HISTORIC CORE CITIZENS NATIONAL BANKLEGACY OF PARKINSON AND BERGSTROM CROCKER BANKLEGACY OF THE CROCKERS

LA Times July 26, 1914: “The building, which will, with its appointments, cost more than $1,000,000, was planned by Architects Parkinson and Bergstrom and is being built by the Commercial Fireproof Building Company, as owner… The big block will extend to the full height allowed by law and will have a frontage of 155 feet on Fifth Street by 115 feet on Spring. On the eleven upper floors will be 450 offices. The exterior will be handsomely faced with terra cotta and the interior is to be finished in marble and tile.”

Construction records were broken. The last of the antiquated buildings that formerly covered the corner was removed in less than twenty-four hours on June 7th and 8th, 1914. The original anchor tenant, Citizens National Bank, occupied the basement and the first three floors of the building. The LA Times reported of the magnificent opening of the bank, less than a year later, on April 10, 1915, “The officers of the bank, from the president down to the various tellers, shook hands steadily for hours. Bankers and men of affairs by the thousands were on hand to extend their congratulations and to praise the new rooms. All were cordially welcomed and stayed to inspect the bank and to listen to the music of an orchestra concealed behind a bank of flowers in the cashier’s quarters. All afternoon and evening the crowds swarmed through the various departments.”