Davenport Schools Building Will Become Apartments

The former Davenport Schools Building on Brady Street is being converted into thirty eight apartments. The building has also been added to the National Register of Historic Places. This according to a story in the Quad City Times.

The building was designed by the local architectural firm of Stewart-Robison-Laffan. It opened in 1967 as The First National Bank building and is one of two examples of New Formalism in Davenport. The other is is the Davenport Public Library.

New Formalism is a style that came of age in the 1960's and according to the paper the style is focused "on spatial hierarchy, emphasizing a building structure and construction grid on a raised base."  That's why the building has been added to the National Register of Historic Places.

I want to know about the apartments because we've always lived in more traditional apartment buildings. This building has been one I noticed from the first time I drove up Brady Street and I've been intrigued with it ever since.

Unfortunately for my wife and I the building won't be a great fit. It's thirty eight apartments will be studios and one bedroom apartments. We need two bedrooms. Still with a restaurant or retail store on the first floor and all the windows this could be a very cool apartment for a young professional in the Quad Cities.

Newberry Living President Frank Levy talked to the Times about the project. "It'll be a very nice building for housing with all of the windows and the shape of it. The facade of the building is a crucial character defining element, as well as the exterior. That'll be cleaned up and repaired as needed, but it'll be preserved."

I'm glad this unique cool looking building is being saved.