The entire frame of the building is reinforced concrete and although several minor fires were reported over the years, they were extinguished quickly with minimal damage.

[16][17] When the building opened in 1920 offices of the Arizona Republican occupied most of the first floor and portions of the basement for printing press equipment.

In December 1937 a reconstruction project was launched to modernize the facade and expand the offices of the Arizona Republic and Phoenix Gazette.

Demand increased, and in 1941 KTAR moved to a new 5000-watt transmitter plant at 36th Street and Thomas Road, although operations were still run from atop the Heard Building.

[24] This station was purchased by advertiser John J. Louis, Sr. of Chicago, Illinois in 1944, and the studio was eventually moved to a new location in the early fifties.

The clip fades in centered on Hotel San Carlos, which is located on the northwest corner of Central and Monroe.

The three murals are called "El oso plateado and the machine" and are intended as a tribute to the past of the building and to the extinct Mexican grizzly.