505 North Ervay

505 North Ervay, also known as the Reserve Loan Life Building, was a mid-rise skyscraper located in the City Center District of downtown Dallas, Texas, United States. Originally an office building, today it was part of the First Baptist Church campus until the building was imploded on June 29, 2019.

505 North Ervay
General information
StatusDemolished
TypeOffice
Location505 N Ervay
Dallas, Texas (USA)
Coordinates32°47′02″N 96°47′57″W
Opening1948
Demolished2019
Cost$2,000,000
Technical details
Floor count11 + basement
Floor area12,000 sq ft (1,100 m2)
Lifts/elevators3
Design and construction
ArchitectJ.N. McCammon & Walter Ahlschlager
DeveloperMonroe Building Corporation

History

Originally planned as an 8-story structure, construction began in 1945 on a square site at the corner of Federal Street and North Ervay Street. After a delay, developer Monroe Building Corporation revised the design and the structure was expanded to include three additional floors. The building was constructed of steel, brick and glass; the use of 5-foot-wide (1.5 m) exterior floor separations gave the building a horizontal emphasis.[1] Upon completion in 1948, the building was sold to the Reserve Loan Life Insurance Company, which occupied the building's first four floors.[2] The remainder of the office space was leased to various companies including insurance and advertising firms. It was also home to offices for the United States Secret Service, whose testimony served a role in the 1963 John F. Kennedy assassination's Warren Commission.[3] The building was sold to InsurOmedic Life Insurance Company in 1955, which installed a 35-foot-high (11 m) sign at the top of the building.[4]

In 1972 investor Bill Gaynier bought and renovated the structure—painting the exterior, adding entrance canopies and opening the ground floor to pedestrian traffic.[5] The improvement resulted in a near 100 percent occupancy rate by 1975, and the building was renamed and re-signed the Mutual of Omaha Building after the new lead tenant.[6] By the late 1980s, after Gaynier's death and a resulting lawsuit over ownership, the building had become mostly vacant.[7] First Baptist Church of Dallas, which owned several adjoining structures, purchased the building in 1990 for $1.1 million.[8] It was partially used for education space before its closure.

The building was demolished by implosion on Saturday, June 29, 2019.[9][10]

References
  1. "Two New Office Buildings Will Represent "4,800,000." The Dallas Morning News. July 13, 1947.
  2. "Life Firm Purchases $2,000,000 Building." The Dallas Morning News. December 12, 1948.
  3. Warren Commission Report
  4. "InsurOmedic Buys Building." The Dallas Morning News. June 7, 1955.
  5. "505 Shaping Up." The Dallas Morning News. January 30, 1972.
  6. "505 Ervay Space Let." The Dallas Morning News. November 16, 1975.
  7. Swindle, Howard. "Widow's suit is 14-year study in legal tie-ups - Estate trustee says he didn't know property went to him." The Dallas Morning News 5 November 1995, HOME FINAL, NEWS: 1A. NewsBank. Web. 6 April 2010.
  8. Parmley, Helen. "Criswell sets Easter cutoff for finding new co-pastor." The Dallas Morning News 13 January 1990, HOME FINAL, NEWS: 41A. NewsBank. Web. 6 April 2010.
  9. "Downtown traffic closures, implosion Saturday". Dallas City News. 2019-06-27. Retrieved 2019-06-28.
  10. "Watch: Office building owned by First Baptist Dallas..."
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