The original Salt Lake branch of the Federal Reserve Bank opened in 1918. The Ashton, Evans & Brazier (AEB) building (1958) was its fourth location in 40 years and more than 60 years later the AEB structure still serves the Federal Reserve on the corner of 100 S and State Streets.

This property was purchased in 1955 for $500,000 and required the demolition of many Salt Lake City businesses: the Chiam Café, the 189 room Wabash Hotel, O.K. Café, Cuban Cigar Co., the Star Theater, George’s Furniture Co., and many more (Bank will build).

Construction of the building began in Spring 1956 with an estimate of $2.5 million for a five-floor building, two floors of which are underground. The various branch banks within a given region of the Federal Reserve system were expected to work cooperatively and it appears that the 1950 Seattle Branch Bank building may have provided an architectural precedent for the 1958 Salt Lake City Branch building. “The similarities in the design strategies of the later Salt Lake City building with the Seattle building seem more than coincidental” (Landmarks nomination).

The design includes a closed security court area for handling shipments and receipt of cash by armored car (Bernick, 1956). An underground vault is designed to withstand atomic attack with reinforcing steel and two-foot-thick concrete (New bank vaults).

Preservation Utah describes the building as a “sleek Art Moderne style [with] a classical form and symmetry … The massive form and presence represent its use” (Huffaker). The exterior of the bank is clad with dark red granite; a lighter pinkish stone is used at the upper second and third stories. Ten window bays at the upper stories are recessed behind the plane of the façade (Landmarks nomination).

The one-block move from the old Federal Reserve to the new Federal Reserve in May 1959 was quite the event. The move began at 10pm and “[while] an army of Salt Lake police officers and U.S. guards and agents [stood] by, every last cent in the old bank was moved to the new building…. As the trucks moved along the route between the two buildings, they were escorted by a police car in front and an armored vehicle behind.” Officers on motorcycles and foot blocked off a large portion of downtown and citizens were barred from the area while the money was being moved. Operators at Mountain States Telephone couldn’t leave the building after their shifts and movie patrons were detoured as they left the theater (Salt Lakers wait).

As of 2008 the exterior of the building is maintained in its original condition from stone colors to the designs of the metal window protection (Huffaker).