10 Wałowa Street in Tarnów, Historical bank building in Tarnów, Poland.
The building at the corner of Wałowa Street was a municipal savings bank and shapes the streetscape with its classical features and prominent entrance facade. The structure follows the standards of banking architecture of that era with thoughtful proportions and quality materials.
The building was erected in 1880–1882 for the Municipal Savings Bank, which bought the plot on Wałowa Street for 6,500 złoty reński and chose Karol Polityński's design. The Sanguszko princes' firm carried out the construction, hampered by friable sandstone and an absent site manager. From 1882 the Casino Society rented the first floor, where its Mirror Hall hosted balls and concerts.
The interior Mirror Hall shows how banking buildings in the late 1800s were designed to project wealth and trustworthiness. The decoration reflects the tastes and ambitions of the business world at that time.
The building stands at the corner of Wałowa Street and Plac Ofiar Katynia, next to the city amphitheatre; the Monument to the Unknown Soldier faces the courtyard entrance and the Poets' Bench sits by the main door. It is the seat of the Municipal Council and the Youth Municipal Council, and also houses the Tarnów Centre for Entrepreneurship, so expect official activity rather than open sightseeing.
The building's ballroom, the Mirror Hall, hosted concerts by Eugène Ysaÿe, Pablo Sarasate, Władysław Żeleński and Ignacy Jan Paderewski before World War II. The Casino Society had pledged benches and mirrors for the hall while it was still under construction in 1881.
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