I believe this is the photograph you are referring to. Is this the Central National Bank Building or the Cenuury Building? Or are there two buildings connected?
They are nice looking- much better than what would be put up now. The quality of detail could not be duplicated today with the cheap curtain walls, foam stucco, fake stone, or the apartment complex like town house lofts they are filling this area with. I am concerned this area will be in decay again in 10 years due to the lack of quality of the new buildings.
The Central Bank Building was a real swinging place-the second location of Glenn McCarthy's Cork Club in 1957 after he sold the legendary Shamrock Hotel to Hilton. Glenn McCarthy was known as "King of the Wildcatters" and was played by James Dean in the movie Giant. The Cork Club featured the top entertainers of the era including Frank Sinatra. (The last location of the Cork Club was to be at the office tower on Highway 6 at Memorial Drive in 1983 but the economic bust left that building unfinished for years and the club did not open.)
The Central Bank Building is said to be haunted, especially the top floor where the club was. In the 1980's the radio staions KKBQ 93FM and KULF/KKBQ 790AM
had their offices there. The best and most popular morning radio show of all times- the Q Morning Zoo staring John Lander, Jackie Robbins, Rio, Mr. Leonard, and Clete Dumpster- was broadcast from there. Ken Hoffman, with the Chronicle, was one of their writers. Jackie is now on the 107.5 morning show. They would often mention strange things that occurred in the building.
Recalling the lost information from the Lucian Hood III posts, architect Lars Bang had established a firm and Lucian Hood, Jr. later joined it. They had designed the office building in the Rice Village and the Big Doughnut shop, now the Marquies, on Bissonnet, west of Kirby, once shown on this site, and many other buildings and houses.
Bang and Hood split up while working on the Century Building because the developer, Kenneth Schnitzer, wanted to use an engineer that was his relative and Lars Bang wanted to use the engineer they usually used. Hood and Bang remained friends but Lucian Hood III believes they were destined for greatness if they would heve remained together. Schnitzer went on to build much of Greenway Plaza and the Richmond Office District.