Old Florida National Bank The oldest of the three, the Old Florida National Bank, also known as the Marble Bank, sits on the corner of Forsyth and Laura Streets. It was originally built as the Mercantile Exchange Bank in 1902, just after the
Great Fire of 1901 had destroyed nearly all of
downtown Jacksonville. Architect Edward H. Glidden designed it in the
Classical Revival style. In 1905 it was bought by Florida Bank & Trust, predecessors to the modern
Florida National Bank, who renovated and expanded it. It was renovated again in 1916 to include a large banking room with a skylight, plaster detailing, and a coffered ceiling. Another refurbishing in the 1950s added dropped ceilings that covered the skylight and detail work; these were removed in 1976 by the building's then owners, the Jacksonville National Bank, who undertook a substantial restoration to its original appearance. By the 1990s, however, the building had been sold, and its subsequent owners allowed it to deteriorate dramatically. The Bisbee Building was the first
reinforced concrete highrise anywhere in the Southern United States, and was originally designed to be only 26 feet wide, about half its present width, but demand for office space in the trendy new edifice led the owner to have Klutho add on. As with the other buildings, the Bisbee Building was eventually left empty and rapidly deteriorated.
Florida Life Building The Florida Life Building was also designed by Klutho, between 1911 and 1912. It stands next to the Marble Bank's back wall, and is the only one of the Trio that actually faces Laura Street. It was constructed at the same time as Klutho's
St. James Building (now Jacksonville City Hall). Standing 45 meters and 11 floors high, it was Jacksonville's – and Florida's – tallest building when it was built, though it was superseded less than a year later by the
Heard National Bank Building. Still, Wayne Wood of the Jacksonville Historic Landmarks Commission writes that with its narrow and well-proportioned tower, the building "was and perhaps still is Jacksonville's purest statement of a 'skyscraper.'" Like the Bisbee Buildings, it is an example of Klutho's Chicago-influenced Prairie Style. The building was constructed for the Florida Life Insurance Company, but the firm folded in 1915, and the structure changed hands a number of times over the years. In 1994, its then owners,
Nations Bank, removed the original
capitals on the top floor, doing structural damage in the process. Like the other buildings, the Florida Life building fell into disrepair. ==Restoration plans==