Chamber of Commerce Building (New York City)

This article is about the building in the borough of Manhattan. For the residential skyscraper in the borough of Brooklyn, sometimes also referred to as the Chamber of Commerce Building, see 75 Livingston Street.
Chamber of Commerce Building

(2013)
Location 65 Liberty Street
Manhattan, New York City[1]
Coordinates 40°42′32″N 74°0′35″W / 40.70889°N 74.00972°W / 40.70889; -74.00972Coordinates: 40°42′32″N 74°0′35″W / 40.70889°N 74.00972°W / 40.70889; -74.00972
Built 1900-01[2]
Architect James B. Baker[3]
Architectural style Beaux-Arts[3]
NRHP Reference # 73001214[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP February 6, 1973
Designated NHL December 22, 1977[4]
Designated NYCL January 18, 1966

The Chamber of Commerce Building is located on 65 Liberty Street between Nassau Street and Broadway in the Financial District in Manhattan, New York. The building's architect was James Barnes Baker who designed the building with a Beaux-Arts style. The building is about four stories tall built with Vermont marble and includes a terrace and a mansard roof. The first floor of the building contains the Great Hall where the walls of the hall are filled with portraits of important individuals from American history. Some of the portraits include John Cruger, the first president of the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York, Alexander Hamilton, Ulysses S. Grant and many others.

The building was designated a New York City landmark in 1966, and a National Historic Landmark in 1977.

Original and reprographic architectural drawings for this building are held in the Department of Drawings & Archives at Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University

Construction and Renovation

Since the opening of the chamber in 1902, the building had gone through several renovations. The first renovation was in 1903 where sculptors Daniel Chester French and Philip Martiny sculpted statues of John Jay, Alexander Hamilton and Dewitt Clinton on the pillars at the front of the building. The next renovation was in 1921 when architects Helmle and Corbett remodeled the interior of the building and built a new floor resulting in changes to the mansard roof. The final renovation occurred between the years 1990 to 1991 by Haines Lundber Weahler after the International Commercial Bank of China bought the building. The new owner wanted to renovate the building as years of pollution and rain had caused irreversible damages to the building. The building as of 2016, does not have the three pillars of the three men anymore as the sculptures were too damaged to be fixed.

History of the Building

The Chamber of Commerce Building was built for the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York to hold their meetings. The building was crowd funded by members of the Chamber as well as those who supported the Chamber. The building was funded by people such as John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie and J. Pierpont Morgan.

See also

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 National Park Service (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission; Dolkart, Andrew S. (text); Postal, Matthew A. (text) (2009), Postal, Matthew A., ed., Guide to New York City Landmarks (4th ed.), New York: John Wiley & Sons, ISBN 978-0-470-28963-1, p.13
  3. 1 2 White, Norval; Willensky, Elliot; Leadon, Fran (2010), AIA Guide to New York City (5th ed.), New York: Oxford University Press, ISBN 9780195383867, p.59
  4. "New York Chamber of Commerce". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. 2007-09-10.


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