A Curtain Call for the Hidden Western Union Building Before Bank of America Center Digests It?

A CURTAIN CALL FOR THE HIDDEN WESTERN UNION BUILDING BEFORE BANK OF AMERICA CENTER DIGESTS IT? With workers now punching holes in the facade where the Bank of America Center wraps the dead Western Union building it swallowed in 1983, city planner David Welch asks the question: “Will we be able to see the hidden building during construction?” It should be hard to miss; according to one Swamplot reader: “It is completely intact, tar and gravel roof included.” Size-wise, it takes up nearly a quarter of the B of A building’s ground floor, its northeast corner wrapped by the skyscraper’s own at Lousiana and Capitol streets — where the new openings are taking shape now. But its emergence may be brief: Once the planned new restaurant and cafe get situated inside it, the structure’s time-capsule mystique will be gone. And after new interior entrances open its innards to the tower’s own central lobby corridor, the telegram building will be completely metabolized. [David Welch; previously on Swamplot] Photo: David Welch

5 Comment

  • Let’s just hope the renovation includes a modern exterior lighting package so we can really see this architectural gem and its three tiers at night.

  • I agree Ted but I doubt it includes that. I’ve always thought this building would look simply stunning lit up at night. The form and shape of the structure are screaming for some kind of lighting element. And I’m not talking about those cruddy little dull light bulbs they sometimes illuminate the upper level “steps” with.

  • i’ll believe it when I see pix

  • Masonry takes a long time to digest… (***urp***)

  • Thanks Mollusk! My “busted out laughing” fix for today.