From Wiki The Central Union Telephone Company built a headquarters building on the corner of Meridian and New York Streets in 1907. Indiana Bell bought Central Union in 1929, but found the existing headquarters inadequate. Originally, the old building was to be demolished to make way for a new building on the site. However, that would have caused disruptions in telephone service. Kurt Vonnegut Sr., the architect of the new building, suggested moving it[1] to the adjacent lot at 13 West New York Street.[2] Over a 30-[2] or 34-day[1] period, the 11,000-short-ton (10,000 t) building was shifted 52 feet (16 m) south, rotated 90 degrees, and then shifted again 100 feet (30 m) west. Completed on November 12[2] or 14, 1930,[1] this was all done without interrupting customer telephone service or telephone business operations.[2] Gas, heat, electric, water, and communication lines were modified before and during construction to add flexibility or length as needed. Having spent a lot of time in Indianapolis for work over the last 20 years I can’t say that I’ve ever noticed this building, even though it’s in the middle of downtown. Mind you there’s a lot of classic 20s/30s architecture there, lots of it designed by Vonnegut, who’s son Kurt Vonnegut Jr wrote the amazing Slaughterhouse Five after having been a POW caught in Dresden during the firebombing.
