J.W. Knapp Company Building
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J.W. Knapp Company Building | |
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 Interactive map of J.W. Knapp Company Building | |
| Location | 300 S. Washington Ave., Lansing, Michigan |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 42°43′52″N 84°33′10″W / 42.73111°N 84.55278°W |
| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1937 |
| Architect | Bowd–Munson Company |
| Architectural style | Streamline Moderne |
| MPS | Downtown Lansing MRA |
| NRHP reference No. | 83000851[1] |
| Added to NRHP | May 21, 1983 |
The J.W. Knapp Company Building is a historic five-story, 190,000-square-foot (18,000 m2) Streamline Moderne building in Lansing, Michigan, United States. The building opened in 1939 as the Downtown Lansing location of the J.W. Knapp Company, a local department store chain which was in business until 1980.
The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, and its interior was remodeled into offices for the State of Michigan, which occupied it until 2003. A subsequent renovation beginning in 2012 converted it to a mixed-use development featuring office space, ground-floor retail space, and apartments.
Designed by Orlie Munson of the Bowd–Munson Company, which also designed several other Art Deco landmarks in Lansing, including the Ottawa Street Power Station,[2] it was constructed by the Christman Company in 1937 through 1938.[3][4] The curvilinear look of the streamlined structure comes from huge plates of concrete faced with enamel, called "Maul Macotta", a copyrighted product of the Maul Macotta Company and prismatic glass brick windows.[5][6] Alternating horizontal bands of yellow macotta and glass block are interrupted by vertical blue macotta pylons, rising from the building's four principal entrances. The pylons are pierced by windows. The entrance portals, display window aprons, and decorative banding are dark blue macotta. Red, yellow and blue spandrels, incorporating the letter "K" as a design element, decorate the entrance portals.[4]
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