14th street and union square preservation plan - Columbia ...

SEVENTH AVENUE TO UNIVERSITY PLACE
The area contains continuing reminders of 14 th Street’s involvement with the
commerce of the avenues that interest it and is defined mostly by medium scale
commercial architecture from the 1880s-1930s with the exception of several institutions
and large mid-twentieth-century apartment buildings.
THE SALVATION ARMY’S NATIONAL & TERRITORIAL HEADQUARTERS
The Salvation Army’s National and Territorial
Headquarters buildings strove to change the public’s
negative perception of the organization, integrate
social and charitable aspects with its religious past, and
physically reflect the Salvation Army as a progressive
organization. These goals were accomplished with
innovative materials such as cast stone and the selection
of modern architect Ralph Walker to design a new
headquarters influenced by the German Expressionist
style. (Figure 17)
(FORMER) MACY’S SITE
The former Macy’s building, designed by architects Schickel & Ditmars
in 1898, located at 56 West 14 th Street, is the last remnant of Macy’s
presence on 14 th Street where the store got its start and went from a
small dry goods store to full-fledged department store occupying the
ground space of eleven buildings in this area. (Figure 19)
(FORMER) GEORGE C. FLINT CO./LATER COWPERTHWAIT &
CO. FURNITURE STORE
This five-story Renaissance Revival cast iron building was designed by
architects William Field & Son in 1875 for the furniture emporium of
George C. Flint & Co., later becoming Cowperthwait & Co. Furniture
Store in 1894. It was erected at a time when 14 th Street was part of
“Furniture Row”. (Figure 20)
19. MACY’S
SITE.
(FORMER) 14 TH STREET STORE
The (Former) 14 th Street Store, located on the southeast
corner of 14 th Street and Sixth Avenue, was designed
by the architects Cady, Burg, and See for the major
department store developer Henry Siegal. The site was
chosen for its location near the stop of the Elevated
Train, and because it was the site of the Macy’s store.
This building is notable, not only for its connections
with a well-known architecture firm and developer,
but also for its architectural dialogue with Chicago’s
Carson Pirie Scott Building, which was commissioned
at the same time as the 14 th Street Store by the same
developer, but designed by Louis Sullivan. The building
also currently marks the southern-most point of the
Ladies’ Mile on Sixth Avenue and continues to represent
a transitional piece of architecture moving from the
arcaded commercial style of the late nineteenth-century
towards a more modern expression. (Figure 18)
17. SALVATION ARMY HQ.
18. 14TH STREET STORE.
THE DIX BUILDING
Designed by Louis Korn and completed in 1907 for developer Samuel Weil, this building
located at 116 West 14 th Street has become to be known as the Dix Building, for long-term
occupant and progressive employer
Henry A. Dix, dressmaker. While Dix
maintained an “open shop” (which
employs non-unionized workers), his
business practices were progressive
in a time that employers, especially in
the garment-making industry, treated
employees poorly and kept appalling
work conditions. Dix was one of the
first employers to instate the fiveday
work week without reduction
of wages, as well as paid vacation
time. In 1923, at the age of 72, Dix
retired and handed his business over
to his employees, whom all became
shareholders. (Figure 21)
20. COOPERWAITH STORE. 21. DIX BUILDING
SIGNIFICANT RESOURCES: SEVENTH TO AVENUE TO UNIVERSITY PLACE
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