The American Insurance Company Building is one of the oldest and tallest skyscrapers in Newark, Essex County,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

, United States. Located at 15 Washington Street on Washington Park it was once headquarters for the American Insurance Company and is now part of

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

. The neo-classical tower is a

contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

to the

James Street Commons Historic District The James Street Commons Historic District is a historic district located in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, United States. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 9, 1978, for its significance in archi ...

which also encompasses Washington Park,

Newark Museum The Newark Museum of Art (formerly known as the Newark Museum), in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, United States, is the state's largest museum. It holds major collections of American art, decorative arts, contemporary art, and arts of Asia, A ...

, and

Newark Public Library The Newark Public Library (NPL) is a public library system in Newark, New Jersey. The library system offers numerous programs and events to its diverse population. With eight different locations, the Newark Public Library serves as a Statewide Re ...

. It re-opened in November 2015 as student dorms, event space, and chancellor's apartment.

American Insurance Company

Newark has been a center for the insurance industry since the early 19th century and has been home to Firemen's Insurance Company and

Mutual Benefit Life The Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company was a life insurance company that was chartered in 1845 and based in Newark in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. The company was headed by Frederick Frelinghuysen (1848–1924). The company w ...

. The Prudential Insurance headquarters are prominent buildings within the Four Corners Historic District. The American Insurance Company was incorporated February 20, 1846, and commenced business on April 1, 1846. The company maintained offices downtown on Broad Street and later Park Place. A new home office was completed in 1930. The sixteen story neo-classical tower is tall. A main interior feature is a "great hall" with ceilings and windows. The building was designed by the father and son architectural firm, John H. & Wilson C. Ely, which also designed the

National Newark Building The National Newark Building (Formerly the National Newark and Essex Bank Building) is a neo-classical office skyscraper in Newark, New Jersey. It has been the tallest building in Newark since 1931 and was tallest in New Jersey until 1989. At th ...

and

Newark City Hall Newark City Hall is located at Government Center in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, United States. The building was built in 1902 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 17, 1978. History The building is a five ...

. The American Insurance Company later became the American Insurance Group. The company was acquired by the

Fireman's Fund Insurance Company Fireman's Fund Insurance Company was an insurance company based in Petaluma, California which provided personal and commercial property and casualty insurance products in the United States. The company was a principal U.S. subsidiary of Allianz, ...

in 1963 the combined company for a time known as the Fireman's Fund American Insurance Group.

Rutgers University

SI Newhouse Center for Law and Justice

In 1977 the Fireman's Fund Insurance Company announced it would be moving its corporate headquarters from downtown Newark to a new campus in suburban Morris Plains, N.J. The company donated its soon to be vacated building to Rutgers University. After outgrowing facilities in several buildings in

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ...

the Rutgers School of Law in Newark consolidated into the skyscraper located near the main campus. It was named it in honor of

Samuel Irving Newhouse, Sr. Samuel Irving Newhouse Sr. (born Solomon Isadore Neuhaus; May 24, 1895 – August 29, 1979) was an American broadcasting businessman, as well as a magazine and newspaper publisher. He was the founder of Advance Publications. Early life Newhouse ...

, a 1916 graduate of the New Jersey Law School (a forerunner of the law school) and founder of

Advance Publications Advance Publications, Inc., doing business as Advance, is an American media company owned by the descendants of S.I. Newhouse Sr., Donald Newhouse and S.I. Newhouse Jr. It owns a large number of subsidiary companies, including Condé Nast, a ...

and housed the SI Newhouse Center for Law and Justice from 1979 to 1999. after which time the building remained empty.

Graduate school housing

Rutgers originally intended to develop the building as a hotel, but the project fell through after

September 11, 2001 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...

. In February 2012, the university announced that it planned to renovate the vacant structure for graduate student housing, citing the growing need and prime location near the campus and the Newark Broad Street Station. The project calls for a conversion into a mixed-use complex with furnished studio apartments and one- to four-bedroom units for 350 students. It is expected to cost $71 million and be a catalyst for continued renaissance of downtown as a residential as well as commercial community. The project is financed through grants, tax credits, and bond issues. Renovations are expected to begin in 2014 and completed in 2015. and will include public performance spaces and a penthouse for the school's chancellor.

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