Evening star., 1923-01-07
RIGGS BANKS NEW BRANCH iii !
WILL BE OPENED TOMORROW
Officers Plan for Gala Event at l4th and
Park Road-Equipment Orders Heavy.
Annual Elections Tuesday. " !

Another milestone along the path Of
financial progress in the District of CO.
lumbia will be reached tomorrow,
when the doors of the new branch
of the Riggs National Bank, at 18th
open to the public.
Nothing could demonstrate better the
| onward march of prosperity in the ever
growing Mount Pleasant section of the
city than Acknowledgement by many OF
| its citizens that there is room for addi-
tional banking facilities to attend TO
| the requirements Of those living in the
community. Not that the neighborhood
has been entirely without such, for the
Park Savings Bank, one of the most
substantial and thriving in the city, has
been established at 14th and Kenyon
| streets since 1910, and today is looked
upon as a Mount Pleasant landmark.
That the new institution will be well
coined by all residents of Mount Pleas
ant, and especially by the officers and
directorate Of the Park Savings, who
appreciate that competition is the life
of trade, ID assured, and from the time
the doors open tom ,rrow morning at
5 80 o'clock until 10 o'clock tomorrow
night, when specially arranged musi
cal program will have been presented.
there will be few in the neighborhood
who will not have called to pay their
respects.
Many Invitations Issued.
Invitations to the opening have been
extended to the heads OF virtually every
financial institution in the District, and
that these, together with their official
families and directorates, will avail
themselves Of the opportunity to visit
ha haya Co avid fro ha Ny
Der of acceptances that have been re-
ceived by the Riggs people.
Souvenirs of the occasion, in the
form OF beautifully bound histories
Of Mount Pleasant which include ap-
proximately twenty half-tone repro
and public buildings in the vicinity,
viii be given TO all visiting the bank
during the day.
One item of interest to wash
ingtonians appearing in the outline
OF the vicinity is the fact that prac
tically the very spot where the new
Riggs Bank has been erected was
once part of race track where
John Quincy Adams and other early
patriots of the republic were wont
years of the nineteenth century.
ofhcers to Receive.
Officers and directors OF the Riggs
! be on hand at different intervals dur
ing the day and evening to receive
the guests. and at night a stringed
orchestra will play until the bank
closes its doors
The building itself, which is a part
of joint S1,0o0,000 building project
OF the Riggs National Bank and
Charles II. TompkIns, is practically
completed, needing only a few fin
ishing touches to the exterior, which
! Is of classic design, being in general
| a two-story Greek Ionic order with
order are Indiana limestone with
granite bases. and the third or attic
story Is of Indiana limestone ashlar.
the main and parapet cornices both
being Of the material.
The entrance motif at the inter
section of Park road and 18th street
is, in general, a replica of the facade
of the main Riggs Bank, and Is Of
the Ionic order with "a pediment cor
nice. The exterior window openings
of the bank are fitted with the latest
improved steel sash and protected
by ornamental iron grilles. These
grilles, together with the pilasters at
J the Jambs of same, the ornamental
spandrels above and the sill panels
below. are Of heavy cast iron. The
! entrance doors from the main en-
, trance and the Park road entrance
are steel doors.
Interior Decorations.
! The interior of the banking room
! is Grecian in design, the room being
1 of rectangular shape with a mezza-
| nine for working space at the west
end. The mezzanine, which has an
| ornamental iron facia with q wrought
f, iron handral. Is made subsidiary to
/ the main room by the use of two
/ marble Doric columns, behind which
! the mezZanine runs.