Municipal Asphalt Plant

History and architecture

The Municipal Asphalt Plant, built in 1941-44, was designed by the prominent New York City architects Ely Jacques Kahn and Robert Allan Jacobs for the Office of the Borough President of Manhattan. The asphalt pla.nt originally consisted of the mixing plant—the main building which is still standing—and storage buildings for raw materials which were transported by means of a conveyor to the mixing plant. The parabolic arch form of the mixing plant building is an exciting visual highlight for motorists traveling along the East River Drive. Constructed of reinforced concrete, which is admirably suited to the arch form, the structure was an innovative and radical design for its day—the first of its kind built, in the United States.

This plant replaced another asphalt plant on the site which had opened in 1914 to produce asphalt for the streets of Manhattan. The site on the East River at 91st Street had been originally selected because it provided a waterfront location near the geographical center of the borough, thus minimizing the tracking of raw materials through the streets. By the late 1930s the original asphalt plant was outmoded. The character of the surrounding neighborhood had changed from semi-commercial to residential, but the location was still felt to be the most appropriate site for a new asphalt plant.

A new facility, planned as part of a project to upgrade the cast River Drive, was initiated by Borough President Stanley M. Isaacs. Although it was to be an industrial structure, a standard industrial design was not desired; the Borough President wanted the new Municipal Asphalt Plant to be given an architectural treatment that would blend harmoniously with the Hast River Drive and the residential developments in the vicinity. The internal design and arrangement of the machinery was planned by the Department of Borough Works of the Office of the Borough President of Manhattan.

This design was presented to Kahn and Jacobs who felt that the parabolic arch of the mixing plant was the most efficient form to house the plant equipment.