The historic City Hall and Bee Buildings were razed in 1966 to make way for the state’s tallest building, the Woodmen Tower. Fortunately, its neighbor to the east, the Omaha Building, escaped such a fate.
The nationally recognized New York-based architectural firm McKim, Mead & White won an architectural design competition hosted by New York Life to design its offices in Omaha, Kansas City, and St. Paul in 1887. To save money, the same plans were used to design all three buildings.
Both Stanford White and Frederick Elmer Hill have been credited with designing the building in an Italian Renaissance style. Inspired by Italian palazzos, the H-shaped building had three towers. The towers on the east and west contained offices and stood 10 stories while a central tower set further back was 12 stories and contained elevators…