Pioneer Trust and Savings Bank Building

[2] Construction began in 1924 under the direction of architect Karl M. Vitzthum, and the 50,000 square foot building was completed two years later in 1926.

Indeed, this bank was built during a time when Humboldt Park experienced substantial growth - a period that spanned the first three decades of the 20th century, and consisted largely of German, Norwegian, Polish, and Italian immigrants who flocked to this area after being induced by the industrial jobs abundant on the city's northwest side near the Chicago and North Western Railway.

[1] In the late 19th and early to mid 20th centuries, North Avenue was a bustling commercial row lined on both sides with a nearly continuous array of businesses, shops, and restaurants stretching for several miles.

[1] In the mid-1990s, it was purchased by Puerto Rican based Banco Popular, showcasing the largely Hispanic and Latino American heritage of the local residents.

It will be renovated into mixed-use spacing that will contain offices, for which several non-profits and an architecture firm will reside, in addition to a community cafe, restaurant, and one acre parking lot.