Federal Building & U.S. Courthouse, Sioux City, IA

Building History

Sioux City was founded in the 1850s by Dr. John Cook as a trading post and docking point for steamships. As the river town grew, the population required an increasing number of federal services, and the city was selected as the location of a new post office, federal building, and courthouse to replace an existing federal building (currently used as City Hall). Construction commenced in 1932. Beuttler & Arnold, a renowned architectural firm responsible for numerous buildings in Sioux City, including the Masonic Temple, Methodist Hospital, YWCA, and East and West Junior High Schools, designed the building. The equally well-known architectural firm of Proudfoot, Rawson, Souers & Thomas of Des Moines was selected to provide input and oversight to the project. The building was constructed under the auspices of Acting Supervising Architect of the Treasury James A. Wetmore.

A site on the block bounded by Douglas, Pearl, Sixth, and Seventh streets was purchased for $270,000, and approximately $725,000 was spent on construction; in all, the costs totaled $100,000 less than anticipated. When the foundation was excavated by a steam shovel, workers who were unemployed as a result of the Great Depression protested in hope of convincing the government to revert to more the more traditional, labor-intensive method of using men with hand tools and horse-drawn equipment, but the mechanized method prevailed. The local press considered the building a great source of civic pride and monitored construction progress closely. The building was dedicated on December 29, 1933, with a local newspaper headline proclaiming "Postoffice is Uncle Sam's Gift to City."

When postal services moved to a new facility on Jackson Street in 1984, the building interior was modified to create additional office space and a new courtroom. During renovations from 1999 to 2000, another courtroom was added, along with other judicial rooms, including a judge's chamber, jury deliberation room, library, and holding cell for defendants. SiouxLandmark, a local historic preservation organization, praised the renovations and the U.S. General Services Administration's commitment to preserving this important downtown historic building.

Architecture

The Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse is a skillful blend of the Stripped Classical and Art Deco styles of architecture, a combination that was commonly used for federal building design in the 1930s. The mixture adopted traditional classical forms of architecture while abandoning excessive ornament in favor of more subtle stylized decorative components that are typical of the Art Deco style. It is a refined building that conveys the dignity and stability of the federal government, which was particularly important during the Great Depression.

The building has an E-shaped footprint with a boxlike form and is three stories tall. A central stepped tower ascends above the roofline on the facade of the building. The building rests upon a five-foot base of granite quarried from Pine Mountain, Iowa, while the remainder is clad in light gray limestone ashlar from New Bedford, Indiana. A modest entablature with chevron (V-shaped) motifs, a dentil (rectangular block) course, and raised limestone coping tops the building.

Windows throughout the building are narrow vertical forms with embossed bronze spandrels between each story. Each opening is topped by a dentil course. Stylized fluted pilasters (attached columns) divide the window bays and are a classical feature. The pilaster capitals, however, contain a simplified floral design characteristic of Art Deco architecture. The entrances on the Sixth Street elevation are flanked by fluted pilasters with carved limestone capitals featuring a stylized eagle motif, which alludes to the federal presence.

The interior also displays many Art Deco components. The staircase features an exuberant Art Deco design with a cast-bronze ziggurat newel post and fluted bronze railing. The lobby is finished with light gray polished marble on the floors and walls, which are topped by an elaborate painted entablature with sunrise and chevron designs. The south wall of the lobby contains a series of openings originally used as postal service windows. Although most are now covered, they retain their original fluted bronze surrounds and bronze floral grilles that sit atop panels of Tennessee Appalachian coral marble.

The main courtroom, located on the third floor, contains restrained classically inspired ornament. Dark walnut wainscot panels rise ten feet up the walls. Some of the panels are punctuated by cast-bronze ventilation grilles with a scalloped pattern. Behind the judge's bench, a walnut panel with a shield is topped by a pediment. Beneath it is a metal plaque with an eagle design. An elaborate coffered plaster ceiling with leaf and dolphin designs is located in the courtroom, and original bronze pendant light fixtures are also present. The courtroom lobby floor is covered with small squares of Tennessee Appalachian golden vein marble that are grouped into larger squares with a central, diamond-shaped inset of black marble. Walls are also clad in golden-vein marble. Fluted marble pilasters topped with a gold star motif flank window and door openings. A plaster entablature surrounds the top of the room. Painted in terra cotta and sepia tones, it features geometric Art Deco motifs. Some offices retain original wood panel doors and surrounds, marble sills, and wood picture rails.

