Adams Dry Goods Store Building (New York City, New York)

 office building, 1902_construction, Beaux-Arts (architecture)

6-story Beaux-Arts office building completed in 1902. Designed by DeLemos & Cordes as a department store for Adams & Company, it is clad in buff-colored brick with limestone and terra-cotta trim. The highly-ornamented Adams Dry Goods building was one of several grand department stores constructed along Sixth Avenue between West 14th and West 23rd Streets around the turn of the century.

The 6th Avenue facade is divided into nine bays; they retain the original iron-framed storefronts. Projecting slightly from the building line, these storefronts are supported from below by scrolled brackets and contain large plate-glass windows separated by slender Ionic mullions which support a frieze of paterae and a shallow molded cornice. Each bay has glazed transoms set flush with the building line which are separated by short fluted mullions. The transoms are topped by a continuous frieze and a shallow cornice which caps the base.

The center bay and the 2nd bay from each end of the facade are flanked by broad square piers which form the base of three double-height arched stone entranceways that project from the building line. The molded arch of the center entranceway is topped by a helmeted female head set in foliated sprays, while the arches of the other two entranceways are topped by lion's heads. All three have four wood-and-glass doors with transoms and sidelights. Each entranceway is coursed at the 2nd floor and further accented by two carved medallions inscribed with the interlaced letters "ADG". Paired scrolled brackets support deep bowed cornices above each of the entranceways. The arched openings contain large windows with curved iron mullions and delicate tracery in a circular pattern. The remaining 2nd-floor bays, separated by coursed brick piers that give the effect of rusticated stone, contain large tripartite wood-framed pivoting windows with glazed transoms set in molded iron enframements. The southern end bay is wider than the other bays; the window openings at each floor of that bay are divided into four parts rather than three. The 2nd floor is capped by a terra-cotta frieze of bezants and acanthus bundles.

Coursed brick piers rise from the 3rd to the 5th floor and articulate the 2-bay wide pavilions formed at each end of the facade. The end bays have 4-part (at the southern end) and tripartite (at the northern end) windows at each floor set in terra-cotta surrounds with molded mullions. Spandrels between the 3rd and 4th floors are ornamented by a key-pat-tern frieze. The 5th-floor bays contain arched window openings separated by ornate terra-cotta mullions. The corner piers are highlighted at the 5th floor by ornate over-scaled cartouches surmounting plaques inscribed with "1900". The two bays which are 2nd from each end of the facade have single molded terra-cotta window surrounds with flat keystones at the 3rd and 4th floors. In each bay, the modillioned lintel of the 3rd-floor surround forms the sill of the 4th-floor surround, which has a bracketed triangular pediment containing a cartouche. The 5th floor of each of these bays has short tripartite window openings with flat terra-cotta mullions which contain single-pane windows.

Colossal engaged Ionic columns set on large pedestals rise from the 3rd to the 5th floor and separate the five center bays of the facade, distinguishing them from the end pavilions. Clad in terra-cotta, the columns are smooth at the level of the 3rd floor and fluted above. The columns superimpose a recessed triple-height arcade formed by the five bays. The 3rd & 4th floors of each bay have tripartite windows with slender Ionic mullions and have wide stationary panes at the center. Paneled spandrels separate the 3rd and 4th stories and festooned spandrels separate the 4th and 5th floors of the five center bays. The molded arch at the 6th floor of each bay has a scrolled keystone and terra-cotta spandrels with rondels. Each arch contains large windows with curved iron mullions.

The 5th floor is surmounted by a paneled terra-cotta frieze and paired brackets which support a dentiled and modillioned cornice. The cornice is accented by small lion's heads above each bracket and is scalloped at the top. The 6th floor has coursed brick piers dividing the bays, and each bay has narrower piers separating three window openings with single-pane windows. The brick parapet wall has rough facing; ornamental brick and terra-cotta blocks topped by finials which once extended the piers above the roof line have been removed. A portion of each small corner turret is remaining.

The West 21st Street facade, 200 feet wide and divided into nine bays, has a design similar to that of the Sixth Avenue facade, although the overall articulation of detail is somewhat simplified. There is a 1-bay return of the Sixth Avenue storefront at the eastern end of the facade. The rest of the base has banded piers supporting a frieze and a shallow cornice. The 2nd bay from the eastern end of the facade retains elements of the original iron storefront which matches the design of the Sixth Avenue storefront. The bezant frieze above the 2nd floor of the Sixth Avenue facade continues around the corner to the 2nd bay from the eastern end of the West 21st Street facade; the rest of the 2nd floor is topped by a plain brick frieze and the continuous shallow cornice. Coursed brick pilasters with Ionic terra-cotta capitals rise from the 3rd to the 5th floor and separate the six center bays. These bays are given the same design treatment as the end bays of the Sixth Avenue facade. The bays which frame the six center bays are designed to relate to the corresponding bays on Sixth Avenue, although the brick wall surface is smooth rather than coursed and the pedimented lintels of the 5th-floor windows contain scallop shells rather than cartouches. The western end of the facade has a narrow bay with single-pane slit windows. The frieze, cornice and 6th floor of the West 21st Street facade are identical in design to the Sixth Avenue facade. A portion of a 7th-floor penthouse is visible above the western end of the facade and other brick roof structures are visible at the center of the facade.

The West 22nd Street facade, 200 feet wide, is identical to the West 21st Street facade. A few of the ground-story bays have brick infill below the transom level, and there are multiple metal roll-down garage doors. The rear wall, which extends through the block from West 21st Street to West 22nd Street, is clad in red brick and has no significant architectural features. There is a small light shaft near the center.

In the first decade of the century there would have been flagpoles rising from the attic with flags waving in the wind; below would be crowds of shoppers. One of the attractions was a central court rising to a stained glass dome (now removed). Outside Sixth Avenue was covered by a noisy elevated railroad. In 1907, Samuel A. Adams sold Adams & Company to the Hugh O'Neill Company which managed the department store directly to the south; the O'Neill-Adams Company was thus established. The new management had planned to connect the two buildings with an underground tunnel, but this was never carried out.

O'Neill-Adams was out of business by the beginning of World War I. During World War I, the building was used by the U.S. Army for storage purposes. In the 1920s, the building was used by the Hershey Chocolate Company for candy manufacturing. In the 1930s, the building was converted for offices, a warehouse, and a factory for the Central Time Clock Company. It last renovated in 1998 with Barnes & Noble as the ground floor tenant.

The ground floor is now occupied by Trader Joe's grocery, Michael's arts & crafts store, and DXL Big & Tall clothing store.

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