Standard Oil Building sits in as Daily Planet for ‘Superman & Lois’

For the first time in almost a decade, DC Comics’ original power couple will be gracing our TV screens once again, starring in their new CW series, “Superman and Lois.”

Editor’s note: Although the Standard Oil Building was used in the original promotional posters for “Superman and Lois,” Chicagos Metropolitan Tower was used for exterior shots for the series pilot episode.

The CW awarded the new ‘Superman and Lois’ show, along with the Walker Texas Ranger reboot, starring ‘Supernatural’s Jared Padalecki, directly to series in mid January.

Starring Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch as the tetilur Lois and Clark, the newest installment to The CW’s superhero franchise will be an historic first for Metropolis’ finest.

This will be the first Superman-themed program celebrating what happens after the pair’s happily ever after. There’s no rudimentary origin story for Superman’s heroics or the Man of Steel’s relationship with the Daily Planet’s ace newshound Lois Lane. 

In this significantly original Superman and Lois series fans will also get to see the two as parents.

When the “Superman and Lois” series posters were shared earlier this summer, my excitement for the reboot continued to grow. Not only did fans receive a preview of the two leads, but we also got a glimpse at the Daily Planet Building.

It’s no secret that I’m a huge Daily Planet fan, so it should come as no surprise that I’ve scoured Google Earth in search of the shows latest Metropolis based headquarters for the newspaper. I searched through Boston, Atlanta, Vancouver, Chicago and finally landed in New York City.

Along with the rest of the series, it appears a fresh new look for the Daily Planet was also a necessity. The Standard Oil Building at 26 Broadway in Downtown Manhattan started construction in 1922.

The 802,000-square-foot building used to house the headquarters of John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company. The landmarked building located at Bowling Green in the Financial District was also the home address of Alexander Hamilton and his family in the late 18th Century. 

The Daily Planet Building. How could anyone gaze at its familiar ringed globe and not be moved? Built in 1826, this fabled structure had its humble beginnings as little more than a three-story converted warehouse nestled among the brownstones and storefronts of Metropolis’ young, flourishing business district. However, its modest facade bellied the Planet’s towering ambition and commitment to journalistic integrity. Its basement printing presses wired tirelessly, day and night, to bring the ink-stained news of the city, the nation, and the world into the hands of every citizen of Metropolis. And as our great city grew, so too did the Daily Planet, both in its physical presence and worldwide reputation — serving as a constant reminder that truth, justice and the American way must always be safeguarded.

Superman “What Price Tomorrow” (2011-New 52)

The Standard Oil Building began as a 10-story structure in 1885 – just 21 years after the Civil War. As Standard Oil grew, so did the building, eventually stretching to 29 stories.

The building expanded again in 2011-2012 with the addition of a two-story gymnasium, which was desperately needed by one of the three New York City public schools that now occupies seven lower floors.

Architectural significance

Landmarks Preservation Commission September 19, 1995

Designed by Thomas Hastings of the architectural firm of Carrère & Hastings, with Shreve, Lamb & Blake as associated architects, the building is notable for its distinctive tower, one of the southernmost spires in the Manhattan skyline, and the sweeping curve of the Broadway facade, which is punctuated by the arched openings of the main entrance portal and flanking large windows that dominate the street wall as it fronts Bowling Green. The irregular pentagonal site, one of the largest parcels assembled in lower Manhattan to that time, dictated both the building’s distinctive shape and complicated construction history. The powerful sculptural massing and arresting silhouette of the Standard Oil Building represent the new set-back skyscraper forms that emerged during the early 1920s. Limestone curtain walls facing Broadway, Beaver Street, and New Street are enriched with large-scale neo-Renaissance ornamentation that enhance the building’s picturesque quality. The building, erected as Standard Oil approached its fiftieth year of operation, reinforced the presence of the oil industry giant in the heart of New York City’s financial and shipping center. From the headquarters building at No. 26 Broadway, John D. Rockefeller’s associates directed the Standard Oil Company that monopolized the American oil industry, endured a sensational anti-trust decision, and retained a dominant role in the international oil business. Although Standard Oil’s successor firm sold the structure in 1956, the building at No. 26 Broadway has remained a prominent address in lower Manhattan.

Statistics

• Location: 26 Broadway at Beaver Street
• Year completed: 1928
• Architect: Thomas Hastings (Carrère and Hastings) with Shreve, Lamb and Blake
• Floors: 29
• Style: Renaissance Revival
• New York City Landmark: 1995

Facts

• The lobby, lined with pilasters and columns, sports the names of the founders of the oil company, including John D. Rockefeller. The Standard Oil Clock shows hours with the letter ‘S’ and minutes with the ‘O’.
• Directly across Broadway from the Cunard Building, the Standard Oil Building’s lower facade follows the curve of the street while its pyramid- topped tower is aligned with Manhattan’s street grid uptown.
• Before the post-war building boom obscured the Standard Oil Building, the lantern atop its tower could be seen by ships entering New York harbor.
• 26 Broadway was built as the headquarters for the New York branch of Rockefeller’s broken-up Standard Oil Trust Org., the Socony (the latter-day Mobil Oil).
• The southwest corner of the lot was occupied by a separate Produce Exchange Bank Building until the main tower was nearly finished. It was demolished in Oct-Nov 1923 to make way for a wing of this building.
• Arturo do Modica’s “Charging Bull” sculpture is located just across the street from the structure.

Previous Daily Planet Building stand-ins