Geraldine Schottenstein Academic Center (Yeshiva University)

 university, 1911_construction

5-story Neo-Classical/Beaux-Arts school building completed in 1910. Designed by Henry Francis Ballantyne as the Packard Commercial School (which later became Packard Junior College), it was taken over by Yeshiva University for the inaugural class of its Stern College for Women in 1954.

The facades are clad in rusticated limestone at the base (with grey granite plinths and water table), with beige brick above. The north facade along 35th Street spans nine bays, while the west facade on the avenue has three. At the ground floor each bay consists of a large round-arch with a scrolled keystone, excepting the east end bay on 35th, which has a squared service entrance with metal double-doors framed by round granite pillars carrying a limestone entablature surmounted by a circular window. The other bays have recessed tripartite window arrangements behind iron fencing, although the easternmost arch has been filled by a roll-down metal gate. The main entrance is in the south bay on Lexington Avenue, with wood-and-glass double-doors recessed in the arch. A stone band course caps the ground floor.

The 2nd floor is split into two levels, with the lower brick section having short paired windows in each bay, recessed between the brick piers and intermediate piers separating the windows. Decorative panels on the piers have carved ornament depicting various shields and urns on the west facade, while the north facade has simple outlined brick panels. Above a thin stone band course, there is a 3-story colonnade of soaring brick pilasters along the 35th Street façade that became engaged stone columns on Lexington Avenue. Many window panes in each bay flood the interiors with plentiful natural light. Above a stone cornice, the top floor has three narrow window openings in each bay, with a smaller cornice at the roof line. Rooftop equipment is visible at the west end of the roof.