Establishing an Historic Landmark 635 S Main

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These recreational accommodations included a bowling alley, billiard tables and an exercise-bicycle room. Dressing rooms and toilet facilities were also added amenities . The facilities were gender-segregated and were exchanged between the sexes once a week . The company also provided space outside the building for croquet wickets and other outdoor sports . This effort to be a benign employer is perhaps balanced by company policy that forbade employees , except for executives, from decorating their offices with calendars or personal pictures . In addition, it is unlikely that the recreation facilities were intended for the use of all employees-- including factory laborers . Another rule that might be interpreted as revealing a overly paternalistic streak in company policy was the requirement of department heads to maintain all curtains in the building at a uniform height at all times . The building was to remain in every way a symbol of a company highly organized and in complete control . [4] The Studebaker firm, recognizing their part in the historical development of South Bend and their role in American transportation, set aside a portion of the building from the beginning for use as a museum dedicated to the display of Studebaker products . The company also commissioned the painting of a historical mural in the building that depicted the history of transportation--beginning with a pre-Egyptian mode of transport and ending, of course, with a Studebaker automobile. The company museum, located on the west side of the first floor , displayed Studebaker wagons , carriages and automobiles . The museum also displayed carriages used by various historical figures , including Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Indiana Governor Oliver P. Morton and the Marquis de Lafayette. [5] A Studebaker press release from 1941 , noting the building ' s "historic" place in Midwest architecture, mentioned it as being only the "second poured-concrete, four-story structure [built] in the Middle West. " This document further characterizes it as being "well-known to thousands of motorists who have visited the Hoosier city. " It seems evident that the building was considered even then as being a notable South Bend landmark . This same document goes on to suggest that one could see "the character of Studebaker . . . reflected in the building. " It was described as being a "strong structure, ruddy and robust, but not fancy or smeared with gadgets. " This image was said to be further maintained by the " immaculate cleanliness of everything in the building . "[6] The company made every effort to keep the building "up to date. " The press-release quoted above was circulated to announce the "facelift" of the venerable building . This project replaced oaken paneling, window trim and " 1910 furniture" that was seen as being old-fashioned by the 1940 ' s . In this effort to update the 5