Redick Tower (Hotel Deco)

Built in 1930, Redick Tower has been a centerpiece of downtown Omaha and a fine example of 20th century art deco architecture for nearly a century. The building has served a variety of purposes from office space to serving as a hotel with a gourmet restaurant and craft cocktail lounge. The tower was designed by architect Joseph McArthur and named after the Redick family, founding pioneers of Omaha who settled in the city in 1856. The building was renovated and converted to a hotel in 1989 for the Radisson Hotel chain and purchased by the current owner in 2010. Redick Tower is listed in several notable landmark and monument registries including the National Register of Historic Places and is a member of Historic Hotels of America.

Redick Tower was the final work designed by Joseph McArthur(1887-1934), a local architect who designed numerous buildings in Omaha and Lincoln. Constructed of reinforced concrete and with a brick and terra cotta exterior the building's original purpose was mixed use with retail on the ground floor, an internal parking garage through the first seven floors, and offices above in a recessed tower floors eighth through the twelfth. His other works that also feature Art Deco design include the Medical Arts Building at 17th and Dodge which was constructed from 1925 to 1926 and demolished in 1999. He also designed the Paxton Hotel which was erected in 1928.

The incorporation of an internal parking garage demonstrates the rise of personal automobiles for travel. Between the remodel of the interior for hotel function for all of its floors and the present era of cars being generally larger than they were at the time of original operation, the once-advertised capacity of 500 cars is no longer the case. Also lost to time is the original plan for a mechanic and petrol gas station as part of the garage.

The namesake of Redick Tower originates with John Irvin Redick (1828-1906), a lawyer and prominent member of Omaha's origins, moved to Omaha in 1856. In addition to this building, other landmarks named in honor of Redick include Redick Avenue some sixty blocks north of Dodge street (Omaha's main street) and Redick Mansion which served as the original site of the University of Omaha, now known as the University of Nebraska at Omaha. The mansion was located on North 24th street near what is now Kountze Place and in 1898 was situated across from the Trans-Mississippi Exposition.

The National Register of Historic Places described Redick Tower as "the single most important Art Deco skyscraper in Nebraska." Further detail examines in the distinction between American Perpendicular, the formal description of Art Deco, and Modernized Classicism which is commonly misconstrued with the former. In 2011 Redick Tower had became registered as part of the Historic Hotels of America and has been a Designated Omaha Landmark since September of 1980.

Department of the Interior. National Park Service. (3/2/1934 - ). “Nebraska SP Redick Tower,” 2013. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/73920384.

“Hotel History in Omaha, Nebraska - Hotel Deco.” Historic Hotels Worldwide. Accessed November 12, 2022. https://www.historichotels.org/us/hotels-resorts/hotel-deco/history.php. 

Broadcast. The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson 2012, no. January 30th. CBS, January 30, 2012.

W.P.A. Collection, Nebraska State Historical Society. Office Buildings (Subject #616), Douglas County, April 28, 1936. 

FreeChild. Redick Mansion, April 27th, 2008. Accessed November 12th, 2022. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redick_Mansion.

Zimmer, E.. Joseph G. McArthur (1887-1934), Architect, February 29th, 2016. Accessed November 12th, 2022. http://www.e-nebraskahistory.org/index.php?title=Joseph_G._McArthur_(1887-1934),_Architect.