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5 <br />building's amenities, Studebaker employed a staff of "uniformed <br />receptionists, one a former airline stewardess" in place of the <br />former "ushers. "[7] <br />When the Studebaker Corporation put the building up for sale in <br />1965, it had again been redecorated and updated on the interior. <br />The company marketed the structure as "150,000 square foot of <br />modern office space ... that could accommodate a work -force of <br />over six- hundred. "[8] They evidently had some difficulty selling <br />the structure, however, as the School Corporation, the next <br />occupant, did not occupy it until 1970. <br />Architectural Context <br />The building stands on a strip of land directly east of the <br />company's older office structure on Lafayette Street (now the <br />location of the Shetland Building, 1923). It is 80 feet high <br />(four stories) with an irregular "footprint" measuring 320 by 110 <br />feet. This plan was designed to fill as much of the lot, <br />circumscribed by three streets and the railroad tracks due north <br />(elevated in 1928), as possible.[9] <br />The Wills Brothers, a contracting firm based in Chicago, <br />constructed the building. It was built of reinforced concrete <br />from top to bottom, including all walls, floors, ceilings and <br />supporting columns. The facade is faced with brick and Bedford <br />stone. The project took the better part of two years due to the <br />necessity of transporting the concrete to the site by wheelbarrow <br />and ramps and that work ceased during the winter months and <br />inclement weather. <br />The architect's design mimicked the form of Renaissance palaces <br />found in Italian metropolises. The design was, like those <br />structures, meant to be symbolic of business success and power. <br />Also similar to its European prototypes, the building's footprint <br />following existing lot lines results in a trapezoidal, hence <br />"irregular," plan. The masonry wall treatment is accentuated by a <br />rusticated base or first story, a second story stone sill course, <br />and a larger intermediate, molded stone belt course. <br />Openings are arranged in a rhythmic, two - tiered arcade. The two <br />-story arches are accented by keystones; those corresponding to <br />the lower tier are reflective of Mannerism - -a late Renaissance <br />style. The lower tier is also characterized by heavy stone blocks <br />that emphasize the spring line of the arcade. <br />Most of the actual window sashes have been replaced. The sashes <br />on the upper portion of the lower tier originally filled the <br />entire arch. Sashes on the upper tier were three - over -one, <br />double -hung sashes; some of these are still in place. <br />