2 Columbus Circle

Location

Description

Two Columbus Circle opened in 1964 as the Gallery of Modern Art. It was built by Huntington Hartford, heir to the A&P supermarket fortune, to house his own collection and serve as a bulwark in his passionate fight against abstract art. The 1964 Gallery of Modern Art was designed by Edward Durell Stone1. The building was designed in the romantic modernist style, and boasted marble cladding, Venetian motifs and a curved facade2. Ada Louise Huxtable, then the architecture critic of the New York Times, memorably characterized the structure as resembling "a die-cut Venetian palazzo on lollipops3. "In 1969, the museum was given to Fairleigh Dickinson University and converted into the New York Cultural Center, with the purpose "to present the contributions of all races." Fairleigh Dickinson University ran the building until 1975 and held many art exhibitions. In 1980, the Gulf & Western Foundation deeded Two Columbus Circle as a gift to the City of New York, on the condition that the City use the building solely as "its principal public facility for visitors’ services and cultural affairs." The city used it as a visitors center and headquarters for the Cultural Affairs Department until the agency moved out in 1998; the space then remained vacant until 2006, when the structure was redesigned and converted into the Museum of Arts and Design4. In 2007, the New York Preservation Archive Project (NYPAP) undertook a documentation project focused on the 10-year, grassroots-led advocacy campaign to preserve 2 Columbus Circle. This project is meant to provide preservationists and future historians with a primary resource to help them identify key elements of the campaign. Kate Wood, Executive Director of LANDMARK WEST!, a leader and close inside observer of the campaign constructed a timeline for significant events associated with the building and the campaign to save it. Much of the focus of this work is aimed at assisting others in extracting lessons for preservation campaigns to come. This project is available online at http://www.nypap.org/2ccwww.nypap.org/2cc

Current Status

Two Columbus Circle was converted into the Museum of Arts and Design in 2006. The structure was redesigned with a new facade by Brad Cloepfil of Allied Works Architecture. The Museum is scheduled to open in 2008.

Preservation Campaigns

2 Columbus Circle's Preservation History

June 1996 - A four member designation committee (composed of Reverend Thomas F. Pike, Professor Sarah Bradford Landau, Charles Sachs and Vicki Match Suna) on the Landmarks Preservation Commission decided that 2 Columbus Circle did not possess enough architectural or historical significance to warrant a public hearing to discuss the building's potential for landmark designation5.

As the date set to convert the building into the new Museum of Arts and Design approached, several Landmarks commissioners joined the fight to have a hearing on the topic6.

2005 - Edward Durell Stone's 2 Columbus Circle was redesigned with a new facade by Brad Cloepfil of Allied Works Architecture, and converted into the Museum of Arts and Design7.

Advocacy

Many preservation and civic-minded organizations launched campaigns to oppose the redesign of 2 Columbus Circle, and to rally for landmark designation of the structure. These groups appealed to the Landmarks Preservation Commission, organized rallies, petitions, and letter writing campaigns. The preservation battle was covered extensively by the press8.

Groups Involved

March 7, 2000 - The Committee for Environmentally Sound Development, a neighborhood group, led a preservation charge9.

April 14, 2000 - New York Landmarks Conservancy, Historic Districts Council, and Municipal Art Society co-sponsored a rally in front of 2 Columbus Circle10.

October 12-13, 2003 - The New York Times printed a 2-part, 2300-word Op-Ed piece on 2 Columbus Circle by Tom Wolfe, in which he argued the significance of Edward Durell Stone as an architect and 2 Columbus Circle as architecturally significant11.

November 24, 2003 - The Preservation League of New York State listed the structure on its "Seven to Save" register12.

May 24, 2004 - The National Trust for Historic Preservation added 2 Columbus Circle to the list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places13.

Landmark West!

June 4, 2003 - Landmark West! wrote to Landmarks Preservation Commission Chair Robert Tierney, reinforcing the fact that both the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Preservation League of New York State had sent him letters calling for a public hearing on 2 Columbus Circle. The letter quoted the famous 1963 New York Times editorial on the destruction of Pennsylvania Station: "We will probably be judged not by the monuments we build but by those we have destroyed." The letter also invoked what would become a catch phrase for the 2 Columbus Circle campaign, "What more will it take?" 14

May 2004 - Landmark West! launched a "Save 2 Columbus Circle" website (www.save2columbus.org – no longer active) and sent out thousands of fundraising letters, introducing the Save 2 Columbus Circle logo15.

