William H. Block Co., 50 N. Illinois St., Indianapolis, 1982

Description:	William H. Block Co., 50 N. Illinois St., Indianapolis, 1982, Art Deco Entrance from 1934-1936 Yes HISTORY: Founded by Austro-Hungarian immigrant William H. Block in 1896, the William H. Block Co. grew from a small store on East Washington Street to one of the state’s largest department stores at North Illinois and West Market Streets. The building was designed and built in two sections by local architectural firm Vonnegut and Bohn. After merging with the Lazarus chain in 1988, the building remained a department store until its closing in 1993. It was rehabilitated for residential use in the early twenty-first century. BUILDING DESCRIPTION: The original 1911 terra cotta store on the corner features Renaissance Revival design with a classical cornice and rusticated first and second stories. In 1934-36 during the Depression, the company re-hired the original architecture firm to design an addition enlarging the store’s capacity and updating it in the latest Art Deco style. The addition added three bays west of the original building. The architects complemented the 1911 section by using matching white terra cotta and maintaining the same overall rhythm of the original building. A black granite storefront was added across the street-level façades. SIGNIFICANT FEATURES: This building’s most significant feature is its terra cotta face, intricately embellished with geometric patterns, medallions, foliar moldings, cherub faces, and scroll work. The black granite storefront, also significant, provides a striking contrast to the white terra cotta with Art Deco geometric grills located above streamlined, curved canopies projecting over the entrances. Simplified shields framed by garlands and engraved with the letter “B” are located above the second floor. Rusticated columns vertically separate the window bays. The eighth-story windows remain arched on the 1911 building, framed with fruit garlands and scrolled keystones. The cornice retains its crenellated pattern, with foliar and shield molding on the 1911 section and geometric columns on the 1930s addition. -Monument Circle District Preservation Plan, p. 107 Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission commercial
Origin:	1982-06
Source:	http://iuidigital.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/HT/id/6116
Collection:	Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission Image Collection
Rights:	http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Copyright:	In Copyright
Subjects:	Architecture--Indiana--Indianapolis Built environment Historic districts Renaissance Revival

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