El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-03-14
KR0EGER BUILDER
Of THE NEW BANK
Substantial Construction Is
Due to the Careful Work of
Well Known Contractor

When the old American Nationo7
bank building which stood on the Cor
ner of San Antonio and Oregon streats
I was wrecked, a good, substantial str1Jcf1
Ure was RACED to make room for the
| seven story American National bank
building
The new building was one of tina
first of the buildings to be built here
above five stories and was considered
a splendid structure That was less
than five years ago, yet no one at that
time thought that the building woUId
soon be enlarged to cover a quarter
Z block
Otto p. Kroeger was the contractor
for the original structure and he hss
been in charge of every detail of the
erection of the new building since the
first skeleton steel was set for thu
foundation. Mr.. KrOeger and his force
Of WOrkmen have seen the big bank
building grow out Of the ground from q
few twisted steel frames to the pres
ent magnificent bank structure COW
ering quarter Of a block, having a
weight of 1862 tons and standing as
a monument to the stability of the First
National bank which will occupy it as
its permanent home.
Mr.. Kroeger talks as Interestingly
about the new building as an inventor
would about his brain child. The bank
building which Mr.. KrOeger has seen
evolved out of a basement, contains
152 offices in addition to the banking
room proper, contains enough steel to
weigh 510673 pounds and if laid end to
end the steel would reach 142 miles
The banking room itself occupies is, 342
square feet OF floor space and the space
occupied by the offices measuring 81
S48 square feet. In the structure 6725
barrels Of FL PasO made cement was
used, there are 4054 cubic yards of con-
crete in the building and the cUbical
contents are 1,115,540 cubic feet.
The bank building measures 40 by
112 feet in the clear is seven full
80 sa-H.A til
ranged for offices and the first two
floors are devoted to the banking rooms
with a main floor and q mezZanine
floor. One of the distinctive features
of the new building is the five large
offices in the west wing Of the build
ing, each of which measures % by 70
feet and has a private office and toilet
attached. In the basement, the safety
deposit vault is reached by wide
stairway from the main banking floor
and the floor Of the safety deposit
vault is Of marble tile, the WainscOating
Of marble and the safety deposit depart
ment is one Of the most attractive fea-
lures of the big building. The storage
vault for the bank is also in the base
ment. The mechanical equipment for
the ventilating SYSTEM the vacuum
cleaning system and the steam heating
plant are also located in the basement,
but apart from the safety deposit de-
partment.
most interesting features. They are
constructed of the very best quality Of
steel the door weighs many tons and
the time locks are perfect in their Op-
Grafton. The cash vault, the document
vault ana the book vault are all 10
Gated on the first floor and are OF easy
access from the cages or directors Of
fees. The first floor is finished in Ital-
ian taveruilli marble with circassian
walnut woodwork, and has an inverted,
indirect lighting system and marble
floors. The bronze fittings are in
keeping with the main entrances to the
building and the art glass dome meas
ures IS by SO feet The offices of the
bank officials are to the left of the
main entrance as one enters from San
Antonio street, and the tellers' cages
are to the right. The directors, room IS
in the rear and each official has a
private office for consultations. The
teIlers' cages have a frontage Of l4O
feet and each teller viii receive and
pay, the different telling cages being
segregated as to alphabetical lettering.
An ntercommunicating telephone sys-
fem will connect each cage with the
directing head and with each other
The ventilating system Of the bank IS
arranged especially for the comfort
and health of the employees. All OF the
air which enters the building is first
cooled or heated, according to the
weather and is washed to remove all
impurities and to prevent the same air
being breatned more than once.