The one-time Independent Life skyscraper, with its angled base and 37 floors of reflective glass looming over downtown, is almost always called “iconic” in any news story that mentions it.
It’s easy to see why: The tallest building in Florida when it opened in 1975 (a distinction long since gone), it shows up in many an image of Jacksonville’s skyline, whether on postcards, in tourist photos or during Jaguars football games.
That’s true no matter what name is on it — Independent Life, AccuStaff, Modis or Wells Fargo. Though as of July 2024, the name on it is no more, for now, after the letters that spell out Wells Fargo were lifted off by helicopter when the company gave up naming rights to it.
That’s not the only big change: During the pandemic, the tropical plants in the soaring atrium, long a part of the ambience there, were replaced by a sterile expanse of randomly placed chairs.
But the building’s distinctive style and prime location make it just about certain that it will remain — and here’s that word again — iconic in Jacksonville.
That was the intention from the beginning. In a 2017 Times-Union article, Larry Denny, who worked for KBJ Architects, which designed the building, explained what the company intended with the skyscraper.
“We were looking for something, a monolith, something tight that would anchor that area, that would sit there, and that would be it,” Dennis said. “The signature piece for Jacksonville.”
See throwback photos of Wells Fargo Center: What the building looked like in the 1970s, 80s and beyond
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This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Downtown Jacksonville through the years: Indpendent Life, Wells Fargo
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