US75Guy

FYI. Below is just a basic chronicle of stuff found scattered elsewhere from the DMN (slow news day, I suppose). FYI, a display in the pedestrian tunnels of Bank of America Plaza have these different building featured on a timeline showing chronologically which buildings were once the tallest in town.


Steve Brown:Stories of skyscrapers of old
Once upon a time, 15 floors was the height of modernity

08:30 AM CST on Friday, February 10, 2006



When architects designed downtown's Kirby Building in the early 1900s, they bragged that its gothic spires would be a standout on Dallas' nascent skyline. And for a time the 16-story building was one of the tallest office buildings in town. Sadly these days, the landmark granite and terra cotta office tower is mostly hidden by surrounding taller buildings. So this week when the Kirby Building changed hands it seemed odd to call it a "skyscraper." But in its day, the Kirby and other Main Street office blocks were among the tallest built west of the Mississippi.

Dallas' first true tower was the Praetorian Building. When the Main Street high-rise was christened in 1907, The Dallas Morning News called it "the first skyscraper in the Southwest." At 15 floors, it was the tallest building in Texas -- so high that visitors paid a quarter just to go up to the top floor.

Of course, the Praetorian Building's reign on the Dallas skyline didn't last. The Southwestern Life Building opened in 1912 with 17 stories. And a 20-story addition to the Adolphus Hotel the same year made it "the tallest hotel in the South," according to newspaper reports. By 1921 downtown's Magnolia Building was the largest, with 27 stories. It held onto its perch at the pinnacle of Dallas' skyline until the 33-story Mercantile National Bank Building opened in 1943.

Competition to build the tallest tower heated up in the 1950s, with the 36-story Republic Bank Building in 1954 and the 42-story Southland Life tower in 1959. In 1964, the First National Bank tower at 1401 Elm St. became the first Dallas skyscraper to top 50 stories. First National Bank stayed on top of the tall buildings market when it added the 54-story First International Building in 1974. And in 1985 Canadian developer Bramalea Ltd. built the 72-story Bank of America Tower, which has been the tallest in Dallas for more than 20 years.

Bank of America Tower isn't likely to lose its distinction. Plans in the late 1980s which called for a 100-story building on the north side of downtown never got off the drawing board. And the tallest towers being talked about these days in the Victory complex and downtown's Arts District would be in the mid 40s. That's hardly tall enough to register in a world where the tallest building -- the Taipei 101 tower in Taiwan -- is 101 floors.

As the Kirby Building proves, our notion of what makes a skyscraper changes with the times.

Columbus Civil

Cool info. Thanks.

__________________
Dallas uber alles

FoUTASportscaster

That was a fun read. Thanks.

frankchitown

Mabye the DMN is prepping the public for the announcement of a new skyscraper downtown. I know...highly unlikely, but I can always dream

FoUTASportscaster

Technically, there are two new skyscrapers being built in DTD.

frankchitown

I wouldnt call anything under 500 feet a skyscraper...a tall building, yes, but no skyscraper

FoUTASportscaster

Skyscraper/highrise is defined as greater than 12 stories.

frankchitown

Laura Ingalls may have thought that way, but not so in the 21st century. In 1906 a nickle bought a lot of candy, and a 12 story building would have been considered a skyscraper. Nowadays a 12 story may be a midrise, and the height for skyscraper status has increased. Wikipedia lists 800ft as the minimum height, I'm being generous with 500.

rantanamo

12 stories is the commonly used definition. The large sites that catalogue the buildings use 12 stories to create their counts as well as it being widely accepted by users of the sites. Even Chicago has 2 construction threads. Projects under 12 stories and projects over 12 stories. 500fters are commonly referred to as a "talls" and the 1000fters are referred to as "supertalls". Don't know how this lingo developed, but that's the way they are referred to.

12 story buildings aren't as common as you may think. You've probably simply been fortunate enough to live in places with a lot of them. Keep in mind the metroplex only has about 300+ of these. If they used 800ft, there would be very few in the world

FoUTASportscaster

My source is Emporis.com
It defines a high rise as anything over 12 stories. The dictionary defines a skyscraper as a tall building with many stories, which fits the mold of a high-rise defintion.

frankchitown

I think there is a distinction between a high rise building and a skyscraper. A building may officially be considered a high rise at 115 ft (35 meters), but the term "skyscraper", which was first coined in the 1880s, is more vague and doesn't have an official height limit. The term was later defined by architectural historians(this is what I've read off emporis) to consist of buildings built with a steel frame. That definition is now obsolete because of the use of reinforced concrete. I guess it depends on your personal point of view on what to consider a skyscraper or not. Someone who's lived their entire life in Waco would consider the Alico building a skyscraper (I love that building, BTW), but for a skyscraper enthusiast/size queen like myself, I'll never consider anything under 500 ft. My personal perception of skyscrapers means that buildings which were considered skyscrapers when they were built in the early 1900s no longer fit that category. The bar was raised when 12-15 stories were dwarfed by 30-40 stories, and so on.

more from wikipedia, which uses emporis as a source...

FoUTASportscaster

Interesting to find the diferentiating viewpoints. I guess it purely is an arbitary term.