents, according to original drawings, and are positioned below a recessed central bay of three typical double casement over hopper windows separated by limestone piers. Decorative metal spandrels start at window heads in all cases. The central bay of windows is topped with a fully fluted panel. These cast spandrels proceed outward with six flutes surrounding a decorative casting in the next rows of central bay windows followed by simpler recessed slots flanking a simpler casting in the spandrels of the last two windows at each side. This repetition of bays, windows and spandrels separated by flat limestone panels proceeds up the facade until reaching the fifteenth floor where decorative limestone panels top the vertical progression.