(former) First National Bank of Ashland - Ashland, OR
N 42° 11.802 W 122° 42.847
10T E 523603 N 4671655
This converted bank building is now a cultural welcome center and located on the corner of E Main and S Pioneer Streets in downtown Ashland, OR.
Waymark Code: WMJ2RM
Location: Oregon, United States
Date Posted: 09/13/2013
Views: 2
Visitors to the Shakespeare Welcome and Education Center will be greeted with pictures and costumes that reflect the history of this very popular Arts Festival. Theaters and pavilions near this former bank building promote many of William Shakespeare's plays and are reenacted on stages that bring visitors from all over the region. There are two pieces of evidence that remind visitors to this building that it was once a bank. Two granite blocks that make up the front entrance to the building read 'FIRST NATIONAL BANK'. There is also a small, black, metal plaque tucked away in the upper right corner, above the right window in front of the building that reads the former title of the building and the construction date. There are many other of these plaques on other buildings in this small city that give hints to what used to be.
I located an online article of the First National Bank of Ashland building and found out it is registered as a National Historic Place and reads:
The First National Bank Building, now used as part of the administrative office for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, was built in 1909 to house the successful banking business that was founded in 1901. It was one of the first commercial buildings on East Main Street after the turn of the century and drew other businesses away from the Plaza area as the bank became Ashland's primary financial facility during those early decades. The building contains a variety of masonry work incorporated in the walls and decorative detail.
... In the more than 90 years since its construction, the Bank has been used only for that purpose, leased office space, and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, which purchased it in 1967. The building has always been at the economic heart of the community. Today, as part of Ashland's primary tourist attraction and source of local education and entertainment enrichment, it is an important factor in the Festival's integration within Ashland and in the stabilization of the central business district. The courtyard between the Festival theaters and the First National Bank building serves as a metaphor for the continuation of history and tradition so typical of Ashland.
The Festival's Welcome and Education Center on the Main St. side is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday: summer hours are from 9:30am to 8:00pm, spring and fall from 9:30am to 6:00pm.