If ever there was an example of a picture being worth a thousand words, this has to be it. The National Register of Historic Places nomination form is a brief "just the facts" description. (
visit link) But the three black and white photos of the interior would be difficult for a waymarker to reproduce in today's security conscious banking environment. (
visit link)
Below is nearly the entire writeup from the nomination form description section:
"Built in 1927 by the Rochester Savings Bank, the building was designd by McKim, Mead & White of New York City. J. Foster Warner, Rochester architect, worked with the New York firm in the supervision, and John B. Pike & Sones were the general contractors.
"The building is four stories high and "V" shaped to take advantage of the shape of the site.
"The exterior construction is of Kato stone from quarries in Minnesota. It is formed mainly of large circular-headed windows framed in by Pilasters and Arches which are decorated with panels and inserts of Levanto and Pavanazzo marbles.
"The foundations and steel skeleton are designed to support fourteen stories.
"The large main entrance (at the point of the "V") is the richest part of the whole facade, having depth and dignity. Intricate marble and mosaic details are of the Byzantine style."
I interupt the nomination narrative here to tell you that the main doors seem to have been replaced with modern glass doors. The main doorway seems to have originally been recessed, after the fashion of church entrances, but there is now a second set of glass doors, flush with the exterior facade, that disguise and detract from the original ornate arched entrance. I encourage visitors to take careful note of the orginal construction behind the glass doorway.
"The main banking room is eclectic in design, employing details of Byzantine or Early Christian, Italian Romanesque and Italian Renaissance origins, combined harmoniously, and in good scale. It is rectangular, after the fashion of an ancient basilica, and has a semi-circular apse at the entrance end. The floor is of a marble mosaic design, and the ceiling is supported by large Rouge Antique columns. Tellers' counters are of yellow Sienna marble, and the entire wall surface is of various marbles from all over the world. The mosaic encrusted arch, pillars and decorated ceiling were all designed by Ezra Winter, as well as the allegorical glass mosaic on the north wall at the end of the room, opposite the entrance.
"The building compares well with its neighbors, and if its height should be increased, it will gain, rather than lose, in that respect. The immediate neighborhood buildings and public spaces exhibit a great variety of designs, among which the Rochester Savings Bank supplies a greatly needed note of good taste and dignified restraint."
The statement of significance section tells us a little more about the mosaic:
"Ezra Winter was one of America's most noted and famous mural artists. His mural was first painted, then reproduced in glass at the Revenna studios in Berlin, Germany, under the personal direction of the artist."
About the interior, Harley J McKee wrote this report to the Landmark Society, dated 8/16/63:
"This building's banking room interior and street facades constitute a major architectural landmark in Rochester and central New York, which has been preserved virtually in its original state and which deserves to be continued in that state. The long and significant history of the bank as an institution are further support to this claim. The trustees wisely assured the means for preserving this exceptionally fine building when they provided foundations and a structural frame able to support ten additional stories. It is feasible greatly to expand the space needed for a long time to come without altering the building's architectural features."