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2 Ground was broken July 18, 1907 for a new Administration Building to house the offices of the Studebaker Bros. Manufacturing Company in South Bend. The company had sold over a million wagons by this time and had begun to make a reputation in the manufacture of automobiles. Ever - increasing business and the need to accommodate a growing white - collar staff influenced the decision to replace the company's italianate- styled office structure on South Lafayette Street with a "thoroughly modern, up to date, office building and repository. "[1] The decision was finalized at a Board of Directors meeting in March of 1907; in May architect Solon Spencer Beman was chosen to design the building; the Administration Building was completed two years later Luctit ,wd between South Main, South Lafayette, and Bronson Streets and what was then the Lakeshore and Michigan Southern Railroad tracks, this substantial structure remains in 1992 as an integral part of the cultural landscape of South Bend's downtown. The Administration Building and the adjacent Shetland Building are the most significant Studebaker buildings remaining in the city. It was here that the twentieth - century version of the Studebaker manufacturing phenomenon was organized and directed. It was also here that the company maintained a museum dedicated to the protection and display of their world- famous products. The building is significant for several reasons: 1.as the center of the Studebaker firm's management, planning and social activities in the twentieth century; 2.as an important landmark of the city's built- environment; 3.as a structure designed by one of the Midwest's most influential architects of the nineteenth century, Solon S. Beman, and; 4.as a local example of Renaissance Revival - influenced architecture. Since 1970 the structure has been occupied by the South Bend School Corporation and is now in use as their Administration Building; it is unknown what future uses the School Corporation may make of the building. Rated as Significant on the Indiana Sites and Structures Survey (S -12) and eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, the building is deserving of being designated by ordinance as a Local Historic Landmark. It seems apparent that the city's Studebaker Corridor plan is moving inexorably toward ridding South Bend of all traces of its manufacturi history in connection with the Studebaker companies. Beginning the landmark designation process of the Administration Building will be an opportunity to educate and inform the community of the importance of this building to the city's heritage. It is my opinion that the HPC should also request the Common Council to support an effort to have this structure placed on the National Register of Historic Places.