US Bank Center (Milwaukee)

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Information
U.S. Bank Center

Location	777 East Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Status	Complete
Constructed	1973
Use	office
Height
Roof	183.2 m
Top floor	183.2 m
Technical details
Floor count	42
Floor area	add
Elevator count	42
Companies
Architect	Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, Fitzhugh Scott

U.S. Bank Center is a skyscraper located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, noted for being the tallest building in the state. It stands 601 feet (183 meters) and 42 stories tall. Topped off August 29, 1972 and completed in 1973, the building was originally named the First Wisconsin Center, as it was constructed for First Wisconsin National Bank.

The bank changed their corporate name to Firstar Corporation in 1988 as they expanded beyond the State of Wisconsin [1], and the building became known as Firstar Center in 1992 after the bank instituted a name change from First Wisconsin to Firstar Bank for all of their retail banking operations [2]. Firstar Corporation took over U.S. Bancorp in 2001 and took the latter bank's name, and U.S. Bank Center obtained its current name in 2002. [3].

There was also some controversy in the community when Firstar in 2000 installed green advertising signage on all four sides of the building's top story, disrupting the look of the building's signature diagonal trusses. The signs were retained when the U.S. Bank branding was instituted, though the coloring for the new signs was changed to white to blend in more with the building [4].

U.S. Bank Center at night

The building is home to the offices of U.S. Bank, the law firm of Foley & Lardner, the investment firm of Robert W. Baird & Company, and Bud Selig, Commissioner of Major League Baseball's Milwaukee office. Prior to the U.S. Bank Center, the tallest building in Milwaukee was the Milwaukee City Hall.

The windows on the U.S. Bank Center are sometimes used to display lighted window messages, usually to denote significant events in Milwaukee. In 2003, the letters "HD" were displayed to signify the 100th anniversary of Harley Davidson during "HarleyFest." The windows were again used in 2005, this time to display "UWM" during the Milwaukee Panthers "Sweet Sixteen" run in the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. More recently, during the week leading up to the 2007-08 NFC Championship Game the visible trusses at the top of the building near the U.S. Bank sign were lit in green and yellow in tribute to the Green Bay Packers.