SUNY Plaza, or the H. Carl McCall SUNY Building, formerly the Delaware & Hudson Railroad Company Building, is a public

office building An office is a space where the employees of an organization perform administrative work in order to support and realize the various goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific du ...

located at 353 Broadway at the intersection with State Street in downtown

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

, United States. Locally the building is sometimes referred to as "The Castle" or "D&H Plaza";"A History of the D&H Building, our SUNY Plaza"
SUNY website prior to the construction of the nearby

Empire State Plaza The Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza (known commonly as the Empire State Plaza, and also as the South Mall or Albany Mall) is a complex of several state government buildings in downtown Albany, New York, Albany, New York. The ...

it was simply "The Plaza". The central tower of the building is thirteen stories high and is capped by an working

weathervane A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an list of weather instruments, instrument used for showing the wind direction, direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ' ...

that is a replica of

Henry Hudson Henry Hudson ( 1565 – disappeared 23 June 1611) was an English sea explorer and navigator during the early 17th century, best known for his explorations of present-day Canada and parts of the Northeastern United States. In 1607 and 16 ...

's '' Half Moon''. The

State University of New York The State University of New York (SUNY ) is a system of Public education, public colleges and universities in the New York (state), State of New York. It is one of the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, larges ...

system is centrally administered from the building. The southern tower's four top floors were once the official residence of the Chancellor of SUNY. The building was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1972 under the name Delaware and Hudson Railroad Company Building. In 1980, when the Downtown Albany Historic District was listed on the Register, it was included as a

contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic dist ...

History

The building and the land it sits on, which is located at the foot of State Street along Broadway, have a varied history. The oldest part of the city, it was here that several of Albany's earliest city halls sat, along with the

New York State Legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the Bicameralism, two houses that act as the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York: the New York State Senate and the New York State Assem ...

in the 18th century. The Albany Plan of Union in 1754, presided over by Ben Franklin, was held here. The land was once along the

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

's banks, over time being infilled, including in 1911 as part of the construction of the Plaza. The city of Albany purchased and consolidated the land ownership that allowed the D&H to build the building and the city to have a park in front surrounded by a street that acted as a loop for the trolleys running on State Street. Public access was allowed to the Hudson River through the central tower and by way of a tunnel to the other side of the D&H tracks. The design by Marcus T. Reynolds was based on the Nieuwerk annex of the Cloth Hall in Ypres, Belgium. Reynolds originally envisioned for the site a triangular park at the termination of State Street with a large L-shaped

pier A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of water and usually juts out from its shore, typically supported by piling, piles or column, pillars, and provides above-water access to offshore areas. Frequent pier uses include fishing, b ...

that would go north for three city blocks that would also support another park with a

bandshell In theatre, a shell (also known as an acoustical shell, choral shell or bandshell) is a curved, hard surface designed to reflect sound towards an audience. Often shells are designed to be removable, either rolling away on wheels or lifting into ...

and docks for yachts and boats. That design would have cost $1 million and was opposed by neighborhood groups as too expensive and grand a design' concerns were also expressed about the problems of railroad traffic. The idea of opening up the view of the waterfront to the public was considered unfeasible and undesirable at the time, as the river was full of commercial docks, wharves, warehouses, and railroads. A plan initiated by the Albany Chamber of Commerce – later published under the title ''Studies for Albany'' – decided upon a public park as a plaza surrounded by buildings that would screen the locomotive smoke, obnoxious odors and sights of the working waterfront from the vista of State Street. The building was the corporate headquarters for the D&H Railroad. It was constructed in sections between 1914 and 1918. The central section, including the five-story block at the north end and the thirteen-story tower, connected by the long five-story diagonal wing, was built in 1914-15. Another five-story wing south of the central tower was constructed in 1915-1918; in 1916-1918 another separate but architecturally compatible and physically connected building was constructed to be the headquarters of the ''Albany Evening Journal'' newspaper. Another section, a warehouse at the north end, was later demolished. Albany DHRR Building Early Design

William Barnes, editor of the ''Evening Journal'', and the Republican boss of Albany had a lavish apartment on the upper floors of his newspaper's building at the south end of the complex. In 1924 the paper was sold to the '' Albany Times Union'' and the building became home to various other businesses including the predecessor to the

New York State Department of Transportation The New York State Department of Transportation'' (NYSDOT) is the department of the Government of New York (state), New York state government responsible for the development and operation of highways, Rail transport, railroads, mass transit sys ...

