US BANK TOWER – LOS ANGELES
US Bank Tower, formerly Library Tower and First Interstate Bank World Center, is a 1,018-foot (310 m) skyscraper at 633 West Fifth Street in downtown Los Angeles, California. It is the tallest building in California, the thirteenth tallest in the United States, the tallest west of the Mississippi River, and the 65th tallest building in the world. Because local building codes required all high-rise buildings to have a helipad, it was known as the tallest building in the world with a roof-top heliport from its completion in 1989 to 2004 when Taipei 101 opened. It is also the second tallest building in a major active seismic region; its structure was designed to resist an earthquake of 8.3 on the Richter scale. It consists of 73 stories above ground and two parking levels below ground. Construction began in 1987 with completion in 1989. The building was designed by Henry N. Cobb of the architectural firm Pei Cobb Freed & Partners and cost $350 million to build. It is one of the most recognizable buildings in Los Angeles, often used in establishing shots for the city in films and television programs.
The building is also known as Library Tower because it was built as part of the $1 billion Los Angeles Central Library redevelopment area following two disastrous fires in 1986, and its location across the street. The City of Los Angeles sold air rights to the developers of the tower to help pay for the reconstruction of the library. The building was also known for a time as First Interstate Bank World Center but the name Library Tower was restored after First Interstate Bancorp merged with Wells Fargo Bank. In March 2003, the property was leased by U.S. Bancorp and the building was renamed U.S. Bank Tower. Residents, however, generally continue to refer to it as Library Tower.
The tower has a large glass crown at its top that is illuminated at night. The crown has/is lit as follows:
- white (every day)
- red and green during the Christmas holiday season
- pink and red for Valentine’s Day
- red and gold for Chinese New Year
- red, white, and blue for Independence Day and Veterans Day
- orange for Halloween
- red, green, gold, blue, and purple leading up to the 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games
- blue and white when the Los Angeles Dodgers are playing in the postseason
- purple and gold when the Los Angeles Lakers are playing in the NBA Finals
- blue and gold for the return of the Los Angeles Rams
- black and white when the Los Angeles Kings are playing in the Stanley Cup Final
- purple for Alzheimer’s Association and World Prematurity Day
- red for Blood Cancer Awareness Month
- pink for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
On June 16, 2004, the 9/11 Commission reported that the original plan for the September 11 attacks called for the hijacking of ten planes, one of which was to be crashed into the building.
On October 6, 2005, House officials stated that the government had foiled a previously undisclosed second plot to crash a plane into the building in mid-2002.
Via: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Bank_Tower_(Los_Angeles)