May 2005 - Landmark West! hired the Advance Group, a government relations firm, and Source Communications, a public relations firm, to work on getting the Landmarks Preservation Commission to hold a public hearing on 2 Columbus Circle.

October 8, 2005 - Scaffolding began going up around the building. Soon after, Landmark West! mounted the 2 Columbus Circle "ShameCam," a webcam positioned in an apartment window at 25 Central Park West with a view south towards 2 Columbus Circle. The "ShameCam" stayed in operation until a new building under construction at 15 Central Park West blocked its view16.

The New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects collaborated with Landmark West! in the effort to obtain a public hearing for 2 Columbus Circle.17

June 21, 2005 - The building was placed on World Monuments Fund's Watch List of "100 Most Endangered Historic Places" list18.

June 30, 2003 - Municipal Art Society wrote a letter to Landmarks Preservation Commission Chair Robert B. Tierney, and stated that a "new understanding of the building’s significance in the history of 20th century architecture in America had inspired the Society’s Preservation Committee to re-examine its long-held position. The Committee determined last week that the building is not only deserving of a landmark designation hearing; it is the opinion of the Committee that the building should be designated a New York City landmark." 19

The Modern Architecture Working Group joined the effort to get a public hearing for 2 Columbus Circle20.

Significance

Many have drawn comparisons between the 2 Columbus Circle controversy and the historic demolition of Pennsylvania Station. The preservation battle involving 2 Columbus Circle has awoken preservation interests to the continuous threat to historically and architecturally significant structures. Preservation forces have been reminded that Landmarks legislation is only as effective as its implementation, and many have begun to closely consider the losses that have occurred as a result 21. The 2 Columbus Circle campaign was also one of the first preservation battles to embrace and fully utilize modern technology in its advocacy efforts.

Archives, Personal files, and Ephemera

• 1. Dunlap, David. "For 2 Columbus Circle, a Growing Fan Club," New York Times, August 18, 2005.
• 2. <www.nyc-architecture.com>.
• 3. Dunlap, David. "For 2 Columbus Circle, a Growing Fan Club," New York Times, August 18, 2005.
• 4. Wood, Kate. "The Campaign to Preserve 2 Columbus Circle: A Chronology." New York Preservation Archive Project. 2007.
• 5. Dunlap, David. "For 2 Columbus Circle, a Growing Fan Club," New York Times, August 18, 2005.
• 6. Ibid.
• 7. "The New 2 Columbus Circle," The Gothamist, May 2, 2008.
• 8. Wood, Kate. "The Campaign to Preserve 2 Columbus Circle: A Chronology." New York Preservation Archive Project. 2007.www.nypap.org
• 9. Dunlap, David. "On Columbus Circle, Hints of an End to an Enigma," New York Times, March 7, 2000.
• 10. Wakin, Daniel J. "Effort to Preserve a Monolith," New York Times, April 14, 2000.
• 11. Wolfe, Tom. "The Building that isn't there," New York Times, October 12-13, 2003.
• 12. Preservation League of New York Press Release, November 24, 2003.
• 13. National Trust's Press Release, May 24, 2004. www.nationaltrust.org.
• 14. Wood, Kate. "The Campaign to Preserve 2 Columbus Circle: A Chronology." New York Preservation Archive Project. 2007.www.nypap.org
• 15. Ibid.
• 16. Ibid.
• 17. Ibid.
• 18. World Monuments Fund Press Release. June 21, 2005.
• 19. Municipal Art Society letter to Robert Tierney, June 30, 2003.
• 20. Wood, Kate. "The Campaign to Preserve 2 Columbus Circle: A Chronology." New York Preservation Archive Project. 2007.www.nypap.org
• 21. Wood, Anthony C. Preserving New York: Winning the Right to Protect A City's Landmarks (New York: Routledge, 2007). Epilogue.