U.S. Bank Tower (Los Angeles)

This article is about the US Bank Tower in Los Angeles. For the building in Sacramento, see U.S. Bank Tower (Sacramento).

U.S. Bank Tower
U.S. Bank Tower
General information
Location	Los Angeles, California
Height
Roof	1,018 ft (310.3 m)
Top floor	967.5 ft (294.92 m)
Technical details
Floor count	73
Floor area	1.3 million sq ft 121,167 sq m
Lifts/elevators	24
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Pei Cobb Freed & Partners
Engineer	CBM Engineers Inc.

The US Bank Tower, formerly the Library Tower and First Interstate World Center, is a skyscraper located at 633 West Fifth Street in downtown Los Angeles. It is the ninth-tallest building in the United States, the tallest North American skyscraper west of the Mississippi River, the tallest building in California, and the tallest building with a helipad on the roof (this is required by the city building code). Rising 1,018 feet (310.3 m) in height, it is also the 31st-tallest building in the world as of March 2008. Until the construction of Taipei 101, it was also the tallest building in a major active seismic region; its structure was designed to resist an earthquake of 8.3 on the Richter scale. It consists of 73 stories above ground and two parking levels below ground. Construction began in 1987 with completion in 1989. The building was designed by Henry N. Cobb of the architectural firm Pei Cobb Freed & Partners and cost $350 million to build. It is one of the most recognizable buildings in Los Angeles, often used in establishing shots for the city in films and television programs.

The building is also known as the Library Tower due to its location across the street from the Los Angeles Central Library; it was built as part of the $1 billion redevelopment of the Library following two disastrous fires in 1986. The City of Los Angeles sold air rights to the developers of the tower to help pay for the reconstruction of the library. The building was also known for a time as First Interstate World Center after being bought by First Interstate Bank. After First Interstate merged with Wells Fargo Bank the name Library Tower was restored. In March 2003 the property was leased by U.S. Bancorp and the building was renamed U.S. Bank Tower. Residents, however, generally continue to refer to it as the Library Tower.

The tower has a large glass "crown" at its top that is illuminated at night. The crown is lighted with red and green during the Christmas holiday season. It is also lit with purple and gold when the Los Angeles Lakers are playing in the NBA Playoffs and blue and white on Opening Day for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The crown was also lit with red, white and blue during the July 4 holidays, but that practice ended in 2003.

On February 28, 2004, two U.S. Bank logo signs, each standing 75 feet (23 m) high, were installed on the crown, amid controversy for their effect on the aesthetic appearance of the building (as was the case previously when First Interstate Bank's logos were placed on the crown between 1990 and 1998).

Major occupants include:

• White & Case
• US Bank

Terrorist target

The US Bank Tower, the tallest building in the United States west of Chicago.

On June 16, 2004, the 9/11 Commission reported that the original plan for the September 11, 2001 attacks called for the hijacking of ten planes, one of which was to be crashed into the building.

On October 6, 2005, House officials stated that the government had foiled a previously undisclosed second plot to crash a plane into the building in mid-2002. In a televised speech on February 9, 2006, US President George W. Bush asserted that American counterterrorism officials had foiled a plot to slam planes into "Liberty Tower". He said that "Liberty Tower", in Los Angeles, was the tallest building on the West Coast. Commentators believe that President Bush meant to say "Library Tower".

According to President Bush, Al-Qaeda leader Khaled Sheikh Mohammed's plan was to use Asian confederates from Jemaah Islamiyah recruited by Islamic militant Hambali for the hijacking. President Bush asserted the hijackers were going to use shoe bombs to breach the plane's cockpit door. Some counter-terrorism experts have expressed doubt that the plot was ever fully developed or likely to occur. Planning for the attack allegedly began as early as October 2001.

In popular culture

The Library Tower is featured prominently in several movies, usually in establishing shots of the Los Angeles skyline. The tower has become an iconic part of Los Angeles and is one of the most recognizable buildings in the city

• The building's first appearance in a film was in Predator 2.
• In the video game True Crime: Streets of LA, the US Bank Tower can be seen along with other recognizible buildings in Los Angeles.
• In the 2008 movie Hancock, the US Bank tower was used extensively and can be seen several times throughout the film.
• In the 2007 South Korean movie D-War, a gigantic snake-like Imoogi serpent winds up the cylindrical U.S. Bank Tower to the roof, damaging the tower. The official movie poster shows the Imoogi wrapped around the damaged U.S. Bank Tower. It is referred to as the "Liberty Building" in the movie.
• In the 2007 movie Southland Tales, the US Bank Tower stands as headquarters for US-IDENT, a Big Brother surveillance agency under the guise of a national security think-tank. The tower is later seen on fire after raided by rioters.
• In the 2004 video game, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, in the fictional city of Los Santos, the U.S. Bank Tower, or First Interstate World Center (game takes place in 1992) stands as the tallest building in the fictional state of San Andreas. The Player can climb the tower, where they can then BASE jump off the top.
• In the 1997 direct-to-video movie Skyscraper, the U.S. Bank Tower (then Library Tower) was featured as the 86-floor Zitex building. In reality the building has 73 floors, not 86.
• In the 1996 movie science fiction film Independence Day, the U.S. Bank Tower's (Then First Interstate World Center) helipad was used the location of festivities for UFO enthusiasts greeting the aliens. The tower was destroyed in the film as a result of a later alien attack, first completely destroying the tower, then Los Angeles.

Companies

• Main Tenant: US Bancorp
• Architect: Pei Cobb Freed & Partners
• Executive Architect: Ellerbe Becket Associates
• Structural: CBM Engineers, Inc.
• Mechanical/Electrical: James A. Knowles & Associates
• Electrical: Levine/Seagel Associates
• Landscape Architect: Lawrence Halprin & Associates
• Owner: Maguire Properties

Gallery

• From Figueroa and 5th Streets.
  From Figueroa and 5th Streets.
• 
  From Hope and 8th at night.
• 
  Looking Above from the Bunker Hill Steps.
• From Hope & Wilshire Street.
  From Hope & Wilshire Street.
• 
  With the Gas Company Tower to the left and Citigroup Building to the right.
• 
  From street level on Figueroa Street.
• 
  With the AT&T Building to the left and Mellon Bank Plaza to the right.
• 
  From LA's Skid Row.

See also

Seen from Glendale

• Skyscrapers in Los Angeles
• Downtown Los Angeles
• Los Angeles
• 50 Tallest buildings in the U.S.
• List of skyscrapers
• List of tallest buildings by U.S. state

External links

• official website
• Entry on Skyscraper.com
• Outline of the 9-11 Plot (Staff Statement No. 16, National Commission on Terrorist Attacks)
• Washington Post, "Bush Says 10 Plots by Al Qaeda Were Foiled"

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