Jewish Young Men's and Women's Association - Rochester, NY
Posted by: 
sagefemme
N 43° 09.632 W 077° 36.276
18T E 288252 N 4781935
Now privately owned and operated under the name Harro East, this complex at 400 Andrews Street, Rochester, NY 14604, continues to operate an athletic club. The spaces that used to house dormitories are now executive office spaces.
Waymark Code: WMDTNB
Location: New York, United States
Date Posted: 02/23/2012
Views: 5
The Jewish Young Men's and Women's Association s first organized as The Judean Club in 1895, primarily as a cultural organization. The Jewish Young Men's Association was created in 1907 from those origins in response to the community's need for a social and recreational organization. This building was the second location to be built, but I am not yet able to identify where the building is that preceeded it. It ceased to function as The Jewish Young Men's and Women's Association in the 1970s, when a new Jewish Community Center was constructed in Brighton. The current owner has converted it for use as offices, theater and health club.
This building was designed by Rumanian born local architect Siegmund Firestone, in 1931, in Georgian Revival style, "ornament and detailing adapted to the design of a large-scale multi-story institutional building. The building is "also noteworthy for its diverse collection of well-preserved eclectic interiors and "period" rooms." (
visit link) Other buildings to his credit include the Monroe County Hospital and Infirmary and the Bausch and Lomb Company buildings.
The complex is made up of three buildings: the administration building, the theater/auditorium and the handball court building.
The administration building (default picture) is in a flatiron "V" shape with a four bay front, and two identical fourteen-bay wings. "The base is of dressed limestone ashlar capped with an elliptically bevelled water table. Exterior walls of tapestry brick extend from the first floor to the top of the structure ending under the building's classical stone entablature and brick and stone balustrad. The classically styled main entrance contains large wooden double doors with stone surrounds flanked by two engaged smooth stone columns, a transom of leaded glass and an elaborate circular fanlight about. Limestone and cast iron are used repeatedly for decorative elements including lintels and sills, window and door surrounds, water tables, beltcourses and entablatures." The modern canopy somewhat detracts from the impressiveness of the entrance.
The Renaissance and Georgian-inspired two-story flat roofed brick theater/auditorium building has a three-bay facade facing Chestnut Street that "contains two sets of four wooden doors with small multi-paned wooded frames and mullions set in stone surrounds with keystones and flanked by smooth stone pilasters which extend from a stone beltcourse to the building's classical stone entablature. The beltcourse extends around the building forming a base for eight additional theater windows which are larger than those in the main facade and placed symmetrically in the east and west elevations. The building is capped with a brick parapet wall with stone coping set off with a cast-stone "Star of David" in a centered pediment over the main entrance. The interior of the theater is embellished with classical, Elizabethan, Georgian and Adamesque details. The main auditorium area, balcony and stage with Proscenium arch contains decorative elements including columns, consoles and decorative panels." I will try to add a picture of the theater entrance soon. (
visit link)
The final component is a five story handball court building tucked behind these other two more decorative and prominent buildings. There are almost no windows in this building, which was designed with 20 handball courts on each floor.