Designed by architect James Barnes Baker, the four-story Beaux-Arts building was constructed between 1901 and 1902 as the first headquarters to be built specifically for the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York.
The structure is clad with Vermont marble and includes a rusticated masonry base, a short colonnade, and a copper mansard roof. The facade formerly contained statues of John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and DeWitt Clinton, which had been designed by Daniel Chester French and Philip Martiny. The second story contained the Chamber of Commerce's Great Hall, hung with portraits of important individuals from American history. The rest of the building was largely devoted to offices or meeting rooms for the Chamber. Over the years, numerous stores and banks have rented out the ground story. The building's design was largely positively received upon its completion.
The building was constructed after funds were raised from wealthy members of the Chamber of Commerce. Architects Helmle and Corbett remodeled the interior and built a new floor in 1922, resulting in changes to the mansard roof. French and Martiny's sculptures, installed in 1903, were removed in 1926 due to severe deterioration. After the Chamber of Commerce relocated to Midtown Manhattan in 1979, the building stood vacant for ten years. The International Commercial Bank of China bought the building in 1989 and the interior was subsequently renovated by Haines Lundberg Waehler.
The Chamber of Commerce Building's design and scale was largely praised upon its completion. The building was designated a city landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1966 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1973. The building also became a National Historic Landmark in 1977. It is a contributing property to the Wall Street Historic District, an NRHP district created in 2007.
Site
The Chamber of Commerce Building is in the Financial District of Manhattan, on the southeastern corner of a block bounded by Broadway to the west, Liberty Street to the south, Liberty Place to the east, and Maiden Lane to the north. Liberty Place serves as an alley between the Chamber of Commerce Building to the west and the Liberty Tower, facing Nassau Street, to the east.
The building's land lot has a total area of 7,878 square feet (731.9 m2). The lot has a frontage of 83.42 feet (25 m) on Liberty Street and extends 91.25 feet (28 m) deep. The Chamber of Commerce Building is surrounded by numerous other structures, including the Liberty Tower and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Building to the east, 28 Liberty Street to the southeast, 140 Broadway to the south, and One Liberty Plaza to the west.
Architecture
The Chamber of Commerce Building was designed in the Beaux-Arts style by architect James Barnes Baker, a member of the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York, for which the structure was erected. The building was expanded in 1922 by Helmle & Corbett, while the interior design dates to a 1991 renovation by Haines Lundberg Waehler. Charles T. Wills served as the primary contractor for the original work as well as for the 1922 expansion.
The building is four stories high, plus a half-story attic. Its structural system consists of masonry load-bearing walls. According to the New York City Department of City Planning, the interior gross floor area is 30,681 square feet (2,850.4 m2).
Facade
The facade is made of Vermont marble upon a base of rusticated blocks of masonry. The top story is housed in a mansard roof clad with copper. The main facade on Liberty Street contains four vertical bays and is divided horizontally into three sections: ground story, second story, and third and fourth stories. On Liberty Street, the leftmost bay is generally more elaborate than the three rightmost bays. The side facade on Liberty Place is similar to that on Liberty Street, though more simple in design, and is five bays wide.
There are two entrances at the ground story on Liberty Street, both raised slightly above street level. The entrance to the building's ground floor is within a segmental arch in the second bay from the right; it is flanked by two full-height windows, one on each side. A more ornate entrance to the upper levels protrudes slightly from the leftmost bay. The left entrance is topped by an arched pediment with an elaborate carving.[19] Above that entrance was a carving by Karl Bitter, which contained depictions of Ceres and Mercury, two ancient Roman gods that collectively depicted commerce. A carved marble band runs above the ground story.
Front view of the second-story colonnade on the rightmost three bays
On the second floor, in the three rightmost bays facing Liberty Street, there is a small colonnade with six double-height fluted columns topped by Ionic-style capitals. The colonnade contains a pair of columns at each end, as well as two single columns in the center. Within the colonnade's bays, there were three sculptural groups supported on pedestals. The sculptural groups were each 8 feet (2.4 m) tall and depicted DeWitt Clinton (carved by Daniel Chester French) and John Jay and Alexander Hamilton (carved by Philip Martiny). Near the top of the colonnade are oval windows overlooking what was originally the Chamber of Commerce's main room. These windows are supported by brackets, with a frieze of wreaths below each window, as well as swags above. Above the colonnade is an entablature with modillions and dentils beneath it. The leftmost bay on Liberty Street is not included in the colonnade but has an oval window above a large rectangular window. The Liberty Place facade contains similar oval windows at the top of the wall, although they are subdivided by flat pilasters.
The third and fourth floors were originally set back behind the Liberty Street facade, creating a terrace above the colonnade. The third floor is plainly decorated, with paired windows in each bay, while the fourth floor is within the dormer roof. Within the mansard roof, there are three dormer windows each facing Liberty Street and Liberty Place. The dormer windows are topped by decorative hoods and flanked by volutes on the side.
Interior
As designed, the main entrance to the upper levels opened into a large vestibule, which in turn led to a double-height hall measuring 20 by 80 feet (6.1 by 24.4 m). This hall was made of Caen stone and marble. The building's elevators, as well as a stair to the second-floor Great Hall, were placed at the end of this hall. The design of the stair was inspired by the Ducal Palace in Venice and led to the second-story main room and elevator hall. The decoration of the hall's upper half was extremely elaborate. Colored-marble Ionic columns supported a frieze, above which rose a domed ceiling. Between each set of columns, there were tablets that were inscribed with the names of the Chamber of Commerce's officers. At the time of the building's construction, the tablets accommodated names of past officers and could be inscribed with the names of future officers. The rest of the ground floor was rented out as a banking room, the only commercial concern in the building.
In general, the upper stories had decorative woodwork and marble work. On the third and fourth stories were meeting rooms as well as space for the Commerce Club. This portion of the building contained the library, president's room, committee rooms, and offices. Much of the furniture was colonial in design. The president's room was more elaborately decorated than the other rooms on these levels. Following the 1922 renovation, the fourth floor contained an oak-paneled elevator landing and vaulted stair hall. The ceiling of the fourth-floor elevator landing had three octagonal allegorical reliefs depicting commerce, industry, and transportation. The original library on the fourth floor became a banquet room, while another story with a library and committee rooms was added. During the 1991 renovation, the third and fourth floors became executive offices for the International Commercial Bank of China, while the top story became a cafeteria.
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