. After the D&H and ''Evening Journal'' both abandoned the building it sat dormant until November 1972, when the State University of New York (SUNY) announced it would purchase the building as its first permanent home, having occupied One Commerce Plaza as a temporary headquarters since March of that year. SUNY purchased the building in 1973 and interior renovation and construction began that year; they relocated there in 1978. That same year SUNY Chancellor Clifton R. Wharton Jr. decided that the southern tower would house the chancellor's apartment. The total renovation of the Plaza cost $15 million. In 1977 the neighboring Federal Building was purchased and connected to the main building, becoming part of SUNY Plaza. William Hall Associates won the top Owens Corning Energy Conservation Award in the government category for their work in the renovation. The building's facade was restored from 1996 to 2001; it was covered in scaffolding during the five years of the restoration. On February 14, 2020, the building was renamed the H. Carl McCall SUNY Building in honor of Carl McCall, a former chairman of the State University of New York Board of Trustees.

Architecture

From north to south the building consisted of at least six sections. When first built the building had an undecorated warehouse directly behind the old Federal Building built of reinforced concrete. South of where the warehouse stood begins the current structure, beginning with a square tower with four corner turrets. A 5-story tall "arm" diagonally connects the north tower with the 13-story tall central tower. Those sections were built first, in 1914-5. The building was too small for all the D&H employees and so another "arm" was built south of the tower terminating at another square tower with corner turrets to house the offices of the ''Albany Evening Journal''. When finally finished in 1918 the building was long. Today, without the warehouse, the Plaza is long and wide. The Plaza has approximately of office space, with the former Federal Building providing an additional . Though the building is in the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

and / or Collegiate Gothic styles of

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

in stone and masonry, the original railroad company headquarters building sports several touches that tie the building into the Dutch colonial heritage of New Netherlands along the Hudson River Valley in the

17th century The 17th century lasted from January 1, 1601 (represented by the Roman numerals MDCI), to December 31, 1700 (MDCC). It falls into the early modern period of Europe and in that continent (whose impact on the world was increasing) was characterized ...

. The central tower sports an

that is in the shape of explorer

's ship, the '' Half Moon'' while the gables of the entire building bear the shields and coat-of-arms of prominent colonial Dutch families including that of Albany's first mayor, Pieter Schuyler. Other non-gothic elements include the names and dates of prominent printers on the portion / wing of the building used by the former major daily newspaper, the '' Albany Evening Journal'', including

William Caxton William Caxton () was an English merchant, diplomat and writer. He is thought to be the first person to introduce a printing press into Kingdom of England, England in 1476, and as a Printer (publishing), printer to be the first English retailer ...

(1487), the father of English printing. The building serves as the scenic / picturesque terminating vista at the end of State Street in the Downtown Albany Historic District.

Gallery

File:Halfmoonweathervanesketch.jpg, Marcus T. Reynolds' sketch of the weathervane on the central tower File:Pieterschuylercoatofarms.jpg, Mayor Pieter Schuyler's coat of arms File:SUNYAdminBuildingAlbany.jpg, The building's central tower File:2019 SUNY Plaza south end, Albany Evening Journal Building, Albany, New York.jpg, The Albany Evening Journal Building at the south end of the complex File:Old Post Office Albany Pano 2.jpg, The Old Post Office adjacent to the main building, was purchased by SUNY in 1977 and connected to it to become part of SUNY Plaza

References

External links

State University Plaza at SUNY.edu
{{DEFAULTSORT:Suny System Administration Building Office buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Office buildings completed in 1914 Skyscrapers in Albany, New York System administration building Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in New York (state) Terminating vistas in the United States National Register of Historic Places in Albany, New York Skyscraper office buildings in New York (state)>Albany and the early colony of New Netherlands along the Hudson River Valley in the

. The central tower sports an

that is in the shape of explorer

(1487), the father of English printing. The building serves as the scenic / picturesque terminating vista at the end of State Street in the Downtown Albany Historic District.

History

Architecture

Gallery

See also

References

External links

Gallery

See also

References

External links