Deere World Headquarters building in Moline turns 50 years old

When former Deere & Co. Chairman William Hewitt envisioned a new administrative center more than a half century ago, he wanted a building that not only would honor the farm equipment maker's sturdy Midwestern roots but set the tone for the global company that Deere wouldevolve into.

This month, employees at what now is called John Deere World Headquarters in Moline, observe the 50th anniversary of the acclaimed architectural gem. Like the company itself, the building has stood the test of time and even some reinventions of space.

''We're very fortunate, this building is very adaptable to a change of the times," said Craig Mack, Deere's manager of general office facilities.

While the Cor-Ten steel building's exterior has changed very little in its five decades, its interior has had to accommodate the shifts in office functions and culture. Mack recalled how the company's computer once filled the entire ground floor in the East Office building, but today, updated infrastructure must power a computer on every desk. In 1964, the idea of teleconferencing was science fiction lore. But today, Deere employees around the globe meet face-to-face in a Telepresence Room in the West Office building.

Mack, who in 1979 joined Deere mid-career as an architect in the engineering department, sees his role as "maintaining the stewardship of the building'' while overseeing necessary modernizations.

''For the Quad-Cities, this was quite a facility 50 years ago," he said during a recent tour.

In the past six to seven years, the three-building complex has undergone a major overhaul with new energy-efficient windows, carpeting, LED lighting, Wi-Fi capabilities throughout, a telephone system upgrade and reconfigured work spaces.

"We're trying to be as green as we can be but still keep the image of the building," Mack said.

Under construction from 1961 to 1964, the headquarters was built to accommodate the company's growth and unite 900 employees from six separate Deere locations under a single roof. The staff and 250 vanloads of supplies and files moved in on April 17, 1964, but the official grand opening was held June 4-5 of that year.

With 400 guests on hand at the celebration, Deere unveiled themulti-million-dollar center. The event was described as "the greatest gathering of top-flight business personnel in Quad-City history," according to the Davenport Times-Democrat, a predecessor of the Quad-City Times.

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Deere World Headquarters building in Moline turns 50 years old