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Inside the Woolworth Building
After I posted about Taste Architecture’s tour of Temple Court (a.k.a. 5 Beekman), Annika K. Martin tweeted that she was going—so naturally I begged her to take photos so I could post them. Then she asked if I wanted her photos from an Open House New York tour of the Woolworth Building she went on in November. Hell to the yeah! If, like me, you’ve only ever been in the lobby for a few minutes, you’ll find the photos (and her captions) very interesting.
About the writer/photographer: Annika K. Martin lives and works downtown, and especially enjoys the history that infuses this area.
The tenant directory in the ornate lobby.
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The barrel-vault ceiling with Byzantine dome in the lobby. The mosaic tiles are gold leaf.
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The grand staircase in the rear of the lobby.
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The beautiful skylight over the grand staircase. It used to be an actual skylight, letting natural light stream into the lobby, but it has since been roofed over and is now lit by lights instead.
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A detail of the skylight. The building was completed in 1913. “United States” is on the skylight as part of a series of country names listed around the skylight, identifying the major powers of the world at the time.
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Ornate marble carvings near the grand staircase.
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The 47th floor. Or maybe it’s the 44th floor? The floor numbers are not necessarily accurate, because several floors appear to be “missing”—apparently Frank W. Woolworth erroneously told a newspaper that the building was 60 stories tall, but it actually only has 54 stories—rather than correct Woolworth’s statement, the building’s floors were renumbered, with six random numbers removed, so the top floor could be “60.” In any event, the top third of the building is empty and undergoing renovations. Rumor has it some floors will be converted to pricey condominium units.
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Function follows form in the Woolworth Building—and sometimes is left out all together. On the 47th floor, the builders forgot to put in doors to the wraparound terrace—so you have to climb out the window to access it! The bright light is one of the giant lights that shine up onto the building, illuminating the tower at night.
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A view from the 47th floor terrace. Unfortunately, the weather was atrocious.
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On the 47th floor terrace.
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Looking up toward the top of the tower, from the 47th floor terrace. The blue detailing under the ledge is terra cotta.
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Inside Frank W. Woolworth’s private office on the 40th floor. The power was out on that floor, so we really only saw the room when the cameras flashed.
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The ornate coffered ceiling in Frank W. Woolworth’s office.
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Terra cotta detailing in the window arches.
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The massive door to the vault in the basement.
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Inside the vault! Apparently Woolworth had it built with the intention of profiting off the rental of safety deposit boxes in the vault, but the venture never quite took off. The vault is still lined with boxes, though.
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Random boxes and keys are just lying around the vault—it felt a bit like Sleep No More.
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The boiler room. Not the most fascinating part of the tour.
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The pool in the basement is original from 1913. It was part of a larger health club and bath facility that made Woolworth one of the most luxe buildings in the city at the time. The pool and health club were originally all white marble—the gaudy colored tiles and mirrors are from a more recent “update.” The pool was last used in 1998.
11 Comments
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Wow! I especially like the photos from the terrace despite, or possibly because, of the atrocious weather. What an amazing opportunity to be able to tour such an iconic and historic building and to see so much more than the opulent public spaces.
If you want to see a pool (in use) that is all white marble, go to 40 Mercer, it’s gorgeous.
Fascinating! Never knew about the vault in the basement. I used to have business with the actual Woolworth’s when I first started working but I never took time to appreciate the architecture of this grand building.
Fabulous!..used to go swimming there in 1986 ( Jack Lalanne’s health club) when arriving to New York City..The lobby was my highlight of the day….saddly closed to the public since 9/11.
wow. thank you so much for posting these! For several years I have tried to get tickets for that tour but never succeeded. This makes me want to keep trying!
Is there a restaurant in that building?
@Paige: There’s the Woolworth Tower Kitchen (thewoolworthtowerkitchen.com/) and there used to be (and may still be) an affiliated private-event space called The Wooly (tribecacitizen.com/2010/07/20/wickiworld-wooly-bully/)
Spectacular! I’d love to be able to join a tour one day.
Pierre
P.S. Is it true that FW paid cash for the construction or is it one of these canards?
@Pierre Yes, it’s true that Woolworth paid in cash — $13.5 million in total construction costs. That’s a pretty big billfold!
Fabulous photos! Thanks Annika! We need to convince them to have more tours.
We can see the Woolworth Building from our terrace nearby. Some years ago, my wife who worked at Woolworths when she was at college said how much she would like to go up to the lantern at the top. She wrote to the President of Woolworths and asked if she could. He said ‘No’. One day I was idle in my office and I found a phone number for the building and called it. I got a janitor or caretaker, told him what I wanted and he said “Sure give me a call when you want to come and I will take you up”. Some weeks later my brother who lives in Finland was visitng NY and we called and the gentleman took us all right up to the lantern. It was quite an experience. I don’t recalll the number I called or the person who showed us up and I am sure that he would be fired if anyone knew. It was several years ago now and so I doubt he is still there. More recently wedid volunteer with OHNY and were assigned to the 23rd floor of the building where there is an office occupied by one of the OHNY Board members. It is a great shame that this iconic NY building is not more accessible to the public. I guess the same could be said for the Chrysler Building.
The main office for the Manhattan Project was in the Woolworth Building, something I just recently learned when on a private tour of the building led by current building engineer.