MLive published a piece about some history that uncovered at the Peregrine 100 site. This property has been home to several different banks from the 1870s through just a few years ago, when PNC moved out. The current building was built in 1916-1917 for First National Bank. But when the former structure was demolished in 1916, some parts of it - like the south exterior wall and some plaster detailing - were believed to be saved and reintegrated into the new building.
Also unearthed is a series of old theater advertisements believed to be more than 100 years old, and ones that local historians suspect were for the extinct Fuller Theatre, which at one time seated over 1,500 patrons, but was sadly demolished in the 1950s. The posters were placed on a brick party wall that would have been exposed to the exterior, in-between demolition of the old structure an construction of the current building on the site.
When asked what the developer intends to do with the posters, he said that they will leave them exposed for the Hidden Kalamazoo tour this year and then cover them back up with new walls. I actually like this idea, because attempting to remove them in any way would probably damage them more, and it creates a kind of time capsule for future generations to discover.
The bank atrium in 1917 -
Source:
MLive | Courtesy WMU Archives and Regional History Collections
The atrium in 2018 -
The exposed theatre artwork -
Arthur Hammerstein presents...(before it was the famous Rogers & Hammerstein) -
The basement bank vault -
The exterior south wall, believed to be from the earlier building -
Some plaster detailing, believed to be from the earlier building -
A new apartment unit, in the remodeled upstairs (nice ceilings!) -
All Images (except as noted above): Mlive |
Mark Bugnaski