Grand Rapids’ Architecture is Amazing if you Look For It

I've been to Chicago so many times, and taken the architectural boat tour down the Chicago River a couple of those times. It's so fun and very amazing.

But, did you know Chicago doesn't have anything over Grand Rapids? We have some amazing architecture of our own. You just have to look since you can't cruise the Grand River, and besides, the beauty of the buildings is in the interior of the downtown area.

Jodi Boerman Martinez put up an amazing post on the Grand Rapids History 1960 and Before Facebook page, and I'll have to admit, at all of the times I've looked at the 77 Monroe Center building, I've never really SEEN it.

I knew it as the Michigan National Bank Building when I moved to Grand Rapids and it has gone through different banks, the Louis Benton Steak House (maybe Grand Rapids' first high-end steak house) among other things.

It was built in 1926 as the Michigan National Bank Building with 14 stories and was quite the addition to downtown Grand Rapids with its combination of glass, brick, and restored terra-cotta with elaborate architectural accents including cast iron rosettes.

If you were around then, you'll remember the WZZM-13 Weather Ball was atop the building and a true weather beacon for the city. Sadly, they had to take it down because its weight was bad for the structure. It is nice, however, that WZZM resurrected the weather ball and installed it at their studios on 3 Mile, NW overlooking downtown.

I have talked with so many people like me who knew the building, walked by, and drove by, hundreds of times, but never really NOTICED it. It is fabulous and worth an in-depth gaze!