RESTORATION
The restoration of one of Pawhuska’s most noteworthy and largest buildings is beginning! After a 6-year struggle to save the building, it is finally in safe hands for a careful resurrection of its original beauty and grandeur. Special thanks is due to the all of the supporters of the effort and their dedication to true historical preservation.
WINDOWS
The windows in the building are mostly original on the 1st and 2nd and 5th floors. They are wooden and can all be restored to retain the original materials as much as possible.
The windows on the 3rd and 4th floors were replaced in the last 30 years. They are aluminum, but they are not a bad resemblance of the original double hung sashes.
ROOFTOP
The rooftop parapet wall is missing 5 balustrades, each composed of many balusters. They were likely removed years ago instead of being repaired. It is unfortunate, but they will be replaced with exact duplicates, patterned off of the one remaining balustrade toward the rear parapet.
See the recent picture below that shows the 5 missing parapet balustrades.
See the old pictures below that show the original parapet balustrades that need to be reproduced.
See the recent close-up picture below that shows the original rear parapet balustrade that still exists. It will be used as a pattern for reproducing the missing front ones.
EXTERIOR ORNAMENTATION
In general, the exterior brickwork and stonework and glazed terracotta blocks and ornamentation are in excellent condition. But it all needs a careful cleaning and some light preservation and resurfacing with proper coatings.
LOBBY
The lobby is a very spectacular 2-story area with columns and an ornate domed ceiling. The upper areas and plaster crowns and dental work are in excellent condition for a light restoration. A cheap suspended ceiling was installed at some point after 1976. It hides newer mechanicals that need to be relocated in order to reopen the lobby back to a grand 2-story room. Unfortunately, much of the lower area has fallen prey to terrible restoration attempts that involved smashing out much of the original marble on the walls and pillars. There are also cheap nonstructural drywall walls thrown up all over the first floor lobby that have broken up the once spacious feel of the old bank lobby. These walls will be removed of course.
BANK VAULTS
The building has 4 large original walk-in vaults. There is 1 in the basement and 3 on the first floor. Unfortunately, one of the first floor vaults has been gutted out and the door is completely gone. The plan will be to find old photos of it and reproduce it or find a similar door.
MARBLE AND TERRAZZO
One of the great features of bank buildings is that they typically had lots of marble in the lobby. This building is no different. Lots of the lobby marble on the walls and the pillars has unfortunately been smashed to pieces by the “renovations” done in the last 30 years. It is a real shame what happened. But the process has already begun to find matching marble that can be custom cut to restore the damage.
The front formal staircase incorporates lots of marble on the 1st floor. As it goes up to higher floors, much of it transitions to terrazzo.
The floor in the lobby is mostly marble. It’s condition is difficult to determine because it is unfortunately mostly covered in carpet currently
BASEMENT
The basement does not go under the entire building. But it is very deep and provides good access to utilities and the elevator shaft. The original boiler for the heating system is long gone. Only the platform and some of the old pipes remain.
The most noteworthy historical item in the basement is the old walk-in vault, which still has its original door and shelving inside.
ELEVATOR
The original 1927 elevator car is long gone, but a later model elevator car is in its place and functioning. It is not designed to take people to the basement, but the shaft is accessible from the basement. The elevator stops on all 5 floors. The controls and motor are in very good condition and located on the roof in a small room that is basically like a 6th floor. The old equipment is in very good condition and has a great visual appeal.
STAIRCASES
The building has 4 staircases. The most impressive is the original front marble staircase. It goes from the 1st floor up to the 5th floor.
Another original staircase is located in the center of the building along the south. It goes from the first floor to the second floor.
Yet another original staircase is toward the back south corner. It goes just between the first and second floors. It has its original handrail and needs only light cosmetic restoration.
The final staircase is large and very practical for exiting the building from any floor. Is it a fairly recent addition to the building that was done for compliance with fire code. It has no historical beauty to it, but its presence allows for the building to be safely put back into service as a hotel. Therefore, it will be left in place and used.
THIRD FLOOR
This entire floor is almost one wide open area. It is broken into cubicles with sound-diminishing partitions creating all the separate areas. The is almost nothing historical left on this floor. But at one time it would have had a couple central hallways and beautiful wood doors with glass windows looking into the various offices. Unfortunately, the renovation in the last 40 years have devastated all of that great charm. The whole floor is now and empty palette for creating hotel rooms that will be modern and large and luxurious, but that will be styled in a way that compliments the past and uses period-correct salvage from other local buildings.
FOURTH FLOOR
The description of the fourth floor is essentially identical to the third.
FIFTH FLOOR
The fifth floor is quite amazing. It retains most of its original architectural elements. However it did fall victim to an awful demo process that was started but not completed. Most of the original hardware and doors and windows appear to still be in stored on the floor. Many original light fixtures are scattered around the floor too. They will all be used in the restoration.
