BROUGHTON STREET MUNICIPAL BUILDING FORMER FIRST FEDERAL SAVINGS BANK ‘The former First Federal Savings Bank, constructed in 1959 from designs by the prominent local firm of Levy & Kiley, stands among the largest and most ‘prominent of Savannah's commercial buildings of the postwar era. Its strong, sculptural forms and equally distinctive color scheme indicate that this was conceived asa landmark for downtown — a proud declaration of it's company's position inthe financial community and to the modernity of its practices. Among its most distinctive features are the pair of tiered movable louvers. Compositionally, these impart a monumental presence, without the slightest tie to classical precedent, while they also seem to “float” independent of the wall, tied only tothe structural columans thet are revealed between the expanses of plate glass below. The louvers themselves appear 10 ‘be of a type pioneered earlier in that decade by the Los Angeles-based architect Richard Neutra, one of the international giants of modernism in the mid twentieth century. By adjusting automatically tothe position of the sun, these elements ‘maximized both views from and protection within the office floors. They also give the building « kinctc quality, its aspect changing with the time of day and with weather conditions. Ownership ofthe building by the City affords an ideal opportunity for ito be presented as an exemplar of the importance of this period in Savannah's commercial development. Every effort should be made to protect and wherever possible restore its distinctive features, inside and out. The introduction of appropriate signs indicating its ‘current use, designed in the same manner and placed in the same places as the now removed "FIRST FEDERAL SAVINGS" signs, would be a desirable addition. This Duilding should continue to exude the same sense of optimism and pride that it did ‘when it opened some forty years ago.