Superman Building – Providence

A few weeks back my friend Cemal noticed an ad by WPRI Providence announcing that the Superman building in Providence, formerly the Industrial Trust building, was going to offer three more tour dates for public viewing. We both marked down that day and time where we could register for this tour arriving at their internet site 10 minutes before registration would open. At exactly 11am the site face did not change and by the time either of us knew it by 11:03 all tours were filled.

Anyone following Cemal’s posts on Keptlight.com knows that he and I have been going to Providence taking images. He has posted his, along with a history of his images, I have yet to. Last Saturday while photographing in Providence I remembered that this was one of the days that the Superman building was open for tours. I took a chance and showed up asking if I could be put on a waiting list in case someone did not show. Fifteen minutes later I was on the tour.

The Superman building, as I have known it,  got it’s name for its semblance to the building shown on the TV series “Superman” who could leap tall buildings on a single bound. Information on the history of this building can be found at: http://savesupermanri.com/facts/

The Industrial Trust building was built in 1928.  Its style is Art Deco designed by a New York architectual firm of Walker and Gillette. It is a steel and concrete based structure. The building was at the time and remains the tallest building in Providence. It has 26 floors not counting the steel dome and its base.

The tour started in the grand bank area. Marble decorative floors and ceilings, granite and cement columns along with a immense polished granite barrier between where people would do their banking with bank tellers. The tour guide, as I remember, stated there would be 28 tellers in place to serve the banking public. From the grand bank area we then went outside where Barbara, our tour guide, provided an historical perspective on the building and what it represented to the business climate of Rhode Island. From there we went back inside getting on an elevator that took us to the 25th floor. The 25th floor turned out to be a large room with broad extensive wide windows that enabled views of Providence in all directions. A few years back I was a volunteer photographer for Waterfire where at one time Barnaby Evans, creator and Artistic Director of Waterfire Providence, arranged for photographers to access the rooftop of the Industrial National Building, directly adjacent to the Superman building. Not since then have I experienced the vast view of Providence as Superman himself would have seen the landscape today. Our group was not allowed access any level higher than the 25th floor. From here we took the elevator to the bottom of the building to the vault area. It was a much smaller space than I imagined yet very grand with what looked like steel vault doors with its thinkness measured in feet. The hinges holding the door was similarly impressive. Once inside the vault you were greated by rows and rows of safety deposit boxes all made of brass or bronze. The lower boxes were not boxes at all rather small safes with their own combination and key. On an aside when we were entering the vault itself Barbara said if anyone found a safe deposit key it was theirs to keep, adding that she did not believe any more were left. That said one of our group members found a key, now a “keepsake”.

The tour ended as we climbed one level of stairs and emerged back at the grand banking area where we all parted. I thanked Barbara then took some additional images before leaving with a feeling of appreciation for the building itself. Note: the ceiling medallion picuted is one of three. The medallion shown depicts the planets. Lastly the last image of the desk calendar shows the last date the bank was open in 2013. If given the future opportunity I would urge you to take this tour if possible. More information available at SAVE SUPERMAN RI.