Merchants National Bank building in Grinnell

Architect Louis Sullivan's 1914 masterpiece

will be open to weekend visitors beginning January 28.

The bank, now home to the Grinnell Area Chamber of Commerce, is recognized by the U.S. Department of the Interior as a National Historic Landmark. It is one of the eight jewel-box banks in the Midwest designed by Sullivan, creator of the modern skyscraper and mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright.

The bank is currently open to the public during the Chamber's normal business hours, weekdays between 8am and 5pm. Beginning January 28, it will be open to visitors on Saturdays, from 10am-4pm, and Sundays from 1-4pm. Volunteer docents will be on hand to welcome visitors and provide information.

"On any given weekend, you'll see people from out of town with their noses pressed to the window of the bank's front door-peering inside," said Grinnell Chamber President Larry Goodrich. "They can see the bank's spectacular exterior, but desperately want to get inside. We want them to have that opportunity every day of the week."

At the same time, billboards have recently been installed along near-by Interstate-80 alerting motorists to the proximity of the jewel-box bank. Goodrich said Chamber staffers noticed an immediate increase in visitors after the signs were erected.

In addition, the bank will be the focal point of a local celebration this year of the 150th anniversary of Sullivan's birth. Grinnell College will host a symposium on Sullivan's career on August 30-31. That symposium will feature a keynote address by Sullivan biographer, Robert Twombly. In addition, there will be guided tours Aug 30- Sept 3 of the bank and the city's other architectural destinations, including buildings designed by acclaimed architects Walter Burley Griffin, George Washington Maher, Walter Netsch and Cesar Pelli. Sullivan was born September 3, 1856.

For more information, call 641-236-1626.