Huntsville is home to many Interesting buildings a few of which can be seen in this photo.
At the far left of this photo is the Central Bank Building located at 200 West Side Square. Built in 1967 to house the offices of State National Bank, today it is used as general office space and houses the offices of AL.com among others.
The south side of the building faces Big Spring Park and is illuminated with Grotto Lights. This area of the park is known as the Grotto area due to Big Spring Cave that runs underneath the area including parts of the Madison County Courthouse.
Just to the right of the bank building, the bell tower of First Baptist Church can be seen. Built in 1986, the free-standing tower contains a 48-bell cast bronze bell carillon, a carillonneur’s room located below the bells, and a 90 foot elevator to reach the room. The tower is covered with a zinc alloy that provides its unique patina. The 229′ steeple is the largest prefabricated steeple in the world as recognized by the 1990 Guinness Book of World Records. It was fabricated by Campbellsville Industries, Inc.
The bell tower is featured in a 2015 video series titled The Spires of Huntsville. Shot from a drone, the video gives a wonderful birds-eye view of the structure.
In the center of the image is the Russel Erskine building. Constructed in 1929, the building gets its name from Russel Erskine, a Huntsville native who became president of Studebaker Motors. Originally built as a luxury hotel, the building currently houses apartments and is used by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as home for people who are 62 or over and who draw a federal subsidy. The building was featured in the Historic Huntsville Quarterly in 2004 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
Just to the right of the Russel Erskine is Regions Center. Not historic, but at 188 feet, this is the tallest building in Huntsville. It also holds the distinction of being the tallest building between Nashville and Birmingham. The building was completed in 1990 and is currently home to Regions Bank.
To the far right is the Terry Hutchens building. The building was constructed in 1925 to be the home of the Tennessee Valley Bank. In 1944 the building was sold to a group of investors including I.M. Terry, M.M. Hutchens, W.C. Hutchens, and V.F. Hutchens, and renamed the Terry-Hutchens building. At seven stories, it was the city’s tallest building at the time and was also the first building to be constructed without load bearing walls. Of note are the small green frog gargoyles that sit between each window of the top floor. These gargoyles along with other interesting architectural details of Huntsville are mentioned in a 1990 article in the Historic Huntsville Quarterly.
