June 2025.
It would seem that the apple didn’t fall far from the tree for George Elmslie--he had a similar “fall from grace” at the end of his career as his mentor Louis Sullivan did, and he resorted to smaller commissions like office buildings and banks to stay in business. His Old Second National Bank in Aurora is larger than any of Sullivan’s “jewel boxes,” but it is much simpler architecturally.
The Old Second National Bank is located at 37 South River Street in downtown Aurora, Illinois. It is bordered by a parking lot to the north, Downer Place to the south, River Street and Waubonsee Community College to the east, and Middle Avenue to the west.
History
The Old Second National Bank was designed by George Elmslie in 1924. It is a very late example of Prairie School architecture, as other styles became more popular for residential architecture (where it was most common) and it never fully caught on for commercial designs. It was commissioned by Old Second to expand into Aurora. Elmslie worked with his old artists and sculptors Emil Zettler, John Norton, and Kristian Schneider on the building’s ornament and murals.
The building attempts to integrate vertical emphasis into a Prairie School composition; quite unusual, as the style commonly has a horizontal expression. This is seen in the pilasters and tall, thin east facade. It was designed with multiple functions--the double-height first floor is the main banking space, the third floor is offices, the fourth and fifth were used as a private club, and the basement includes a 200-seat auditorium.
The exterior of the bank remains completely original, minus the addition of the clock, which I thought was original. However, the interior wasn’t as lucky, as its original tile floor (which mimicked a Persian rug) was covered and the layout redesigned. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. The building was restored in 1980 by local firm Cordogan, Clark, and Associates, which also designed an addition to the north that imitates the original bank. Today, the bank remains in use by Old Second.
Photos
The NRHP listing is unusually critical about the Old Second National Bank’s architecture, and I have to agree. I had driven by this building before and assumed it was some Postmodern heap that incorporated historic ornamental features. Certain decisions that Elmslie makes are outright confusing, as they are not repeated on his other buildings in Aurora. Comparing it to one of Sullivan’s jewel boxes reveals that though Old Second is larger in size, it is clumsier and sparsely decorated.
No widely overhanging eaves here--the roof is both steeply pitched and does not hang over the edge at all, much different from orthodox Prairie School architecture. There is also a random dormer that interrupts the unity of the roof plane. The NRHP listing says verbatim that “[t]he bank building does not have the unified feeling of earlier Prairie structures,” as its attempt at a more vertical expression fails due to the stark visual difference between the bottom two and top two floors. What confuses me is that Elmslie had similar ambitions for designs like the Graham Building and Keystone Building, which succeeded, because the piers were not thoughtlessly interrupted above the second floor.
These pilasters should rise the height of the facade, as that would reinforce the verticality of this building, but they instead terminate above the second floor. This kind of makes sense, since it emphasizes the stained-glass windows. However, what happens above is the windows just continue uninterrupted. On such a wide south facade, there needs to be some sort of vertical division if verticality is the desire. The bare brick face reads horizontally.
Another gripe I have is the relative lack of ornamentation. Sullivan operated similarly in that his banks typically employed flat planes of brick interrupted by three-dimensional decorative features, but this is hardly seen here. Beyond the capitals, sills, and stained glass, the facade is just bare brick with a stone base. It’s possible to have a successful building in this style with little ornament, but the design has to have a sculptural quality, depth, or a unique plan or sectional appearance. Here, none of these occur. The simple rectangular plan and relative lack of depth in the windows and pilasters, combined with the large expanse of facade, results in a composition that appears flat.
What little ornament exists is good! There just should be more of it.
I also think these realistic carvings clash stylistically with the Sullivanesque carvings in the courses and sills. You have highly abstract, angular, and textured panels positioned near simple yet realistic carvings of things like farm animals. Where are the griffins?! They were meant to represent the bank’s customers and Aurora’s history, to be fair.
Old Second has a great sculptural quality here…until you look up and see the bare third and fourth floor.
Okay, enough criticism, I’ll start being objective again. I never thought I’d see the day where I’m criticizing a design inspired by Louis Sullivan. Detail of some of the base’s ornament:
A sill and the stained-glass windows above:
You can see the really wide length of the brick here--it’s the typical Wrightian Roman brick used on Prairie School designs.
The clock is a little different stylistically, but its color still contrasts well with the earthy brick and terra-cotta:
The east facade and addition:
Additions to historic buildings like this, especially elaborate Sullivanesque ones, have a tendency to not do the original justice. However, I think this one mostly succeeds. It evokes its predecessor through its fenestration and ornamentation, and it does not dominate it.
Can we talk about the balcony on the front of this thing??? It makes it look like an apartment building. The integrity of this facade is compromised entirely by it. I’m not saying the rest should be blank, but it overpowers the base projection in footprint.
The projection itself is great, and I really like the two reliefs on top. I just think it needs to have a greater position in the building’s hierarchy.
The NRHP listing agrees, mentioning that it was likely taken from an earlier Elmslie & Purcell bank and “does little to draw the structure together.”
Detail of the central panel above the entrance:
The fourth floor’s stained-glass window:
I really like the ornament here and the polychromy of the glass. It’s also very interesting to me that the addition has similar ornamentation, which was likely very expensive to recreate:
A little unusual for me to be so critical here, especially of a historic building, but the NRHP listing shifted my perception a bit. Regardless, what matters most is that the Old Second National Bank remains intact with its original features.
Sources:
https://web.archive.org/web/20131203044603/http://gis.hpa.state.il.us/pdfs/200167.pdf
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