Two fluted stone columns with Ionic capitals mark the Old Bank of Louisville at 316 West Main Street, a narrow stone face on the south side of the street between 3rd and 4th Streets in downtown Louisville. Completed in 1837 for the Bank of Louisville, chartered in 1832, this building was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1971 for its exceptionally fine Greek Revival architecture. It now serves as the lobby for the adjacent Actors Theatre of Louisville.
Up close you feel how the facade is composed: a pair of fluted stone columns topped by Ionic capitals and set in antis beneath an entablature and iron-crested parapet. The flanking antae are limestone with a battered finish; behind the columns a three-bay facade opens with tall multipane windows flanking and rising above the center entrance. Inside, the building still keeps some original finishes, notably Ionic columns and a domed ceiling.
Scholars attribute the probable design to James Dakin, and you can sense the restraint and monumentality of that hand in the measured proportions and classical detail. Come a step closer, and your eye rides the fluted columns up to the entablature and the iron-crested parapet.