Woodmen Tower

Downtown, Midtown, and all parts east of 72nd.

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AZCorey
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Woodmen Tower

Post by AZCorey »

As I look at more and more pics of the Woodmen Tower, and whenever I come home to visit mom & dad...I'm always alarmed at how ugly the Woodmen Tower really is....in fact, it's somewhat like the Twin Towers (WTC) in NYC...they were very ugly also....I'm wondering if it is within the realm of possibility that the Woodmen Tower would ever get a facelift???

I remember the Kiewit bldg getting one, and it looks as though the Zorinsky bldg is getting one also....I hope they get ahold of the Woodmen, also! :wink:
j4nu
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Post by j4nu »

I think it would be a mistake to redo this tower. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and this building is a fine example of it's intended style.
Rob
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Post by Rob »

I've always loved the Wooden Tower. Growing up, I always wanted a taller companion downtown...but the tower is an example of a style of architecture that you either love or hate. I happen to love it.

On the other hand...a tower of this size would be prohibitively expensive to reface...and not likely that a single company would invest that amount of money in one building given the high office vacancy downtown.
eomaha
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Post by eomaha »

These international designs of the early 70's seem to have a love 'em or hate 'em following (it's interesting to note that the Woodmen actually preceded the WTC towers and the Williams tower in Tulsa by several years... a design influence?).

Personally I love it... and it's become such an icon... you sure as heck couldn't change it... not to speak of the cost as Rob mentions (talk about re-cladding... I believe it cost more than the original construction to re-do the Aon Center (I still think of as the Standard Oil building)... which was literally falling apart ).

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StreetsOfOmaha
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Post by StreetsOfOmaha »

I also like the Woodment Tower. I just wish it wasn't one of the main focuses of the skyline. And yes, the FNC has done wonderful things for the skyline, and taking the "edge" off of the Woodmen, but I still want to see a few more "tallies" in the skyline soon.
"The right to have access to every building in the city by private motorcar in an age when everyone possesses such a vehicle is actually the right to destroy the city."
Lewis Mumford, The Highway and the City, 1963
edsas
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Post by edsas »

I also think the Woodman is great and as the years pass and styles continue to change, it will become even greater, just like scrapers of the 20s and 30s are now. Old scrapers give cities a certain characteristic and as Omaha adds more modern scrapers, it will be good to retain a dominant symbol of its past.
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guy4omaha
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Post by guy4omaha »

Place me in the group that likes the Woodmen Tower as well. I remember it as the first skyscraper I was able to go to the top floor. Or at least the 28th floor to eat at the old Caniglia's World restaurant. It is indeed a scraper from its era. That first time I was in the restaurant was right after I saw the movie Towering Inferno. The 28th floor windows really had the feel of the movie.

I also wish we had some other tallies to go along with it and the FNC Tower. Can you imagine what the downtown skyline would look like now if the 28 story Marriott and UP had went for the 25 story version of its new headquarters. Several years back Farm Credit was considering a 22 story downtown headquarters. And heck, for a couple of weeks Kiewit was considering a new downtown headquarters that might have resulted in a tallie of some sort. Wow! Can you picture what downtown might look like today it that had happened. Do we have any artists in the forum that could superimpose a 25 story UP headquarters and a 28 story Marriott onto a photo or rendering of downtown Omaha?

I hope I live long enough to see Omaha with 3 more 25 + story buildings downtown.
AZCorey
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Post by AZCorey »

alright, alright....I'll stop 'bashing' the Woodmen Tower....actually, the more I look at it, and remember how 'WOW'ed' I used to be as a kid by it, I guess it's growing on me. It is a nice contrast to the FNC....and I, like everyone else's posts, would LOVE to see at least one and hopefully 2 more tallies in downtown....I wonder if that could happen soon....like another 25+ story bldg or two....???
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