Grand Army of the Republic Memorial Location: Chicago, IllinoisOriginal Architect: Shepley Rutan and CoolidgeYear Built: 1897 The Grand Army of the Republic Memorial Hall (GAR) consists of four rooms on the second floor of Chicago Cultural Center. The building was constructed in 1897 as the Chicago Public Library, replacing the public reading room lost during the Great Fire of 1871. The series of rooms known as GAR serve as a memorial to the veterans of the Union Army. GAR begins with a foyer, leading to the Lobby, which is decorated with ornamental plaster lunettes and bas-reliefs commemorating...

Park Avenue Armory Location: New York, New York Original Architect: Charles Clinton Year Built: 1880 BCA was part of the project team developing a preservation approach for the adaptive reuse of Park Avenue Armory, historically known as the Seventh Regiment Armory. Built as both a military facility and a social club, the reception rooms on the first floor and the company rooms on the second floor were designed by the most prominent designers and artists of the day, including Louis Comfort Tiffany, Stanford White, Herter Brothers, and Pottier & Stymus. As the historic preservation consultant...

66 Allen Street Location: New York, New York Year Built: 1886 Original Architect: Paul F. Schoen  Designated as a New York City Historic Landmark in 2012 by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, 66 Allen Street was part of the structure that was the former Edward Ridley & Son Department Store. The store, built in 1886, was designed in the art deco style by Paul F. Schoen and was once the largest department store in Manhattan's Lower East Side BCA was the restoration consultant for the exterior restoration of the structure. BCA conducted a hands-on conditions assessment of...

1307 Locust Street Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Year Built: 1851  BCA was the Historic Preservation Tax Credit (HPTC) consultant for the adaptive reuse of a rowhouse at 1307 Locust Street in Philadelphia, PA. The house, constructed in 1851, had been used since 1906 by the New Century Guild (NCG), a women’s membership organization that provides support to women in the labor force. The NCG used the building as a headquarters and clubhouse in virtually the same manner for over 100 years with very few modifications. In 1993, the building was selected as a prime example of a site of importance...

Asbury Park Boardwalk Location: Asbury Park, New Jersey Year Built: 1929 Original Architect: Warren & Wetmore  The Asbury Park Convention Hall Complex, located on Ocean Avenue in Asbury Park, New Jersey, is comprised of three structures: the Convention Hall, the Arcade, and the Paramount Theater. The complex was constructed between 1929 and 1930 by the City of Asbury Park and was in city ownership until 2004. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. A 2004 historic preservation easement held by the New Jersey State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) ensures the...

Baruch College Baruch College is one of the senior colleges in the City University of New York (CUNY) system. Founded in 1847 as the Free Academy, it was the first institution to offer free higher education to the public in the United States. BCA served as historic preservation consultant on a variety of projects over twenty years. Newman Library The Lexington Avenue Cable Car Company was transformed into the Newman Library by Baruch College in the early 1990s. BCA was responsible for the entire restoration of the brick and terra cotta façade of this Italian Renaissance-style building. Vertical...

Eleven80 Location: Newark, New JerseyYear Built: 1930Original Architect: Frank Grad The Raymond Commerce Building was constructed in 1929 and is characterized by its Art-Deco geometric floral designs on embossed spandrel panels and decorative terra cotta. BCA was the restoration consultant for the conversion of this Art Deco office building into residential space. Restoration included materials conservation, cleaning and repointing, and recreation of missing features. BCA also served as Preservation Consultant for this project, which required Local, State, and Federal approvals, and created...

Emerson College, Little Building Location: Boston, MassachusettsYear Built: 1917Original Architect: Clarence Blackall The Little Building was originally built as an office building, known as “The City Under One Roof”. This 12-story steel-framed building features highly elaborate cast stone cladding, in more than 100 mold patterns, as well as decorative cast iron panels and window frames, with decorative terrazzo and mosaics at the entrances. A comprehensive redevelopment of the building by Emerson College reconstructed the upper floors, while retaining and restoring the first two floors of...

Grand Central Terminal Location: New York, New York Year Built: 1913Original Architect: Warren & Wetmore Grand Central Terminal, designed by Reed & Stem and Warren & Wetmore and completed in 1913, is one of New York City’s preeminent architectural landmarks. The terminal stands as a Beaux-Arts monument to America’s Railway Age and was constructed as the crown jewel of the Vanderbilt Empire’s New York Central Railroad. Designated as a New York City Landmark in 1967 by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), and an Interior Landmark in 1980, Grand Central Terminal...

