Ivancovich Block Project
Tucson, Arizona

Description: Ivancovich Block Project
Other Names: The Oriental
Address: north side of East Congress Street, between Stone and Scott Ave.
Type: commercial: offices and stores
Original Client: John Ivancovich
Historic Inventory:
Date:
Condition: demolished

Architect or Firm:
Associated Architect or Firm: possible proposed remodeling Trost & Rust
Contractors:
Dimensions and Orientation: faced South; two stories with central tower
Budget/Cost:

Foundation: stone
Wall Material: brick and stone
Roofing Materials:
Other Materials Used:
Remodeling and Additions:
Present Owner:

Location of Drawings: Architecture Department archives, University of Arizona, in a section devoted to Henry Trost, two sheets: unsigned rendering in pencil and red watercolor paper, with cartouche in tower containing the words: “THE ORIENTAL/A.D. 1898,” and the portion of a cross section of the façade on the right edge of the sheet, irregular edges, about 18 ¼ inches high X 20¼ inches wide: and a blueprint reproduction of the watercolor, the cartouche section of the paper cut out, with red pencil highlights and some specification, on a sheet with irregular edges, about 19 X 19½

Location of Documentary Photographs: Arizona Historical Society, Tucson: photograph of façade, ca 1920, with the inscription,” A.D. 1898 Ivancovich Block” clearly visible in the cartouche in the tower

Bibliography: (1) Builder and Contractor, Los Angeles, April 27,1898, Page (1):”John Ivancovich contemplates erecting a brick building, with stone foundation, adjoining the A.O.U.W. hall in Tucson. It will be 75 X 75 feet, with iron and plates glass front.”
(2) Souvenir of Tucson, Arizona (Tucson: R. Rasmessen, no date (about 1905), unpaged, two city views :Ivancovich” is visible in large letters on the side of the building
(3) Tucson, a Short History (Tuscon: Southwestern Mission Research Center, 1986), Ivancovich Block Tower visible in upper photograph on page 135 showing Congress Street, “just before the turn of the century”

Remarks: It is unclear why the two sheets described above ended up in a section of an archive devoted to Henry Trost. But since Trost was part of the partnership of Trost & Rust, formed in September 1901, and since Trost & Rust proposed another Ivancovich Block, to be dated 1902 but probably not built, it is possible that Trost & Rust proposed an alteration of the 1898 Ivancivich Block.

Prepared for the El Paso Public Library by Lloyd and June F. Engelbrecht under a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, 1990.