There used to be a website that tracked buildings that were once obviously Pizza Huts. There may still be one today, but there used to be, too. As it turns out, Fort Wayne has its own version of that game: instead of pizza joints, it’s pyramids. Four of them scattered across the city all share the same unmistakable shape! Each started its life as a bank.
Fort Wayne’s pyramid banks were a deliberate branding move. The idea came from People’s Trust, founded as The People’s Trust and Savings Company in 19021. In 1971, the bank hired George Nelson -best known as a leading designer for Herman Miller furniture2 and a key figure in American modernism3– to create a branch design no one could miss4.
Nelson delivered exactly that. Borrowing a page from the recognizable orange roofs of Howard Johnson’s, he centered his design around a bold pyramid form. Nelson’s People’s Trust banks were intentionally closed-off, with windows reduced to a narrow band just beneath a steep roofline. Outside, simple earthen berms replaced traditional landscaping5. Nelson’s treatment gave the structures a clean, almost sculptural presence that stood apart from anything else in the Summit City6.
Even before it hired George Nelson, though, People’s Trust was well-known for its fetching, modern branches. Around 1960, it built five banks “under the clock,” one of which featured wide arches and a geodesic dome. It was at 524 East Coliseum Boulevard, about where Panera Bread stands today7.
People’s Trust didn’t just dabble in bold design. Instead, it went all in: 1971 saw the rollout of the five pyramid branches. Seven years later, the bank aimed even higher when it broke ground on a sleek new group of skyscrapers downtown! Unfortunately, that aspiration came at a cost: as a recession formed, financial troubles forced People’s Trust to merge with Indiana Bank in 19838.
The combined entity emerged as Summit Bank, but had to cut down on its ambitious plans. Instead of three enormous towers, a single crown jewel finally opened its doors as One Summit Square. Today, the 442-foot tower is known as the Indiana Michigan Power Center. It’s the loftiest building in Fort Wayne and the fourth-tallest in Indiana.
Summit merged into NBD Bank of Gary in 1993, then NBD became part of Bank One in 20029. Two years later, the bank folded into Chase10. None of the five old pyramids operate as bank branches these days, but four of them still stand. A fifth at the Marketplace of Canterbury on St. Joe Road was torn down around 2010 to make way for Dunkin’ Donuts.
Of the four banks left over, I’m most familiar with the one at 3101 North Anthony Street. As long as I’ve known it, the building’s been home to Chung King Express, a Chinese restaurant with a drive-through window. For many years, it stood just behind a barrel-vaulted Scott’s supermarket I frequented. I often picked up Hunan Beef and Shrimp Lo Mein from Chung King. It was great food for a cheap college student like me!
There was also another People’s Trust pyramid on West State. Just east of a plaza with Dollar Tree, Kroger, Rent-A-Center, and Belmont Beverage, the low-slung pyramid practically demanded my attention! By the time I knew it, the building was home to Mr. Wimp’s, a coin and jewelry shop tucked beneath that unmistakable roof. Today, it appears to be empty.
The pyramid bank at 217 East Tillman Road was a new one to me. It’s a used car dealer now, just East of an old Atz Ice Cream parlor. Man, my family used to frequent Atz, albeit at a different location. Triple-scoop turtle sundaes were always too much, but they were so good! Maybe you remember them too.
Finally, Fort Wayne’s fourth pyramid bank stands at the corner of Fairfield and Packard. It’s called the Health Hut today but was abandoned when I lived in town. A quick Google search shows that Health Hut supplies a variety of vitamins, minerals, and supplements. Unfortunately, the place was closed when I drove past.
Fort Wayne’s pyramid banks were never meant to blend in. More than fifty years later, they still don’t! The names on their doors have changed and their uses have shifted, but old buildings remain anchors to various corners of the city from a very specific moment in time. They’re relics of a bank that believed architecture equalled identity and that bold design could make an impression that lasted. Judging by the way they still catch peoples’ eyes today, People’s Trust’s experiment worked.
Sources Cited
1 Summit Bank (n.d.). U.S. Bank Locations. Web. Retrieved April 25, 2026.
2 Indiana Department of Natural Resources (2026, February 6). The Pyramid Branch of People Trust Bank, now a Chinese restaurant, is located at 3101 N Anthony Blvd. in Fort Wayne. It was designed by architects [Status]. Facebook.
3 Martin, D. (2013, August 24). Charles Pollock, Designer of Popular Office Chari, Dies at 83. The New York Times [New York]. Web. Retrieved April 25, 2026.
4 Peoples Trust Bank / George Nelson Co. / 1971 (n.d.). LOUPEBLOG. Web. Retrieved April 24, 2026.
5 (See footnote 2).
6 (See footnote 2).
7 People’s Trust and Savings Company, Fort Wayne, Indiana, circa 1960 (2020, January 23). Joan Hostetler Collection. The Indiana Album. Web. Retrieved April 25, 2026.
8 (See footnote 1).
9 (See footnote 1).
10 (See footnote 1).
That 1960 structure on Coluseum Blvd was a landmark! As kids, we called it the pineapple bank, and tried to get our mother to bank there. But no, my mom was strictly a Lincoln National girl.
The funny thing is that I don’t actually remember the 1971 branches, probably because they were not around where I lived or worked. I sure miss the days of local banks.
I wish I’d gotten a chance to see the pineapple bank. Maybe I did! Aerials seem to show it was torn down around 1990, the year I was born.
I was familiar with the pyramid banks at W State, St Joe Road, and N Anthony, but don’t recall ever seeing the others. I didn’t even know there was an Atz on Tillman Road! We always went to a different one.