Valley National Bank, Willetta Branch (Demolished)
By Weaver and Drover AIA
The
Postwar Architecture Task Force of Greater Phoenix, Modern Phoenix, Preserve Phoenix, City of Phoenix Historic Preservation Commission, and
Arizona Preservation Foundation are deeply sorrowed that the 1954 Valley National Bank Branch on Willetta Street by leading Valley architects Weaver & Drover was demolished for condominiums by Tilton Development of Scottsdale, AZ.
While the property was clearly marketed as having historic value in 2016, and documentation performed by North Wind Resource Consulting in 2017 demonstrated that the building was eligible for historic preservation under the U.S. Department of the Interior’s
Criteria A (History of Banking) and
Criteria C (Masterwork of High Artistic Values), the owner elected to neither place the former bank on the
National Register of Historic Places nor incorporate aspects of the existing structure into new plans through adaptive reuse.
Historic preservation advocates and the City of Phoenix were able to tour and document the building shortly before it was demolished.
The building was demolished in early April 2017.