Significant Events

1932-1934: Building constructed and occupied

1857: Sioux City founded

1984: GSA acquires building after post office moves

1999-2000: Renovation of building

Building Facts

Location: 316 Sixth Street

Architects: Beuttler & Arnold

Construction Dates: 1932-1934

Landmark Status: Listed in the National Register of Historic Places

Architectural Style: Stripped Classical and Art Deco

Primary Materials: Limestone and Granite

Prominent Features: Central tower; Art Deco ornamentation

The Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse, located at 316 Sixth Street, occupies one-half of a city block in downtown Sioux City, Iowa. The three-story building is situated between Douglas Street to the east, Pearl Street to the west, and between Sixth and Seventh streets to the north and south respectively. A product of the Depression era, the building's cornerstone was laid in 1932, and the project was brought to completion later that year. Local architects Beuttler and Arnold were responsible for the design of the building; James A. Wetmore was the Supervising Architect of the Treasury. The three-dimensional transformation of the E-shaped footprint results in an essentially cubic composition with a flat roof. A stepped, four-story tower projects from the north end of the building, interrupting the box-like form. The three-story building is entirely clad with light gray limestone ashlar (except the rear elevation) from Bedford, Indiana. A five-foot high base on the exterior is granite imported from nearby Pine Mountain, Iowa. Resting on a concrete pile foundation, the 235' x 124' building has a concrete encased steel framing system with concrete joists. The main entrance is located on the principal elevation facing north onto Sixth Street. Secondary entrances are located on the east and west elevations, with service entrances and loading dock on the rear or south elevation. Granite steps lead into the building at the north, east and west entrances. The building illustrates the strong rectilinear qualities associated with the Art Deco style with strong Classical overtones. The exterior is composed of three stages, consisting of a simple base of coursed ashlar masonry, a three-story body, and a modest entablature with stylized chevron belt course and a raised limestone coping. The fenestration throughout consists of a series of narrow, three-story, vertical bays with embossed bronze spandrels between each story. The matching bronze spandrels add to the vertical feeling of the composition, a typical emphasis of the Art Deco style. The windows are typically encased with metal sash painted brown, arranged in a tripartite design on each floor, and are slightly recessed throughout. The window bays are separated by stylized, three-story fluted pilasters, a reference to the Classical style. The capitals of the pilasters have a simplified floral design, reflecting the stylized geometric motifs commonly associated with Art Deco style. The principal elevation faces north onto Sixth Street, and has a symmetrical design that is centered on the four-story tower. The east and west elevations are very similar to the principal elevation in the aesthetic treatment. The east and west elevations are identically composed, and have double-leaf entrances, surrounded by a raised limestone surround with bronze grills. The rear elevation is utilitarian in character, with a loading dock that extends between two wings. The limestone cladding used on the principal facades terminates at the inside edges of the projecting wings. The interior of the building is detailed in the Art Deco style, with many surfaces of polished bronze and marble. The lobby, courtroom lobby and courtroom are the most elaborately detailed and intact spaces. The lobby is finished with light gray polished marble on the floors and walls, with an elaborately finished entablature mural that features chevron and sunrise motifs. Rich paneling and coffered ceilings embellish the Main Courtroom on the third floor. The ceiling is covered in an elaborately coffered plaster ceiling with metal sheets. The offices throughout the building have been modernized and feature a variety of modern materials and trim including vinyl baseboards and dropped acoustical tile ceilings with fluorescent fixtures. Original wood paneled doors and surrounds, original metal baseboards, marble sills and wood picture rails remain in several offices. The site and landscape treatment is fairly straightforward. The building is marginally set back from East Sixth Street, with a wide border of grass between the building and the sidewalk. This area is filled with small trees and a low hedge along the perimeter.