Have you noticed the prominent addition to the historic Jarmulowsky Bank Building on Orchard Street?
On Saturday, crews hoisted a giant dome and positioned it atop the 12-story building, which has been undergoing a painstaking restoration for several years. Until 1990, a grand 50-foot tall tempietto was the most distinguishing characteristic of the tower at 54 Canal St./9 Orchard St. A previous owner had removed the dome, but now it’s been re-fabricated and moved into position on the roof. Here are two photos taken by TLD reader Alexei Griebsch:
Here’s what the Landmarks Preservation Commission had to say about the dome in 2009 when the Jarmulowsky was designated as a NYC landmark:
The building’s rounded corner culminated, until the early 1990s, in a two-story-high circular pavilion with a round dome ringed by eagles and topped by a pinnacle, which was probably inspired by Athens’ Choragic Monument of Lysicrates (334 BC), the basis for New York’s Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument (Stoughton & Stoughton with Paul E.M. DuBoy, 1897-1902, a designated New York City Landmark) and for the crown of McKim, Mead & White’s Municipal Building of 1907-14 (a designated New York City Landmark). This feature accentuated the corner’s vertical thrust, affirming the building’s monumental status on the Lower East Side and drawing attention to it from Straus (then Rutgers) Square two blocks to the east, the neighborhood’s historic center of Jewish life.
The Jarmulowsky Bank Building is owned by DLJ Real Estate Partners. Plans have shifted back-and-forth in recent years for the property, which at various times has been the future site of a boutique hotel or an office building. The restoration is being overseen by local architect Ron Castellano.
