Putnam Parker Block

History

Antoine LeClaire, who was primarily responsible for establishing the city of Davenport, built a hotel named the LeClaire House on the northeast corner of Main and West Second Streets in 1839. It contained retail space on the ground level. At the other end of the block on the northwest corner of Brady and West Second Streets he built a three-story brick building in 1850. It also provided retail space on the main level and LeClaire Hall on the upper floors. It was later renamed LeClaire Row. Charles Viele bought the half-block sometime before 1886. The LeClaire House was renamed the Newcomb House after Viele’s sister Mrs. V. Newcomb and the LeClaire Row was renamed the Viele Building. The Fair, a department store that would eventually become the M.L. Parker Department Store occupied the retail space of the Newcomb house at this time.

William C. Putnam bought Viele’s interest in the block in 1895. He renovated the buildings and lowered the stores to street level. Putnam and his mother, Mary Louisa Duncan Putnam, established the Putnam Trust. The Trust owned the entire half block of West Second Street. It benefited the Putnam Memorial Fund, which was the nonprofit charitable support organization for the Davenport Academy of Sciences, now known as the Putnam Museum. They paid for the construction of the present museum building and the neighboring building, which housed the former Davenport Museum of Art until it moved downtown as the Figge Art Museum. The trust was dissolved in 2015 when the estate sold its last property, a parking lot on Main Street.

Putnam Building

Putnam planned to replace the old hotel with a modern office building, but he died in 1906. The plans were eventually carried out and the Putnam Building was completed in 1910. The other structures on the block were renamed the North Putnam Buildings. A variety of retail and professional offices have been housed in the building over the years. Among them was the historical library of the Davenport Public Museum, now the Putnam Museum. H.E. Schraff Store occupied space from around 1928-1956, and Simon & Landauer from 1933-1964. More recently the local chamber of commerce was headquartered here.

M.L. Parker Building

The M.L. Parker building was constructed on the northwest corner of Brady and West Second Street in 1922. The Fair Store opened before World War I and changed its name to the M.L. Parker Department Store in 1922. They occupied the entire building until 1972. Parker's was a major non-franchise company that operated a classic department store offering clothing, furniture, rugs, housewares and a toyland in the basement at Christmas. In 1970 another Davenport department store, Peteresen Harned Von Maur, bought Parker's. They operated a budget outlet for their store here after they closed Parker's until 1974. The upper floors of the building were converted into office space after that. Among the tenants in the office space were the accounting firm of McGladrey & Pullen, later RSM McGladrey, and Verizon operated a call center. The main floor retail space remained empty.

Center Building

Between the Putnam and Parker buildings is a two-story infill section. It was designed by Burnham to complement the two towers. However, it was never built. The exact date of the structure that originally stood between the Putnum and Parker buildings is unknown, however, the current structure dates from 1955. The façade was covered by 1964 and it has been modernized since. Rather than having a unified appearance as envisioned by Burnham, the Putnam-Parker Block now appears to be three separate structures. For many years the central building housed the downtown J.C. Penney store. It continues to house retail establishments.

City Square

In 2012 the city of Davenport was discerning what to do about the riverboat casino anchored on the Mississippi River. Three companies pitched development ideas concerning a new land-based casino. Amrit and Amy Gill of Restoration St. Louis, who renovated the Hotel Blackhawk in 2010, planned a $155 million project to transform the Putnam and Parker buildings and adjoining properties. The city decided to go in a different direction and the Gills announced a new development in November 2013. Called City Square, the $60 million project would transform the Putnam-Parker block into a 60-suite hotel and market-rate housing in the Putnam Building and Class A office space in the Parker Building.

Just after demolition and abatement work had begun in 2015 all but one floor of the office space had been leased. At that time the plan for the development called for the Parker Building to house four floors of office space. Wells Fargo Bank was signed as the anchor tenant. The top two floors will house about 20 luxury apartments. There will be a connection to the Center Building on the second floor. The Center Building will house nine of the hotel suites and other amenities including a swimming pool, fitness center and executive conference space. It will house retail on the main floor. There will also be a connection with the college campus project that is being planned by Eastern Iowa Community College District on the north half of the block. The Putnam Building will house the rest of the hotel that is named Blackhawk Suites. The lobby, bistro and bar will be located on the main floor. Fifty-two of the 61 suites will be located on the second through the sixth floors. The top two floors will house 18 luxury apartments. A Sky Bar will be located on roof of the building.

Architecture

The two office buildings were designed by Chicago architect Daniel Burnham. The Parker Building is a modified design by Graham, Anderson, Probst & White, a successor to D. H. Burnham & Company. Burnham designed the whole half block to have the same appearance and the Putman and Parker buildings are nearly identical. They show clear references to the Chicago School. The Putnam Building is an eight-story structure that is 120 feet (37 m) tall. The Parker Building is seven stories tall and rises 100.29 feet (31 m) above the ground. Both structures are built on a brick foundation and feature a steel skeleton covered in red brick. Decorative materials include stone facing and decorative panels of terra cotta. The two towers each show a clearly defined tripartite façade. Classical Revival elements are found in the decorative cornice at the top. However, the simplified design and use of terra cotta show the Chicago School’s influence.