NiMo's art deco building is site of 1998 'glorious workplaces' gala

SYRACUSE--On Saturday evening, November 21, Niagara Mohawk's magnificent Art Deco lobby will be the site of this year's "Glorious Workplaces" gala, a black-tie event presented by the Onondaga Historical Association (OHA).

Cocktails at 7 p.m. and an elegant dinner at 8 will be served by Pascale's Wine Bar & Restaurant, and a 1930s swing-era band will provide appropriate entertainment for dancing and reminiscing. The occasion celebrates the building at 300 Erie Blvd. West, with its unique architecture, and the people who work there.

Once again, a commemorative book, designed by Holly Scherzi and filled with Jim Scherzi's photos of this well-preserved landmark, as well as historian Barbara Rivette's research in the form of archival photos and text from the OHA collection, will be presented to each guest.

Syracuse China will donate the design and production of a very limited-run, collectible charger plate picturing details of the Art Deco-style building. Each guest also will receive one of these collectibles.

Karen Goodman is chair of the event.

The Art Deco style was popular between 1920s and 1940s and was used extensively in clothing and furniture design, advertising illustration, painting, and sculpture. Its most dramatic examples are magnificent buildings constructed during this period. Other notable Art Deco buildings in New York State are the Empire State Building, the Waldorf Astoria, Radio City, the Chrysler Building in New York City, and Buffalo City Hall.

Melvin L. King, Syracuse architect, with Bley & Lyman of Buffalo as consulting architects. designed the Niagara Mohawk building. Central New York's most lavish example of this style. The building was constructed for the Niagara Hudson Power Corporation, Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation's predecessor. The J.D. Taylor Construction Co. of Syracuse built it; construction was completed and the company moved in in 1932.

Joseph Cashier, of Syracuse, installed the sculpture, named in a city-wide contest the "Spirit of Light." It is said to have been a pioneering use of stain less-steel sculpture sculpture in exterior design. The stainless steel used in the sculpture was made by Crucible Steel's Midland, Pa., plant, and Mackwirth Bros. of Buffalo fabricated the sculpture.

The Ettlinger Co., also of Buffalo, produced the four vitrolite (fused glass) panel murals in the building's lobby: these are stylized representations of actual locations representing separate phases of the business--generation, transmission, illumination, and gas.

Identified by its 28-foot sculpture, which stands 80 feet above the entrance and has a 20-foot wingspread, the building is also enhanced by special lighting. In addition to the helium tubes and incandescent lighting that illuminate the building's facade at night, as well as its interior, extensive use of stainless steel and black glass in its construction (unusual even in the heyday of Art Deco) catch the sun and light it up even in the daytime.

The most unusual feature of the lighting design, however, was in the comers and center panels of the tower, which rises to a height of 114 feet. Narrow, vertical rooms were walled with 16,000 pounds of heat-resistant glass which contained thousands of watts of flood lights. The panels got so hot that the first drops of an evening rainstorm sizzled when they struck the glass. The tower lights were removed during World War II, and use of most of the exterior lighting was discontinued.

A brochure produced by Niagara Mohawk, in response to the many people who stop by to admire the building's design, describes its impact on the community: "Niagara Mohawk's office building was an object of great civic pride when it was completed in 1932. Postcards bearing its picture headed the best-seller list for many years." Commenting on the building's architecture, the brochure continues: "While the building was the ultimate expression of modernism and the future, few people noted that its set-back style had roots in one of the most ancient architectural forms, the ziggurat, or stepped pyramid, which originated in pre-Christian countries of the eastern Mediterranean. That style, which not only made good structural sense but conformed to the building codes of New York City, is an interesting example of a very old principle meeting a modern purpose."

When it was built, the utility's headquarters was in the heart of Syracuse's business district. Its site is also significant in another way. The city's first grist mill was located on Onondaga Creek at West Genesee Street.

When cooking gas came from coal the coal was shipped son the Erie Canal, which ran close by. Even when the canal was filled in in 1926, it was still a good location for the company. Today, Niagara Mohawk's headquarters occupies the entire area from Onondaga Creek to Franklin Street, and from Erie Boulevard to West Genesee Street.

Seating for the gala event on November 21 at Niagara Mohawk is limited to 200. Tickets are by reservation only, and are $175 per person. For tickets, call OHA at (315) 428-1864 or fax (315) 471-2133.

Copyright Central New York Business Journal Nov 09, 1998
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