The tower was built by the Del Webb Corporation and originally housed the East Central branch of the First National Bank of New Mexico. The original name of the building was First National Bank Building East to avoid confusion with the bank's main building downtown. Groundbreaking ceremonies took place on July 12, 1961, and the bank was officially opened for business on February 16, 1963. During construction, the builders reportedly attached numbers to the side of the building to prevent drivers from being distracted by trying to count the number of floors. When completed, the tower surpassed the New Mexico Bank & Trust Building to become the tallest in New Mexico. Its construction, far from the existing highrises downtown, reflected an ongoing shift of people and capital from Albuquerque's decaying city center to the more suburban Northeast Heights. The building was intended to become the focal point of a new urban development called First National Bank Center, though ultimately only one other tower was built, an adjacent 10-story office building that once housed the headquarters of Microsoft. With urban renewal efforts underway downtown, the new highrise lost its title as the city's tallest building to the National Building just three years after opening, though it remains the tallest building in the city outside of Downtown. The First National Bank branch originally occupied the first two floors of the building, while the basement housed the vaults and lock boxes, an event room, and a cafe. The top two floors were reserved for the members-only Albuquerque City Club. The club facilities included a bar, dining room, beauty salon, and saunas on the 16th floor, and a gymnasium and rooftop deck "for dancing, sunbathing and other outside activities" on the 17th floor. The club went out of business after only two years and its space was eventually converted into two residential penthouses, which remained in place as of 2015 along with a rooftop racquetball court. First National Bank was purchased by First Security Bank in 1993, and the building's name and signage changed accordingly. The tower was renamed again in 2001 when Bank of the West bought the branch. Bank of the West vacated the building in 2012. It is used by various State departments.
Architecture
The Bank of the West Tower was designed by the Albuquerque firm of Flatow, Moore, Bryan, and Fairburn, which was also responsible for the nearly identical Del Webb Building in Phoenix. The building has 17 above-ground floors and a basement level, giving a total of of floor space. The frame was constructed from poured-in-place reinforced concrete and employed post-tensioned girders to distribute the weight of each floor to the tower's exterior columns and central core, allowing for a column-free interior. The post-tensioning system also reduced the overall height of each story, allowing the developers to add an extra floor without changing the planned height. The building's ground floor features pillars faced with gray Italian marble framing 28 large plate glass windows. The lobby and banking hall were originally finished in gray and cream-colored marble with walnut and aluminum trim, while "a dark green Grecian marbleized vinyl covering" was used on the upper floors. The elevator lobbies were decorated with fifteen murals by Alice Garver depicting various aspects of New Mexico history, including indigenous peoples, covered wagons, the Atomic Age, and the Duke of Alburquerque. Like much of Garver's work, the murals were fragile and have not survived. On the exterior, white paint and tinted glass were used to reduce the building's cooling load. Each spandrel is faced with gold ceramic tile, which architect Max Flatow described as containing actual 23-karat gold, saying "We would be a richer society if we used our precious things on buildings instead of burying them in the ground." Approximately 2.5 million of the one inch square tiles were required to cover the building. The exterior of the tower is also decorated with gold-colored aluminum screens on the eleventh floor. The top of the building originally featured the text "FIRST NATIONAL BANK" in illuminated green letters on all four sides. This was replaced in 1993 with "FIRST SECURITY BANK" in red lettering, and then in 2001 with the Bank of the West logo. As of 2012 the building no longer features any exterior signage.
