Thiesen Building

From Pensapedia, the Pensacola encyclopedia
Revision as of 13:59, 9 April 2008 by Admin (talk | contribs)
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Thiesen Building
ThiesenBuilding.jpg
The Thiesen Building
Building Information
Location 40 S. Palafox Street
Architect Morgan and Dillion
Client Christen Thiesen
Engineer Wills and Broughton
Current Owner Ray Russenberger
Construction Start Date 1901
Completion Date 1902
Renovations 1993-1996
Style Renaissance Revival
Size five stories
<googlemap lat="30.411346" lon="-87.21503" zoom="17" width="288" height="288">

30.411545, -87.214818, Thiesen Building </googlemap>

The Thiesen Building, built in 1901, is Pensacola's first commercial high-rise. At the time of its construction, it was the tallest building in Pensacola and the first with a modern elevator and steam heat. It was built by Danish businessman Christen Thiesen, who was reportedly warned that his venture would fail and the building would be lost to receivership; when this failed to happen, Thiesen gloated by flying the Danish flag from the building every year until his death in 1934. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in December, 1979.

Following a period of disrepair, businessman Ray Russenberger purchased the building in 1992 and renovated the offices for his paging company Network USA.

Current tenants