Society House of the American Society of Civil Engineers

History and architecture

Built in 1896-97 to the French Renaissance Revival style design of architect Cyrus L.W. Eidlitz, the Society House of the American Society of Civil Engineers was the headquarters of the organization founded in 1852. As the engineering profession grew rapidly in the 19th century and its membership increased, ASCE needed a new building, said to be the first such project for a professional American engineering society. After a site was selected on West 57th Street, the wide cross-town thoroughfare with a distinguished history associated with the arts and various organizations for over a century, a limited design competition was held in 1896 and Eidlitz was selected. The Society House is clad in white glazed brick, with intricately-carved Indiana limestone ornament.

The facade, dominated by an enframed elliptical ogee arch on the second story that is surmounted by a tripartite window group, is further embellished by smaller second-story ogee-arched lintels, quoins, and a modillioned cornice topped by a parapet. As its attendance increased, ASCE found it necessary to construct an annex in 1905-06; the design by Eidlitz & [Andrew C.] McKenzie continued that of the original portion. Eidlitz, often linked with commissions from the telephone industry, also produced a wide and distinguished variety of designs for public, institutional, and commercial structures. After ASCE moved in 1917 to new quarters, it retained ownership of its former Society House until 1966.

Due to its close proximity to the “Automobile Row” section of Broadway, the building was leased in 1918-27 as offices and showrooms of the Ajax Rubber Co., one of the nation’s leading manufacturers of pneumatic tires, and in 1927-28 as a showroom for luxury Stearns-Knight automobiles. The 1918 ground-story alteration, by architect Arnold W. Brunner, included re-cladding and creation of wide storefront bays. From 1928 to 1973, this was the location of one of the Schrafft’s chain of restaurants, especially popular in its earlier years as a center for women’s dinners and functions. In 1975, the ground story was leased by Lee’s Art Shop, known for its traditional art supplies and operated by Gilbert and Ruth Steinberg, who purchased the building in 1994.