Capital Bank Tower

Upon its completion in 1931, the Capital Bank Tower was hailed by newspapers as the tallest building in the state beyond Detroit. Industrialist and Capital Bank president Ranson E. Olds commissioned the three hundred-foot skyscraper, which housed the bank in the four lower floors and office space in the upper stories. To accommodate the building, the city council amended an ordinance that limited buildings to 150 feet. Hopkins and Dentz of New York designed the building. It was a major investment in Lansing by Olds, despite the Great Depression. The May 30, 1931, Lansing Capital News headlined: "New Bank Tower Pledge of Faith: 22-Story Structure Monument of Builder's Belief in Lansing." The original brass elevator doors depict scenes for the life of Ransom Olds.