October 1989 - Library Tower, Tallest Building in the West, Tops L.A. Skyline
In October 1989, the downtown Los Angeles skyline reached new heights as the 1,017-foot Library Tower was completed, becoming the tallest building west of Chicago.
The $350 million modernist office building, designed by Henry N. Cobb of the firm Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, became an instant architectural icon and the first "supertall" structure built in a city that has suffered a long reputation of having a bland, low-rise skyline.
Developers Maguire Thomas Partners purchased the air rights above the 6-story L.A. Central Library during its restoration from the 1986 arson fires in order to develop the 73-story tower and a 52-story building one block east, which became The Gas Company Tower.
The tower, geographically located at the center of downtown L.A.'s highrise financial district, brought a much-needed visual symmetry and character to the city's skyline, now featured in numerous motion pictures, television shows, music videos, and commercials. Its most iconic -- and absurd -- appearance was in the 1996 movie "Independence Day," where a gigantic alien spaceship, hovering above, destroyed the building, thanks to Hollywood special effects.
In 2001, though, the building was identified as one of the planned targets of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
The lighted crown, which glows white on most nights, features lighting columns that are fitted with colored filters for special events: Red and white for Valentine's Day; red, white, and blue for the 4th of July; and red and green for the Christmas holiday season. The columns are also colored in the appropriate team hues for Lakers, Dodgers, and Kings playoff games.
The building is also the focus of an annual benefit stair climb event each September, organized by the local Ketchum-Downtown YMCA, where participants race up the tower's 1,500 steps to the top floor.
Prior to its completion in 1989, the tower signed on First Interstate Bank as its signature tenant and was renamed the First Interstate World Center in 1990, a name which remained until the bank merged with Wells Fargo Bank. In 2003, U.S. Bankcorp leased several floors of the building and purchased the naming rights, renaming the building as the U.S. Bank Tower, which is its current moniker. The building was purchased in 2013 by the Singapore-based hotel and property company Overseas Union Enterprise, Ltd, which plans to outfit the building with a hotel, a restaurant, residential units, and an observation deck.
