Establishing an Historic Landmark 635 S Main

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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 , in 1909 . Located between South Main, South Lafayette, Bronson Street and what was then the Lakeshore and Michigan Southern Railroad tracks , this substantial structure in 1992 continues to be an integral part of the cultural landscape of South Bend ' s downtown ; the Administration Building remains as the most significant Studebaker building left 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 and worthy of protection 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 Spencer 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 . The Historic Preservation Commission voted on April 20 , 1992 to recommend to the South Bend Common Council the designation of this important structure as a Local Historic Landmark . Following is a historic and architectural evaluation of the building.