Edwardsville National Bank & Trust Co. (c. 1962)

A new building for Edwardsville National Bank & Trust was planned to include a greatly expanded interior, two drive-up teller windows and a new walk-up window.  This $500,000 expansion for the bank was located just south of the current building which necessitated the demolition of the “old telephone building” for the new construction as well as a Phillips 66 for additional parking.  One of the unique parts of the construction was that the new building was planned in order to serve as Edwardsville’s first fallout shelter.  Charles Spoonamore, construction engineer with the Bank Building & Equipment Corporation, had designed other buildings around the country for this purpose as well, but he remarked of this structure that, “It is one of the most outstanding designs in the country.”  The fallout shelter chamber was surrounded by 12-inch concrete walls with a 5-inch concrete floor above, thought to easily and effectively stop the deadly radioactive gamma rays of an atomic explosion.  This shelter of 3,600 square feet would accommodate 400 people.