First National Bank Bronze Doors

These doors once defined the entry of the First National Bank building built in 1906 on 10th and Baltimore streets and what is now home to the Central Branch of the Kansas City Public Library. Local architects Wilder and Wright designed the building in a neo-classical style with heavy stone masonry and frontal colonnade that complemented the ornate bronze doors. At just over seven feet in height, the doors disguise their weight with intricate design and open space that allow one to essentially see through their structure. Smooth, solid bronze forms a rectangular border around each door, and a singular row of meandering geometric patterning lines its inner edge. Within the frame of the patterning are vertical bronze bars with a large circular design at their center. Each circle contains a row of smaller circles within it that beset the bank's acronym, "FNB". Doors to a pioneering financial institution like the First National Bank have a highly representative quality in their weight and design. The heavy bronze material establishes the institution's security as well as its place in the city's economy while the open design invites the public in, prompting them to enter the bank and utilize its services.
First National Bank Bronze Doors
First National Bank Bronze Door detail
First National Bank Bronze Doors detail
Inventory
Collection Number
17361
Building
Current Location
Near elevators
Floor
3rd
Description
Details
This is a set of bronze doors that belonged to the 1906 First National Bank building that is now the Central Branch of the Kansas City Public Library.
Artist
Framed
No
Width
2 inches
Height
91 inches
Length
67 inches
Donor
Donor Name
Robert Bernstein
Library Owns
No
Permissions
Reproduce the Work in Library publications/publicity, including film or videotape
Yes
Reproduce
Library has Photography Rights
Yes
Photograph
Permit the general public to photograph the work
Yes
Slides/Video