The Baum Building was a historic building in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

. In 1909, Moses J. Baum, a Mississippi-born merchant who specialised in women's garments, leased the land at the northeast corner of Grand and Robinson and built a five-story commercial building on the site. The building was modeled after the

Doge's Palace The Doge's Palace (''Doge'' pronounced ; ; ) is a palace built in Venetian Gothic architecture, Venetian Gothic style, and one of the main landmarks of the city of Venice in northern Italy. The palace included government offices, a jail, and th ...

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. The building was completed in 1910, with the Baum company moving in on May 5, 1910. The building was designed by Layton and Smith, and cost $140,000 to build. During its lifespan, the building was also called the First Equity Building and the Insurance Center.

Demolition

The building was demolished between July and August 1972. The beautiful and ornate building became a victim of

urban renewal Urban renewal (sometimes called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address real or perceived urban decay. Urban renewal involves the clearing ...

and

I.M. Pei Ieoh Ming Pei
– website of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners ( ; ; April 26, 1917 – May 16, 2019) was ...

's street straightening project. After demolition, Robinson Street was widened from 74 feet to 134 feet. The building's marble columns were removed and preserved, and a mural within the building was moved to a Fidelity Bank building.

References

Buildings and structures in Oklahoma City Demolished buildings and structures in Oklahoma Office buildings completed in 1910 Buildings and structures demolished in 1972 1910 establishments in Oklahoma 1972 disestablishments in Oklahoma {{Oklahoma-struct-stub