{"nrhp_refnum":"02001355","name":"Waukegan Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"4 S. Genesee St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Waukegan","county":"Lake County","state":"IL","lat":42.361273753000035,"lon":-87.83210391199998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2002-11-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"An eight-story Classical Revival commercial and bank office building at 4 South Genesee Street, at Genesee and Washington streets in downtown Waukegan, Illinois, completed in March 1925 and built by the St. Louis Bank Equipment Company.","why_significant":"The nomination argues local significance under Criterion C for architecture as a coherent example of Classical Revival commercial and bank design. It was Waukegan's first skyscraper and the tallest and largest building in Lake County when finished. It also retains its original exterior and was built by what is described as perhaps the earliest design/build firm serving the financial industry.","narrative":"Rising eight stories at the corner of Genesee and Washington streets, this brick, limestone and glazed terra cotta building anchors downtown Waukegan. Completed in March 1925 for the Waukegan National Bank, it replaced a three-story bank on the same site and was built by the St. Louis Bank Equipment Company at a reported cost of $750,000. Its facades follow the classical division into base, shaft and capital, with a columned portico at the main entrance, brick pilasters, a loggia on the top floor and a white terra cotta frieze and attic story featuring a shield flanked by cornucopias. Inside, a lobby leads to a former banking hall, and a basement vault room survives. The building was Waukegan's first skyscraper and the tallest in Lake County when finished. It is considered locally significant for its architecture, for reflecting early twentieth-century bank design, and for its intact exterior, though the interiors have been altered over time and show signs of disuse and water damage.","period_of_significance":"1925","architect_builder":"St. Louis Bank Equipment Company","architectural_style":"Classical Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Current function listed as work in progress; interiors show disuse, water damage and storage use, and the owner plans to rehabilitate the building and reopen the offices.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.211679-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/88/8932/28893288/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/02001355.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02001355/cef7e083d9-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02001355/cef7e083d9-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Waukegan_Building.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Waukegan_Building.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893288","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waukegan_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17184198"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/lake-county/waukegan-building-02001355/"}