CoMo Brick & Mortar Project
The Herald Municipal Building, 1932 (600 E. Broadway)
By Sam Meservey
Built in a grand Beaux-Arts style, the Howard Municipal Building, or just the Municipal Building as it was originally called, holds an important spot in the history of Columbia city government. The structure was designed by famed regional architect Edmund Eckel, his partner Will S. Adrich, and local architect of note Harry Satterlee Bill. Eckel especially influenced the facility’s final architectural design. Having been born in France, Eckel was educated in architecture at the Beaux-Arts de Paris, where he was thoroughly infused with the Beaux-Arts style of architecture for which he would become known.
Beaux-Arts first gained prominence during the 1800s. As a creation of that time, it was a new take on classical aesthetics, drawing from Greek, Roman, and Renaissance forms, and made use of new materials. In the Municipal Building, cast iron was used in decorations. Other characteristics of Beaux-Arts architecture include flat roofs, arched windows, sculpture panels, and a raised first story. For the Municipal Building, this style is manifested in a few key areas. The flat roof, bas-relief sculptures above the first-floor windows, and the arched windows themselves are all characteristic of this style. The materials used, limestone and brick, are an extension of already existing local styles. Additionally, the first floor and entrance itself are raised, giving the structure a prominent position. All these characteristics led to the facility gaining the moniker “Columbia’s Capitoline Hill,” one of the seven famous hills of Rome and the location of Rome’s city hall.
Interesting Facts:
The murals in the Howard Municipal Building are visible to this day, though the room they are housed in is now the Municipal Court.
The first police force housed in the Howard Municipal Building consisted of 14 officers and a chief.
The first fire department there included 10 firefighters.
The tornado siren that had previously been on the building for 60 years is now part of the permanent collection of the Boone County History & Culture Center in Nifong Park. It was on display in 2024.
The construction of the Municipal Building was partially paid for and facilitated by the WPA (Works Progress Administration), a program established by President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal. The WPA created employment for workers during the Great Depression, where they labored to build municipal buildings, educational buildings, and other infrastructure across the United States. According to the February 13, 1933, edition of the Columbian Missourian, the total cost of the project, including furnishings and other decorations, was estimated at $160,000. The newspaper also listed many local businesses that helped with the construction. After its completion during the year 1932, the new Municipal Building had its week-long grand opening in February 1933. At this time, the facility became the City Hall of Columbia. Between 1924 and 1938, twelve panel murals were placed in the City Council chamber. These murals, which were painted by University of Missouri art professor Dr. Kenneth Hudson, depict the history of Columbia up until the 1930s.
Over the next 40 years, the Municipal Building housed many essential offices for the city. These offices included the municipal court, but the facility also housed police and firefighters while their own building was renovated. Because of its relatively centralized location and prominence, the structure had a warning siren placed on its roof, called a 1000T Thunderbolt. It was first used in 1960 and continued to be used for tornado warnings until it was removed in October 2020. Eventually, overcrowding pushed city offices into the Daniel Boone Building, which took over the responsibility of housing City Hall in 1972. In January 1977, the Municipal Building was renamed the Howard Municipal Building in memory of Robert L. Howard, an influential law professor. By 1978, the Howard Municipal Building held significantly fewer offices, though that year it notably housed the Columbia Police Department once again.
Today, the Howard Municipal Building stands much as it always has, ornate and full of many vital resources for the administration of the city. These include housing the city’s Municipal Court, prosecution division, and Human Resources offices.