Michigan State Capitol Location: Lansing, Michigan Year Built: 1871 Original Architect: Elijah E. Myers  The Michigan State Capitol, designed by architect Elijah E. Myers, was completed in 1879. In contrast to its somewhat restrained exterior, the Capitol’s lively interior decorative finishes are executed in a brilliant palette, employing a broad range of colors and painted details. BCA was part of a consulting team charged with evaluating the Capitol’s building systems and the impact of those systems on the building's historic fabric. BCA surveyed the entire interior of the building and conducted...

Moynihan Station, Farley Postal Lobby Location: New York, New YorkYear Built: 1913Original Architect: McKim, Mead & White The James A. Farley Building was constructed from 1909 to 1913 according to the design of William Mitchell Kendall of McKim, Mead & White. The firm's design for a monumental Beaux-Arts building located in the business center of Manhattan features a grand row of twenty Corinthian columns along its principal facade on Eighth Avenue. The building was officially opened as the Pennsylvania Terminal Post Office on September 1, 1914. In 1918, the Pennsylvania Terminal...

Moynihan Train Station Location: New York, New YorkYear Built: 1913Original Architect: McKim, Mead & White The James A. Farley Building was constructed from 1909 to 1913 according to the design of William Mitchell Kendall of McKim, Mead & White. The firm's design for a monumental Beaux-Arts building located in the business center of Manhattan features a grand row of twenty Corinthian columns along its principal facade on Eighth Avenue. The building was officially opened as the Pennsylvania Terminal Post Office on September 1, 1914. In 1918, the Pennsylvania Terminal Post Office...

New Amsterdam Theater Location: New York, New YorkYear Built: 1903Original Architects: Herts & Tallant The New Amsterdam Theatre, home to the legendary Ziegfeld Follies, was designed by Herts and Tallant and opened in 1903. The interior and exterior are designated New York City Landmarks. At its opening, the theater, located on West 42nd Street in Times Square, was hailed as 'The House Beautiful.' The project involved the complete interior and exterior rehabilitation of the building to restore extant historic fabric, provide space for contemporary program needs, and bring the building...

Nissequogue River State Park Location: Kings Park, New YorkYear Built: 1890-1973Original Architects: William E. Haugaard Established in 2001, Nissequogue River State Park (NRSP) was originally the Kings Park Psychiatric Center (KPPC), a hospital complex run by the NY State Office of Mental Health that operated from 1895 through 1996. At its peak in the 1950s, the KKPC campus consisted of approximately 100 buildings from various periods set within a designed institutional landscape. After the hospital closed, the land and remaining buildings were transferred to NY State Parks. As part...

Union Square Pavilion Location: New York, New York The Union Square Pavilion is a beaux arts style limestone structure recently restored and currently being used as a seasonal restaurant. As the historic preservation and conservation consultant, BCA conducted a conditions survey, photographic documentation, probes to determine construction materials, and field testing in order to make recommendations for the Pavilion’s appropriate repair and overall cleaning of the masonry.   SERVICES MATERIALS ...

U.S. Capitol Location: Washington, D.C. Year Built: 1793 - 1811 Original Architect: William Thornton  BCA has been contracted by the Architect of the Capitol to document original decorative painting schemes in several locations throughout the Capitol building, including the first floor Senate Connecting Corridor and the second floor Senate Chamber entrance corridor. The Senate Connection Corridor links the well-known and highly ornate Brumidi Corridors to the central dome of the Capitol, and dates to the 1850s. The elaborate trompe l’oeil paintings that originally adorned the Senate Connecting...

U.S. Custom House, Pennsylvania Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Year Built: 1932-34 Original Architect: Ritter & Shay  Philadelphia’s United States Custom House was designed by architects Ritter & Shay and constructed from 1932 to 1934. The towering art deco structure was a deliberate “pump-priming” investment by the federal government in the midst of the Great Depression; the construction of the Custom House employed nearly 4,000 workers. BCA was hired to evaluate finishes deterioration at the monumental metal windows at the Custom House’s base. The deterioration was particularly...