Tower Petroleum Building
Encyclopedia
The Tower Petroleum Building (also known as The Tower Building) is a historic Art Deco
Skyscraper
located at 1907 Elm Street in the City Center District of Downtown Dallas
. The tower, a contributing property
in the Harwood Historic District
, features Zig-zag Moderne
styling and was designed by architect
Mark Lemmon.
and has green spandrels panels between the windows. The upper floors of the building are set back twice from the shaft of the building starting with a three story set back from the 19th floor. At the 22nd floor, the top sets back again and this section is 2 stories in height. These setbacks occur on three sides of the building.
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
Skyscraper
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
located at 1907 Elm Street in the City Center District of Downtown Dallas
Downtown Dallas
Downtown Dallas is the Central Business District in Dallas, Texas USA, located in the geographic center of the city. The area termed "Downtown" has traditionally been defined as bounded by the downtown freeway loop: bounded on the east by I-345 Downtown Dallas is the Central Business District...
. The tower, a contributing property
Contributing property
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing resource or contributing property is any building, structure, or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant...
in the Harwood Historic District
Harwood Historic District
The Harwood Historic District is a historic commercial district and Dallas Landmark District on the east end of downtown Dallas, Texas lying in parts of the City Center District, Main Street District and Farmers Market District...
, features Zig-zag Moderne
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
styling and was designed by architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
Mark Lemmon.
Design
The Tower Petroleum Building features Zig-zag Moderne motifs, one of the few buildings left in Downtown Dallas which features such designs. The building's facade is clad in limestoneLimestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
and has green spandrels panels between the windows. The upper floors of the building are set back twice from the shaft of the building starting with a three story set back from the 19th floor. At the 22nd floor, the top sets back again and this section is 2 stories in height. These setbacks occur on three sides of the building.
History
- The Tower Petroleum Building is located in the city's historic entertainment district, Theater Row; the adjacent Majestic TheatreMajestic TheatreThe Majestic Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 245 West 44th Street in midtown Manhattan.The Majestic, one of the largest Broadway theatres with 1,607 seats, traditionally has been used as a venue for major musical theatre productions...
is the only surviving theater. At one time, the Tower Theater was located behind the building and the lobby to that theater was located inside the office building. In 1951, the Corrigan TowerCorrigan TowerCorrigan Tower, also known as 1900 Pacific, is a high rise located at 1900 Pacific Avenue in the City Center District of Dallas, Texas. The building contains 20 floors of office space and is of modernist design. It is situated on the high-traffic corner of St. Paul Street, Live Oak Street and...
was constructed over and around the Tower Theater.
- The Federal Bureau of InvestigationFederal Bureau of InvestigationThe Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
had offices on the 12th floor of the Tower Petroleum Building from 1937 to 1943.