The rebirth of the Dwyer Warehouse over five years ago on St. Nicholas Avenue and 123rd Street might be an example on how to restore a lost landmark when much of it had already been destroyed. At top is an old photo of the warehouse which orignally had the Irish name of O'Reilly but would change ownership and become the Dwyer Warehouse. Efforts to restore the building several years ago ended badly with a fatal accident that took the life of one of the workers on the site and the entire structured was deemed unstable and mostly demolished. The lower photo (
via Starts and Fits) shows the building back in 2005 when not much of the base was left. Today, a mixed-use residential structure sits on on the site of the old landmark and the architects have made a modern translation with a nod towards the designs of the past (middle photo).
As the city receives proposals for the Corn Exchange Building on the April 22nd deadline, this line of thinking might be something that the Landmarks Commission should really consider if a modern direction gets chosen. The Walls Street Journal posted an article this weekend that highlights various thoughts from folks in the community which range from a public pool to rebuilding the East 125th Street landmark into a historic hotel:
LINK. Ideally, the East Harlem building over by Park Avenue will be restored to its original state but only time will tell if that will ever happen.
Archival photo courtesy NYPL
Thanks for reminding us of this example of considerate architecture, also I recall this building was a runaway success in terms of units sold compared with other new developments. I hope the building has some old photos of the original Dwyer warehouse in the lobby to remind residents of what stood here before and where their building got its interesting façade.
ReplyDeleteThe WSJ Corn Exchange article is very interesting, but I read some revisionist history, which unfortunately is not uncommon in Harlem. It reads the Corn Exchange was the victim of building department demolition against the preservationist Ethel Bates and her culinary school. The real history is Ethel Bates had many years to develop this building but was not capable and while in her charge the building was neglected to the point of becoming structurally unsafe and ultimate demolition. We should learn from this debacle of mismanagement and keep the Corn Exchange and its redevelopment far away from this kind of mismanagement.
ReplyDeleteI think a hotel idea is genius as the corn exchange reminds me of the Chelsea Hotel and would make a fabulous hotel with such excellent transportation in and out of Manhattan right at its doorstep.
ReplyDeleteI hope this building is NOT a "poster child" when I comes to rebuilding
ReplyDeletethe Corn Exchange buildIng on 125th. Street & Park Avenue.
HC: Just curious -- what exactly are you faulting them for?
ReplyDeleteI am referring to the materials used in modern buildings.
ReplyDeleteI believe in a "Green" rebuilding concept by reusing old
materials that can saved from going to landfills for landmark
status buildings.
Part of the original brick warehouse exists to this day. It is visible on the east side of the building and runs up to the third floor. There it joins with the darker prefaced brick and dovetails with the buildings new steel framework. This and leasing the basement to the DCC are the requirements for the 25yr tax abatement.
ReplyDelete