Omaha Exploration

What started as the New York Life Building at 1650 Farnam Street is one of Omaha’s iconic historic structures. Designed by renowned New York architectural firm McKim, Mead and White, it opened in 1889.

Built for New York Life Insurance, it has a twin that still stands in Kansas City. The design borrowed from Italian palazzos and incorporated features from the Renaissance Revival style. The H-shaped building has two towers made of brick and terra cotta and an elaborately detailed cornice on the 10th floor. The two towers stand on either side of an arched entrance of rusticated granite. A third tower capped by an Italian loggia is situated behind the entrance and rose above the other two.

The New York Life Building was the first skyscraper in Omaha and one of the last to utilize masonry bearing walls. It briefly had the distinction of being the tallest building between Chicago and San Francisco.

When the New York Life Insurance company offered the building for less than cost, Omaha National Bank acquired it in 1909. Founded in 1856, Omaha National Bank had run out of room at its then headquarters at 208 S 13th St. It was a homecoming of sorts for its president, Joseph Millard, whose house was located on the property before he sold it to the insurance company in 1886. The bank renamed it as the Omaha Building.

The Omaha Building was altered in 1920 when the 11th floor was added to the east and west towers causing them to lose its distinctive cornice. The inner court behind the entrance was filled in at the second and third floors after World War II to provide additional office space.

Over the years, the building lost many of its original interior features including skylights, first floor windows, columns, fireplaces and flooring. They were covered or removed to make way for offices and other space. The Nesting Eagle sculpture that was originally installed for the New York Life Insurance Company had become an insignia of the bank.

Eventually the building had become inadequate for the bank and moved to Woodmen Tower across the street in 1970. They took with them the eagle statue and placed it on the east side of the tower directly opposite of the Omaha Building.

Despite being listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it was slated for demolition after sitting vacant for a few years. There was even a proposal to build a 32-story Transamerica office tower in its place. Thanks in part to a “Save the Omaha Building” campaign, it was saved from demolition. 

In 1976 Kutak Rock purchased the building which they had occupied for a period of time after starting out in 1965. Robert Kutak had a great appreciation for architecture and recognized its destruction would be a great loss for Omaha’s architectural heritage. The law firm spent $4.5M to renovate it in 1978. They enclosed the north courtyard from the fourth through the eighth floors to create a five story atrium with a spiral staircase and added other features including a racquetball court and contemporary art. 

Another renovation in 2006-2007 included the restoration of the first and second floor interiors that uncovered marble trim and four granite columns. Other work included the expansion of the atrium to the 10th floor and the creation a series of bridges connecting the west and east towers.

Today the building referred to as “The Old Lady of Farnam Street” remains the home to Kutak Rock which pays tribute to its history with a small museum and a conference room that is named for the architectural firm that designed it. The room features an imposing metal grille window with a large oculus window. Not only that but the Nesting Eagle even returned to its rightful perch after it was acquired by the law firm in 1997.

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