The Duo apartment complex continues to take shape across from the First National Bank Building. Sitting on the northeastern corner of 16th & Farnam Street, it was the city’s busiest and most valuable intersection through the late 1960s when the banks and retail stores that anchored it closed or relocated.
The twin 15-story towers originally named Central Park Plaza were viewed as a key piece of the city’s “return to the river” movement when they were completed in 1982. The name, of course, referred to the urban park that the structures overlooked on its eastern end. The two buildings with a central courtyard were connected at the first two levels. Constructed of red brick and glass, they were purposely designed by architect Leo A. Daly not to be too flashy, modern or old-fashioned.
When they opened, they were said to represent the rebirth of downtown Omaha while drastically altering its skyline and became some of the most photographed buildings in the city. Among their original tenants were ConAgra, which utilized the venue as its headquarters before moving to its campus where Jobbers Canyon once stood. The other primary occupant was Northern Petrochemical, whose parent, InterNorth, became Enron after leaving Omaha. In addition to the offices, a parking garage was built to the north and connected to the north building via a skywalk over Douglas Street.
A number of historic buildings sitting between Douglas and Farnam and from 15th to 16th were razed to make way for the new office complex. On the south end of the block facing Farnam Street were the W.A. Paxton and the World-Herald Buildings.
At the intersection of 16th & Farnam Street, the Paxton Building was built by William A. Paxton, a co-founder of the Union Stockyards in South Omaha. The building was constructed in 1887 and served as the longtime home to Goldstein-Chapman, the department store started by Abe Goldstein and Max Chapman in 1923. The six-story building was designed by architectural firm Mendelssohn & Fisher in a Richardsonian Romanesque style. The structure, which also served as the offices for the 1898 Trans-Mississippi Exposition, stood out among its Farnam Street peers due to its dome and spire…