George L. Damon

[wylk]

George L. Damon also created an interesting two-part round door. His US patent 635,668 describes a door such that by using two semi-circular halves with a removable mullion in the center, less swing space is required when opening the door and the hinges need only support half the weight (though there are twice as many hinges). Most interestingly each side has its own combination lock and either side can be opened independently and result in the complete opening of the door. So it's like having two doors, and a malfunction of one will not prevent complete opening for normal business. A minor inconvenience is that the central mullion should be removed and set aside to completely clear the opening.



The only example I know of is currently SpringHill Suites in Baltimore at 120 East Redwood Street (12 and 16 South Calvert Street), http://www.marriott.com/hotels/trave...n-inner-harbor and http://www.emporis.com/building/spri...ltimore-md-usa. The original bank entrance appears to have been 16 Calvert Street; the building is marked 1900 and 1905 on the east side, though there is a claim of 1898 and “survived the great fire of 1904” on flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/monumentcity/4592415380). A short history is at http://archive.mdhs.org/library/baltarch/Page14.html -- opened 1899 as Guardian Trust and Deposit Company; 1901 absorbed by Maryland Trust Company; burned 1904, refurbished 1905; after 1984 a couple of other banks took over the building before finally becoming a hotel. See http://1800recycling.com/2011/08/repurposed-bank-vaults for more images. The second image above is from http://www.stvinc.com/project.aspx?id=84. The vault is small, 247 square feet (about 15.7 feet per side if square) and is shown with a table and eight or nine chairs. It also has a vestibule, a second set of rectangular doors, and a day gate. Unfortunately the locks are missing; they appear to have been automatic. This door was also briefly discussed here in a thread "Two-Part Tound Door".