WoodmenLife Tower, formerly the Woodmen Tower, is a 478-ft (146-m) high-rise

building A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and func ...

at 1700 Farnam Street 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 ...

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest ...

, and

headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

WoodmenLife WoodmenLife (officially Woodmen of the World Life Insurance Society) is a not-for-profit fraternal benefit society founded in 1890, based in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, that operates a large privately held insurance company for its member ...

insurance company.

History

Construction began in 1966, with the tower being completed in 1969. The tower surpassed the

Nebraska State Capitol The Nebraska State Capitol is the seat of government for the U.S. state of Nebraska and is located in downtown Lincoln. Designed by New York architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue in 1920, it was constructed of Indiana limestone from 1922 to 19 ...

as the tallest building in Nebraska, which held the title from 1930 until 1969, when it was completed. The 30-storey skyscraper remained the tallest skyscraper in both Omaha and Nebraska for over 30 years, until the construction of the

First National Bank Tower The First National Bank Tower is a 45-story office skyscraper located at 1601 Dodge Street in downtown Omaha, Nebraska, United States, and the official headquarters of First National Bank of Omaha. At it is the tallest building in Omaha and ...

. A population of

Peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a cosmopolitan bird of prey (raptor) in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-grey bac ...

s have resided on the tower, with the first being released there by the Nebraska Peregrine Falcon Project in 1988. Falcons continue to nest on the building, and WoodmenLife maintains a live webcam of the nests on their official website. The building was featured prominently in the 2002 film ''

About Schmidt ''About Schmidt'' is a 2002 American comedy-drama film co-written and directed by Alexander Payne and starring Jack Nicholson in the title role. The film also stars Hope Davis, Dermot Mulroney, and Kathy Bates. It is loosely based on the 1996 nov ...

'', where the titular character Warren Schmidt (

Jack Nicholson John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. In many of his films, he played rebels against the social structure. He received numerous ...

) was employed. The Woodmen Tower also replaced several buildings in historic downtown, including the Old City Hall and Edward Rosewater's

Bee Building The Bee Building, later called the Peters Trust Building and finally the Insurance Building, was located at 17th and Farnam Streets in Downtown Omaha, Nebraska. It was an architectural landmark in early Omaha that was built in 1888 by newspaper ed ...

. In 2020 the "WOODMEN" signage atop the building was replaced the new WoodmenLife wordmark to reflect the organization's new name.

Gallery

File:Brandeis Building and Woodmen Tower.jpg, Woodmen Tower rises just west of the

J. L. Brandeis and Sons Store Building The J. L. Brandeis and Sons Store Building is located at 210 South 16th Street in the central business district of Omaha, Nebraska. Formerly the headquarters location of the Brandeis Department Store chain, it currently holds apartments and cond ...

File:American flag on Woodmen Tower.jpg, In September 2006, Woodmen Tower marked the fifth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks by displaying large American flags draped from its upper floors. File:Woodmen Tower 2022.jpg, The tower in October 2022.

Notes

{{reflist Skyscraper office buildings in Omaha, Nebraska Woodmen of the World buildings Headquarters in the United States 1969 establishments in Nebraska Office buildings completed in 1969

History

Gallery

See also

Notes