{"nrhp_refnum":"98001132","name":"Trustees System Service Building","other_names":["201 North Wells Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"201 N. Wells St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Chicago","county":"Cook County","state":"IL","lat":41.88603496200005,"lon":-87.63367246999996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1998-09-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A twenty-story Art Deco skyscraper with an eight-story setback tower at 201 North Wells Street, at the northeast corner of Lake and Wells streets at the north end of Chicago's Loop. It was completed in 1930 to designs by John Reed Fugard and Frederick J. Thielbar.","why_significant":"The nomination points to the building as a notable Art Deco skyscraper by the firm of Thielbar and Fugard, with engineer James B. Black. It was reputed to be the tallest reinforced concrete building when completed, though its structure is actually a hybrid of concrete and steel. It also contains sculptural and decorative work by Gwen and Eugene Van Breeman Lux and Edgar Miller, and served as headquarters of the Trustees System Service bank and a hub of international business.","narrative":"Rising at the corner of Lake and Wells streets in Chicago's Loop, this Art Deco skyscraper was completed in 1930 as headquarters of the Trustees System Service bank. Architects John Reed Fugard and Frederick J. Thielbar designed it, with James B. Black as engineer. Twenty stories of concrete reinforced with cast-iron cores support an eight-story steel-framed tower topped by a ziggurat and a terra cotta crown. The lower four floors are limestone, and brick and terra cotta clad the upper stories. The two-story entrance carries ten carved limestone plaques by Gwen and Eugene Van Breeman Lux, with lead and glass panels by Edgar Miller. Inside, a commercial lobby of red Numidian marble and a banking lobby with a travertine stair survive, though much of the second-floor banking room was lost in 1967. The building housed import and export firms, consulates, radio stations and a rooftop restaurant, and is notable for its design, decoration and structure.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"John Reed Fugard and Frederick J. Thielbar, architects; James B. Black, engineer","architectural_style":"Skyscraper; Art Deco","criteria":[],"status_note":"The text describes alterations, including 1967 interior changes, window replacements in 1987-88 and a crown rehabilitation in 1988-89. Some storefronts are boarded up, and rehabilitation of the building is planned.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.677367-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/27/8921/28892127/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/98001132.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98001132/503f483937-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98001132/503f483937-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 2.0","author":"Payton Chung from Chicago, USA","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Century_of_Progress_-_by_Payton_Chung.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Payton Chung from Chicago, USA</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Century_of_Progress_-_by_Payton_Chung.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"12001238","name":"West Loop-LaSalle Street Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/illinois/west-loop-lasalle-street-historic-district-12001238/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28892127","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7848209"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/cook-county/trustees-system-service-building-98001132/"}