National Historic Landmark

The Republic

Columbus, Bartholomew County, Indiana
Listed
October 15, 2012
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
12001015

About this property

The Republic Newspaper Office is a modernist building at 333 Second Street in Columbus, Indiana, United States. Designed by Myron Goldsmith of the firm Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill (SOM), it was built for the local newspaper The Republic between 1969 and 1971. The Republic building, one of several modernist corporate buildings developed in Columbus during the late 20th century, has been owned by Indiana University (IU) since 2018. The building has received awards and praise for its architecture over the years, and it is designated as a National Historic Landmark. The one-story structure has a thin curtain wall made of steel and glass, topped by a flat roof. Aluminum mullions divide the facade both vertically and horizontally, and they correspond to a grid around which the entire interior is arranged. The first floor's original layout accommodated the different stages of the newspaper production process from west to east. The interiors included offices, two work rooms, meeting space, and a printing plant, along with storage space in the basement. Unusually for its smaller buildings, SOM handled the interior design; The Republic also displayed pieces from its art collection there. The landscaping around the building includes rows of honey locust trees and clusters of crabapple trees. The Republic's owner Robert N. Brown selected Goldsmith to design a new building for the paper in 1959, though construction was postponed. The building was constructed in conjunction with a 1960s master plan for downtown Columbus, opening on July 19, 1971. After completion, the Republic building underwent relatively few changes; the printing press was removed from the building in 1997. After the rest of the newspaper's offices relocated in 2016, Southeastern Indiana Medical Holdings acquired the building. It was resold in April 2018 to IU, which relocated its Master of Architecture program there that August.

Location

333 Second St.
Columbus, Bartholomew County, Indiana
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Questions about this property

When was The Republic listed on the National Register?

The Republic was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 2012.

What type of historic resource is The Republic?

The Republic is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

Is The Republic a National Historic Landmark?

Yes. The Republic has been designated a National Historic Landmark (NHL), the highest level of federal recognition for historic properties in the United States.

What is the period of significance for The Republic?

The period of significance for The Republic is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near The Republic?

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