Surely working in the Washington Building did not personify living out a psycho-thriller drama.

Nor did workers in the Noell Building listen to a progressive rock band during their shifts.

First memory for some when they think of a winding staircase is Scarlet O'Hara, all draped in finery, standing at the top of the stairs looking condescendingly down at Rhett Butler, who really didn't give a damn.

F. Andrew Leslie immortalized spiral staircases in his psycho-thriller, "The Spiral Staircase." The movie version was directed by Robert Siodmak. Then along comes a musical group from the United Kingdom capitalizing on the same name.

It is doubtful that Dorothy McGuire, who starred in the movie, ever ambled down the spiral staircase in the Washington Building, pictured here, or the one in the Noell Building. The lack of her appearance on these stairs makes them no less significant.

In factories or beautiful homes, spiral staircases save a significant amount of space. With these spiral stairs, like so many features in these historic buildings, style and beauty joined function and form.

In the '70's, there was a re-make of the original movie, "The Spiral Staircase." Some critics were not kind to this re-make.

That will not be the case for the re-make of the American Tobacco Historic District. The very best features of the original campus form the cornerstone for the re-make of these buildings.