Church of Scientology of New York (New York City, New York) | church of Scientology, Neoclassical (architecture), 1912_construction

 church of Scientology, Neoclassical (architecture), 1912_construction

7-story Neo-Classical church/office building completed in 1912. Designed by Harde & Short as a clubhouse, it was built for the White Rats of America, an organization formed by vaudeville performers, led by George Fuller Golden, as a labor union to support the rights of male performers. The organization was disbanded by 1920, however. The building's facade was redesigned in 1917 by Thomas W. Lamb. The Church of Scientology in New York has occupied this building since 1980, when it was acquired from the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It was renovated with a new grand opening in 2004.

The building's symmetrical facade is clad in limestone, organized into seven bays, with a grey granite water table. The ground floor has a central main entrance, with revolving doors framed by a molding with the address number at the top. The bays on either side are shorter, with recessed brass-and-glass doors. A suspended canopy of black and gold metal with the lettering "CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY OF NEW YORK" covers the three middle bays.

The five middle bays are recessed with double-height openings at the 2nd-3rd floor, separated by Corinthian columns. The infill is glass with slender metal framing dividing the glass into many small panes. The end bays have tall recessed windows at the 2nd floor, with molded surrounds above simple stone panels, and topped by small, dentiled cornices. At the 3rd floor there are smaller windows with projecting stone sills above ornament including shields with crosses and swags. A small band of Greek fret motif runs above these windows. The windows of the end bays are framed by paired, slender pier just slightly projecting from the facade, with simple capitals. A large entablature caps the 3rd floor. The frieze has roundels at each end, and carved lettering in the middle reading "CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY", with a projecting flagpole at the center. Above is a dentil course and cornice.

The 4th-6th floors have seven matching bays of single-windows. Narrow piers, just slightly projecting, have flat Corinthian capitals at the 6th floor, and between the 5th & 6th floors there are round arches rises from the tops of the 5th-floor windows with horizontal lines forming a triangle inside a circle, meeting wedges descending from the bases of the 6th-floor windows, which have metal Scientology logos attached at each bay. Above a broad band course, the top floor also has single-windows, and is crowned by a white-painted, projecting roof cornice with thin paired brackets. A large video board is mounted on the southeast corner of the roof, oriented toward Times Square.

The Church of Scientology is an organization devoted to the practice and the promotion of the Scientology belief system. The Church of Scientology International is the Church of Scientology's parent organization, and is responsible for the overall management, dissemination and propagation of Scientology.

Every Church of Scientology is separately incorporated and has its own local board of directors and executives responsible for its own activities and corporate well-being. The first Scientology church was incorporated in December 1953 in Camden, New Jersey, by American science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard. Its world headquarters are located in the Gold Base, located in unincorporated Riverside County, California.

www.scientology-newyork.org