Massive investment and preservation efforts have restored the grand stairway of 5 Beekman St. to its former glory.
BY COLIN MIXSON
The New York City Landmarks Conservancy awarded the owners of 5 Beekman Hotel and Residences its prestigious Lucy Moses Preservation Award this week for its exquisite work in restoring the 19th-century building’s beloved atrium and grand staircase, which had been closed off for decades and fell in to utter disrepair.
By the early 2000s, the once-grand staircase was so dilapidated that it looked like a dystopian set from the movie “Blade Runner.”
The local landmark gurus consider the restored atrium a gift not only to hotel patrons and condo residents, but to all New Yorkers with a passion for architectural beauty, according to the president of the Landmarks Conservancy.
“They reclaimed one of the most beautiful buildings in Lower Manhattan for the public to see again,” said Peg Breen. “The atrium is alive and exciting, and when you go in you say, ‘Boy, is this a gorgeous place!’ ”
The 134-year-old, eclectic-style, brick and terracotta building at 5 Beekman St. may appear diminutive compared to more modern construction — such as the soaring condo tower the new owner added at the rear — but at its debut in 1883, the nine-story structure towered over its contemporaries.
But it was a rooftop skylight that flooded the building with natural light that was considered the Beekman Street structure’s crowning architectural achievement, according to Breen.
The grand lobby was stripped of its fixtures and left to decay as the building languished for decades awaiting redevelopment, but now the lobby of 5 Beekman St. gives visitors a taste of the grandeur of its 1883 debut.
“The atrium was pretty innovative because it let natural light into interior offices, and it was considered at the time a grand architectural showpiece,” she said.
Over the years, however, new owners with evolving tastes took possession of the Beekman Street office building, and conforming with the styles of their age, they the tore down the historic wallpapers, eviscerated former storefronts and — perversely — sealed off the glorious, light-filled central shaft of the grand staircase with a layer of plaster.
“There are times when tastes change, and they think they’re being modern and wonderful by wrecking the original design,” said Breen. “Then, in later years, you realize going back to the original design is best.”
The hidden atrium was only known by and accessible to a select few daring architecture, according to Breen, but that all changed when Allan Gross purchased the property in 2011 and took advantage of state and federal preservation tax credits to hire architects Gerner Kornick and Valcarcel to perform extensive renovations on the building that had stood unoccupied for the better part of two decades.
In addition to the atrium, Gross and his partners installed new windows, and recreated storefronts, along with restoring the building’s granite entrance.
The building at 5 Beekman Street was among 12 projects throughout the city that were awarded the prestigious preservation award in a ceremony at the New York Public Library on May 11.
The award recognizes not only achievements in landmark restoration, but also focuses on projects that provide some value to the city at large, according to Breen.
“It’s a gift to the city,” she said.
