September 13, 2006
A Landmarked Omaha building! Constructed in 1942 and designed by Omaha architect Rheinholdt Hennig, the concrete block apartment buildings represent a late example of the Prairie style of architecture. Each building is two stories in height with a low pitched hipped roof and wide over-hanging eaves. The central entrances feature an enclosed vestibule on the first floor with narrow band windows. The second floor features open glass vestibules with multi-paned windows in simple geometric forms. An integral planter is located on the left side of the entrance on each building. The strong horizontal lines of the buildings is reinforced with a second floor belt course projecting overhang above the main entrances and casement windows.
The Selby Apartments are significant at the local level under National Register Criteria A for their association with Social History. The buildings were constructed with restrictions imposed by the World War II War Production Board, which nation-wide monitored and regulated building construction according to necessity or contribution to the war effort. War workers or military personnel were given preferential status as renters when the buildings were completed in 1942. Appropriate to its period of construction, the Marcy Street unit contains a former air raid shelter in the basement.
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