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Village Survey
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New York Telephone Company Central Office
Surveyor's Name: Michele Boyd
Date of survey: July/August 2000
Building Address: Barstow Road and Welwyn Road
Block/Lot: 032/005
Building type: Telephone substation
Owner's name: Verizon
Building name: NA
Historical name: New York Telephone Company Central Office
Date of construction: 1929
Architect: Unknown
Building dimensions: Not available
No. of floors: Two with basement and attic
Decorative features: Ornamental brickwork in Art Deco motifs
Siding material(s): Iron-spot brick and granite
Roof style: Hipped with gabled dormers at western end of building; remaining roof is flat
Roofing materials: Copper
No. of entrances & placement: Front entrance at west elevation on Barstow Road; side entrance at north elevation on Welwyn Road
Chimneys & placement: None
Architectural integrity: High; this building is in excellent condition with minor exterior changes
Architectural style: Art Deco
Description: The Telephone building is five bays wide, ten bays long, and two stories tall. Its plan is rectangular with a small open courtyard at the back of the building. Despite its low massing, a strong vertical emphasis created by its Art Deco features, including the pilaster-like projections that dominate the Barstow and Welwyn façades. Orange iron-spot brickwork is laid in geometric and stylized patterns typical of the Art Deco style, including chevron and zigzags (see Fig. 2). A transom with zigzag panes is over the front door (the door is not original). The original four-over-four steel double-hung windows are extant. The hipped copper roof is set back behind a parapet topped with stone copings. The gabled Art Deco dormers are situated over the receding surfaces of the central bays and underscore the style’s verticality. Low granite stairs lead to the main entrance.
Historical information: Construction was completed in November 1929. The new building was designed to service Great Neck, Port Washington, Manhasset, and the Imperial central office districts. Lines and desks were installed about December 15, 1929. The business office opened to the public on April 28, 1930. Service was scheduled to begin May 19, 1930. The building included “a manual switchboad of the latest type with positions for thirty operators.” It also included office space for local staff and a public business office. The design was intended to allow for additions of up to six stories, and space at the back of the lot was meant for the erection of an annex when the growth of the community required an increase in service. Effort was made to ensure that the design conformed to the “high class residential character of Great Neck” and to preserve the trees on the site.
The architectural firm of Vorhees, Gemelin and Walker designed many buildings for the New York Telephone Company during the late 1920s, and further research should be undertaken to determine if they designed this building as well.
Sources:
“Telephone Building Open for Inspection May 27,” Town of North Hempstead Record, 15 May 1930, p. 1.
Frank Spooner, Central Offices of the New York Telephone Company from 1881-1928, pp. 50-54 (Great Neck Public Library).
Telephone Building
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