Roanoke Building and Tower

Landmark Context

Roanoke Building and Tower is anchored to 11 S LaSalle St before any deeper archive work begins. City records connect the site to a construction date of 1915,1922 and credits Holabird-Roche; Rebori Wentworth Dewey McCormick. It was designated on December 12, 2007. Roanoke Building and Tower gives researchers a way to connect commercial development, architectural branding, and corridor and downtown change to one actual site.

Roanoke Building and Tower is best approached by paying attention to storefront depth, upper-floor expression, and corner treatment, how the facade addresses pedestrian traffic, and later signage, infill, or reuse. Seen that way, the landmark helps explain how commercial architecture stayed visible even as the economic life around it changed.

Research Starting Points

Roanoke Building and Tower can be checked against trade press and city directories, permit files and assessor records, and historic photographs and newspaper coverage when the designation summary runs out. Those materials are where architecture, use, and later stewardship begin to line up against each other.

Roanoke Building and Tower becomes clearer when later research stays attached to the building instead of drifting into abstraction.