Columbia Savings Bank Building Explained

Columbus Savings Bank
Type:building
Coordinates:37.7957°N -122.4032°W
Location:700 Montgomery Street
Area:Jackson Square Historic District
Built:1904
Architect:Frederick Herman Meyer and Smith O'Brien[1]
Architecture:Classical Revival[2]
Designation1:San Francisco Designated Landmark
Designation1 Offname:Columbia Savings Bank Building
Designation1 Date:10/8/2000[3]
Designation1 Number:212

The Columbia Savings Bank Building, also known as the Columbus Savings Bank, is a landmark office building located at 700 Montgomery Street in the Financial District of San Francisco, California.[2]

The building is registered as a San Francisco Landmark. It was deemed significant as the "oldest of four buildings that represent the beginning of Italian banking in San Francisco", along with the Bank of Italy building and two other bank buildings.[2]

Tenants

The Columbia Savings Bank Building was originally built for the Columbus Savings and Loan Society, as a bank which primarily served the Italian community in San Francisco.[2]

In 1923 the building at 700 Montgomery became, for two years, the Columbus Branch of the Bank of Italy.[2]

From 1939 to 1953 the ground floor was occupied by the Pisani Printing and Publishing Company.[2]

The upper floor was occupied by the Italian consulate from 1948 to 1951, and the Indonesian consulate from 1954 to 1956.[2]

From 1973 until 1996, the building was the studio for KIOI radio station.[4]

Beginning in 2000, it hosted the law offices of former Mayor Joseph L. Alioto and his daughter, Angela Alioto.[2]

Synonymous places

There was a postwar Columbia Savings Bank building in Los Angeles. It was demolished in 2009. It was standing at the southeast corner of Wilshire and La Brea (on the Miracle Mile).[5] It had turned into a Korean church (Wilshire Grace Church) before its destruction.[6]

Notes and References

  1. Book: authors. Susan Dinkelspiel Cerny ; contributing. al.. photographers, Beth A. Armstrong, Anthony Bruce, Susan Dinkelspiel Cerny... [et|title=An architectural guidebook to San Francisco and the Bay area|date=2007|publisher=Gibbs Smith|location=Layton, UT|isbn=978-1586854324|page=6|edition=1st|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FkVQx6MWa8MC&dq=%22meyer+and+o%27brien%22+columbus+bank&pg=RA1-PR10|accessdate=22 April 2016].
  2. Web site: Historic Sites and Points of Interest in San Francisco. NoeHill. 21 April 2016.
  3. Web site: SAN FRANCISCO PRESERVATION BULLETIN NO. 9. San Francisco Planning Dept.. City and County of San Francisco. 22 April 2016.
  4. Web site: KIOI Radio: 1968-2000, The K-101 Era. Bay Area Radio Museum. CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL RADIO SOCIETY. 22 April 2016.
  5. Web site: Kudler . Adrian Glick . 2011-10-24 . Work Has Finally Started on the Columbia Savings-Killing Wilshire/La Brea Apartments . 2024-05-10 . Curbed LA . en.
  6. Web site: 6 December 2011 . Final Map of Tract No. 68945 . 10 May 2024 . Lacity.org.