Omaha Magazine’s November 2019 B2B issue features Kutak Rock’s Omaha office, its art, architecture, and history. A photo of the building’s five-story atrium, created during a renovation in the mid-1990s, graces the cover, while the article itself includes nine recent photos of the interior.

Originally built for an insurance company in 1889, The Omaha Building changed hands and became home to a bank. Over the decades, the building’s owners covered over windows, columns, cornices, fireplaces, and marble flooring to create offices. In 1965 the three original founders of Kutak Rock—Robert Kutak, Harold Rock, and Bill Campbell—began leasing space in the building for their new law firm. In 1972 the building entered the National Register of Historic Places, but two years later it was set to be demolished for development.

A local architect began a campaign to save the building, citing its significance as the work of architects McKim, Mead & White. The development deal fell through, and the three law partners bought and renovated the building, opening the new quarters in 1978. In 1997 the “Nesting Eagle” sculpture by Louis St. Gaudens was returned to its perch on the third floor exterior, after being removed by Omaha National Bank when it took up residence in Woodman Tower in 1969.

The building underwent another massive renovation from 2006 to 2007 to update the infrastructure, including heating and air conditioning, elevators, lighting, etc. That’s when many of the “improvements” made over the decades were reversed, revealing original architectural features.

The Omaha Magazine article also notes the late Bob Kutak’s contemporary art collection, carefully curated and displayed throughout the building. A contrast to the building’s classical style, the art is eclectic and largely abstract, but lends itself well to the office environment.

Read the full article on Omaha Magazine’s website, and learn more about Kutak Rock’s Omaha office.