Built in 1890 by the 10-story New York Life Insurance Co. this building stood at the corner of Fifth Street and Second Avenue South with a frontage of 165 feet on the former and 121 feet on the latter thoroughfare. In exterior appearance it was massive and substantial. The lower stories were of St. Cloud granite with pressed brick above topped with artistic balustrade and cornice of terra cotta. The building was perfectly fire proof and had about 250 office. For many years it was the property of the First Security National Bank of Minneapolis.
The New York Life building was demolished to make way for the First National Bank Building in 1958. Nobody complained. It was a grand old pile of bricks remembered for the magnificent lobby’s double-helix staircase. Decorations on the rooftop corners weighed in at over 5,000 pounds each. The same architects designed a New York Life Insurance Building in St. Paul. Built at almost same time, the Minneapolis building was torn down nine years before its companion across the river.
