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|references = }} The PSFS Building, now known as the Loews Philadelphia Hotel, is a skyscraper in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A National Historic Landmark, the building was the first International style skyscraper constructed in the United States. It was built for the Philadelphia Saving (later Savings) Fund Society in 1932 and was designed by architects William Lescaze and George Howe. The skyscraper's design was a departure from traditional bank and Philadelphia architecture, lacking features such as domes and ornamentation. Combining Lescaze's experience with European modernism, Howe's Beaux-Arts background and the desire of Society President James M. Wilcox for a forward-thinking, tall building the skyscraper incorporated the main characteristics of International style architecture. Called the United States' first modern skyscraper, and one of the most important skyscrapers built in the country in the first half of the 20th century, the building featured an innovative and effective design of a T-shaped tower that allowed the maximum amount of natural light and rentable space. The tower sat on a base with a polished marble facade. The first floor of the base contained space for retail, while the second floor featured the banking hall, bank offices and associated facilities. The Philadelphia Saving Fund Society's offices and banking hall featured custom-designed furniture, including custom Cartier clocks on every floor. The top of the skyscraper featured the bank's boardroom and other facilities for the board of directors. Office tenants were attracted to the tower by modern facilities such as radio receivers, and the building was also the second high-rise in the U.S. to be equipped with air conditioning. The skyscraper is topped by a red neon sign with the Philadelphia Saving Fund Society's initials (PSFS) on it. Visible for , the sign has become a Philadelphia icon. Next to the sign is a television tower erected in 1948. In the 1980s, the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society began expanding into other financial services, but lost millions in its new business ventures. In 1992 the bank and its building were seized by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). That same year the skyscraper was 85 percent vacant, with most business attracted to the larger, more modern office space built in the city in the 1980s. The FDIC auctioned the building off, and it was bought by developers to turn into a Loews Hotel. The Pennsylvania Convention Center opened in 1993 a block away from the skyscraper, and the city was promoting the creation of enough hotel space to host a political convention in 2000. Conversion into a hotel began in 1998, and the Loews Philadelphia Hotel opened in April 2000, in time for the 2000 Republican National Convention. ==History== In the 1920s banks such as Girard Trust Company and other businesses such as Wanamaker's and Sun Oil Company were expanding by building skyscrapers in Center City, Philadelphia. To replace their Walnut Street headquarters the Philadelphia Saving Fund Society (PSFS) began planning a new building on Market Street at the former location of the William Penn Charter School. Under direction of bank President James M. Wilcox, they began seeking designs for a building, of which that by architects William Lescaze and George Howe was accepted by the board of directors in November 1930. During the 1920s Howe worked for the firm Mellor, Meigs and Howe where he designed two Beaux-Arts styled bank branches for PSFS. In 1929 Howe left the firm and partnered with Lescaze. Together, with influence from Wilcox, they designed the new PSFS Building.〔 〕 Construction was contracted to the George A. Fuller Company. Completed in 1932 at a cost of US$8 million, the PSFS Building was a modern departure from traditional bank architecture and other Philadelphia skyscrapers. Designed in the International style, the building was the first skyscraper of its type built in the United States.〔 Part of the modern amenities installed to attract tenants included radio reception devices installed in each of the building's offices by the RCA Victor Company.〔 The Carrier Engineering Corporation was contracted to install air conditioning inside the building, making it only the second air-conditioned high-rise in the United States. The skyscraper was completed during the Great Depression and the neon initials of the Philadelphia Saving Fund Society were kept lit throughout the economic troubles to create a symbol of hope and consistency for the city. In the early part of the Depression the initials were jokingly said to mean "Philadelphia Slowly Faces Starvation." Over the years, the building with its sign became a Philadelphia landmark.〔〔 The Philadelphia Saving Fund Society held school programs that allowed Philadelphia children to open accounts with the bank and deposit money every week. The program, through which generations of Philadelphians opened their first bank accounts, featured a School Accounts Counter in the building and stepstools for the youngest children. For many children it became a rite of passage to travel to the PSFS Building to access their accounts.〔 The Philadelphia Saving Fund Society occupied of the of office space in the building. The remaining office space was available for rent by other tenants.〔 One notable tenant was Towers Perrin, which established itself in the PSFS Building in 1934. The PSFS Building was listed as a National Historic Landmark in 1976 because of its architectural significance.〔〔 In 1982 PSFS merged with the Western Savings Fund Society and expanded into other financial services. In September 1985 the bank began doing business as Meritor Financial Group, of which PSFS became a subsidiary. Meritor's aggressive expansion in the 1980s led to the company losing millions of dollars in new business ventures.〔 In 1989 Meritor sold 54 of its PSFS branches and the PSFS name to Mellon Bank. The deal went into effect in 1990 and on May 21 of that year the building's neon sign was turned off. Meritor said that having sold the name it was inappropriate to light the sign. Turning off the sign provoked outrage and protest from the public, historians, and architecture buffs. As a result Meritor and Mellon Bank agreed to relight the sign and keep it lit. Meritor said, "We agreed that it was in the best interest of the city to relight it."〔 In the late 1980s an office building boom in the Market Street West neighborhood of Center City was attracting tenants looking for larger office space away from the older PSFS Building.〔 By 1992 the building was 85 percent vacant and in December of that year the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) seized Meritor Financial Group and sold off the rest of its bank branches to Mellon Bank.〔 The FDIC took control of Meritor's remaining assets including the PSFS Building. The FDIC was not the sole owner of the building since Meritor had, by the 1990s, sold off interest in the building to several partners. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「PSFS Building」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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