Blount Building, Chicago school style office building in Pensacola, United States

The Blount Building is a seven-story Chicago school style office building at 3 West Garden Street, at the southwest corner of Palafox Street in Pensacola. Its exterior is composed as a classical column: the first and second floors form the base, the third through sixth floors the shaft, and the seventh floor the capital. It has Chicago windows, and the upper floors keep their original exterior while the ground floor has been altered for retail.

The building was commissioned by attorney William Alexander Blount in 1906, following the destruction of the previous Blount-Watson Building in a fire on Halloween night in 1905. This reconstruction using modern materials and techniques reflected the desire for a more durable and safer structure.

The structure represents the advancement of early 20th-century commercial architecture in Florida, combining marble, granite, brick, and fireproof iron with steel girder construction methods.

The building is now part of One Palafox Place and houses commercial office spaces that are accessible mainly during business hours. Keep in mind that this is a working business building, so access to certain areas may be limited.

The three-part column composition is best read from Palafox Street, where the full height is visible. The first floor exterior has been altered over the years for different retail needs, while the upper floors keep their original Chicago windows. In 1989 the University of Florida Press guide called it a fine example of turn-of-the-century commercial architecture in Pensacola.