Mural Restoration at Peoples Savings Bank

Stan Wiederspan, director of the Cedar Rapids Art Center, stands on scaffolding at Peoples Savings Bank on November 5, 1976, as he performs some retouch work on a wall mural inside the bank.  Four large murals, depicting agriculture, commerce and industry in Iowa, were being cleaned and restored.  The Peoples Bank building was designed by world renowned architect Louis H. Sullivan (1856-1924) in 1910 and built in 1911 at 101 Third Avenue SW at a cost of $64,000.  The building underwent a 10-month, $1.4 million restoration project in 1990-1991.  Norwest Bank operated the facility from 1988-1998, and Wells Fargo Bank from 1998 to the present.  Flood waters in June, 2008, heavily damaged the historic bank's main floor and basement.