History of Old Second

A decision to build a “continuation” rather than an addition to the Old Second National Bank of Aurora led the bank and its architects on a national hunt for building materials to match the original ones.

"Our Board of Directors felt it was important enough to spend a little extra to make it attractive and to blend with the old building,” said James Benson, President of the 112-year institution. “We thought if we were going to do this, we wanted to do it right, to make it an attractive part of downtown Aurora. We hope this will be the start of something good, and that it might attract other businesses.”

The original, 31,000 square-foot building at 37 S. River Street was built in the mid-1920’s. The architect was George Grant Elmslie, a member of the Prairie School and a colleague of Frank Lloyd Wright. Designing a compatible addition was a challenge to the architectural team of Louis Cordogan and his son, John. So was finding the right materials. “The biggest problem was matching the brick,” the younger Cordogan said. “The original brick was fired in beehive kilns, with smoke from burning coal and wood glazing the outside. We went all over the country to find a manufacturer who would repeat the original process. We found a company in Ohio that was willing to do it. Although it doesn’t match perfectly, it was by far the best solution.”

Records indicated that granite used in the building was quarried on the East Coast, and that’s where the material for the addition was obtained. Terra cotta, meanwhile, was purchased from the same California company that produced the original. Stained glass used in the gable of the addition and matching what is in the old building was obtained in Chicago. So was a bas-relief. The sculptor who produced it is an Egyptian native, Mustafa Naguib, whose studios are on Western Avenue.

The addition, costing about $3 million, is the bank’s second expansion. The first phase, which opened in 1977, was an elevated structure housing tellers who serve “drive-through” customers underneath.