Delaware and Hudson Railroad Company Building (SUNY Plaza) | |
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| Location | Broadway between Division and State Streets Albany, New York |
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| Coordinates | 42°38′53″N73°45′0″W / 42.64806°N 73.75000°W /42.64806; -73.75000 |
| Built | 1914-1918 |
| Architect | Marcus T. Reynolds |
| Part of | Downtown Albany Historic District (ID80002579) |
| NRHP reference No. | 72000813[1] |
| Added to NRHP | March 16, 1972 |
SUNY Plaza, or theH. Carl McCall SUNY Building, formerly theDelaware & Hudson Railroad Company Building, is a publicoffice building located at 353 Broadway at the intersection with State Street in downtownAlbany, New York, United States. Locally the building is sometimes referred to as "The Castle" or "D&H Plaza";[2][3][4] prior to the construction of the nearbyEmpire State Plaza it was simply "The Plaza".[5][6] The central tower of the building is thirteen stories high and is capped by an 8-foot-tall (2.4 m) workingweathervane that is a replica ofHenry Hudson'sHalf Moon.
TheState University of New York system is centrally administered from the building. The southern tower's four top floors were once the official residence of the Chancellor of SUNY.
The building was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places in 1972 under the name Delaware and Hudson Railroad Company Building.[1][7] In 1980, when theDowntown Albany Historic District was listed on the Register, it was included as acontributing property.
The building and the land it sits on, which is located at the foot ofState Street alongBroadway, have a varied history. The oldest part of the city, it was here that several of Albany's earliest city halls sat, along with theNew York State Legislature in the 18th century. TheAlbany Plan of Union in 1754, presided over byBen Franklin, was held here.[2] The land was once along theHudson River's banks, over time being infilled, including in 1911 as part of the construction of the Plaza.[8] The city of Albany purchased and consolidated the land ownership that allowed the D&H to build the building and the city to have a park in front surrounded by a street that acted as a loop for the trolleys running on State Street. Public access was allowed to the Hudson River through the central tower and by way of a tunnel to the other side of the D&H tracks.[9] The design byMarcus T. Reynolds was based on the Nieuwerk annex of theCloth Hall inYpres, Belgium.[2][10]
Reynolds originally envisioned for the site a triangular park at the termination of State Street with a large L-shapedpier that would go north for three city blocks that would also support another park with abandshell and docks for yachts and boats. That design would have cost $1 million and was opposed by neighborhood groups as too expensive and grand a design' concerns were also expressed about the problems of railroad traffic.[11] The idea of opening up the view of the waterfront to the public was considered unfeasible and undesirable at the time, as the river was full of commercial docks, wharves, warehouses, and railroads. A plan initiated by the Albany Chamber of Commerce – later published under the titleStudies for Albany – decided upon a public park as a plaza surrounded by buildings that would screen the locomotive smoke, obnoxious odors and sights of the working waterfront from the vista of State Street.[10]
The building was the corporate headquarters for theD&H Railroad.[2] It was constructed in sections between 1914 and 1918. The central section, including the five-story block at the north end and the thirteen-story tower, connected by the long five-story diagonal wing, was built and occupied in 1914-15. Another five-story wing south of the central tower was constructed in 1915-1918; in 1916-1918 another separate but architecturally compatible and physically connected building was constructed to be the headquarters of theAlbany Evening Journal newspaper. Another section, a warehouse at the north end, was later demolished.[4]
William Barnes, editor of theEvening Journal, and the Republican boss of Albany[4] had a lavish apartment on the upper floors of his newspaper's building at the south end of the complex. In 1924 the paper was sold to theAlbany Times Union and the building became home to various other businesses including the predecessor to theNew York State Department of Transportation.[12]
After the D&H andEvening Journal both abandoned the building it sat dormant until November 1972, when the State University of New York (SUNY) announced it would purchase the building as its first permanent home, having occupiedOne Commerce Plaza as a temporary headquarters since March of that year. SUNY purchased the building in 1973 and interior renovation and construction began that year; they relocated there in 1978. That same year SUNY ChancellorClifton R. Wharton Jr. decided that the southern tower would house the chancellor's apartment. The total renovation of the Plaza cost $15 million. In 1977 the neighboringFederal Building was purchased and connected to the main building, becoming part of SUNY Plaza. William Hall Associates won the topOwens Corning Energy Conservation Award in the government category for their work in the renovation.[13]
The building'sfacade was restored from 1996 to 2001; it was covered inscaffolding during the five years of the restoration.[14]
On February 14, 2020, the building was renamed the H. Carl McCall SUNY Building in honor ofCarl McCall, a former chairman of the State University of New York Board of Trustees.[15]
From north to south the building consisted of at least six sections. When first built the building had an undecorated warehouse directly behind the old Federal Building built of reinforced concrete. South of where the warehouse stood begins the current structure, beginning with a square tower with four corner turrets. A 5-story tall "arm" diagonally connects the north tower with the 13-story tall central tower. Those sections were built first, in 1914-5. The building was too small for all the D&H employees and so another "arm" was built south of the tower terminating at another square tower with corner turrets to house the offices of theAlbany Evening Journal. When finally finished in 1918 the building was 660 feet (200 m) long.[16] Today, without the warehouse, the Plaza is 630 feet (190 m) long and 48 feet (15 m) wide. The Plaza has approximately 200,000 square feet (19,000 m2) of office space, with the former Federal Building providing an additional 90,000 square feet (8,400 m2).[13]
Though the building is in theGothic Revival and / orCollegiate Gothic styles ofarchitecture in stone and masonry, the original railroad company headquarters building sports several touches that tie the building into theDutch colonial heritage of [|Albany]] and the early colony ofNew Netherlands along theHudson River Valley in the17th century. The central tower sports an 8-foot-tall (2.4 m)weathervane that is in the shape of explorerHenry Hudson's ship, theHalf Moon while the gables of the entire building bear the shields and coat-of-arms of prominent colonial Dutch families including that of Albany's first mayor,Pieter Schuyler.[11] Other non-gothic elements include the names and dates of prominent printers on the portion / wing of the building used by the former major daily newspaper, theAlbany Evening Journal, includingWilliam Caxton (1487), the father ofEnglish printing.[12]
The building serves as the scenic / picturesqueterminating vista at the end of State Street in theDowntown Albany Historic District.
clinton square albany.
clinton square albany.
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