Celebrating 100 Years New York State Education Department Building
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years100 h NEW YORK STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT BUILDING 1912–2012 A GUIDE TO THE EDUCATION BUILDING The University of the State of New York • The State Education Department 89 Washington Avenue, Albany, New York 12234 • www.nysed.gov THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK Regents of The University MERRYL H. TISC H , Chancellor, B.A., M.A., Ed.D. ............................. New York AN th ONY S. BO tta R , Vice Chancellor, B.A., J.D. ............................... Syracuse RO B ER T M. BENNE tt , Chancellor Emeritus, B.A., M.S. ..................... Tonawanda Jam ES C. DA WSON , A.A., B.A., M.S., Ph.D. ...................................... Plattsburgh GER A L D INE D. Cha PEY , B.A., M.A., Ed.D. ........................................ Belle Harbor HA RRY PH ILLIPS , 3rd, B.A., M.S.F.S. .................................................. Hartsdale Jam ES R. TA LLON , Jr., B.A., M.A. ....................................................... Binghamton RO G ER TILLES , B.A., J.D. ..................................................................... Great Neck Cha RLES R. BEN D I T , B.A. .................................................................... Manhattan BE tt Y A. ROS A , B.A., M.S. in Ed., M.S. in Ed., M.Ed., Ed.D. ........ Bronx LES T ER W. YOUN G , Jr., B.S., M.S., Ed. D. ........................................... Oakland Gardens CH RIS T INE D. CE A , B.A., M.A., Ph.D. ................................................ Staten Island Wad E S. NORWOO D , B.A. ................................................................... Rochester Jam ES O. JA CKSON , B.S., M.A., Ph.D .................................................. Albany Kath LEEN M. CA S H IN , B.S., M.S., Ed.D. ........................................... Brooklyn Jam ES E. CO tt RELL , B.S., M.D. ........................................................... New York T. AN D REW BROWN , B.A., J.D. ............................................................ Rochester Commissioner of Education President of The University of the State of New York JO H N B. KIN G JR. Executive Deputy Commissioner VA LERIE GREY The State Education Department does not discriminate on the basis of age, color, religion, creed, disability, marital status, veteran status, national origin, race, gender, genetic predisposition or carrier status, or sexual orientation in its educational programs, services and activities. Portions of this publication can be made available in a variety of formats, including braille, large print or audio tape, upon request. Inquiries concerning this policy of nondiscrimination should be directed to the Department’s Office for Diversity, Ethics, and Access, Room 530, Education Building, Albany, NY 12234. Most photos courtesy Thomas Premo, layout and design by Spencer Bowen. 12-008 CDC A GUIDE TO THE EDUC A TION BUILDING The University of the State of New York The State Education Department 89 Washington Avenue Albany, New York 12234 www.nysed.gov Revised 2012 1 Three Dozen Columns the Empire State. This means leader- View it first, if you will, as ship of the total range of educational a building — an uncommonly activities within the State’s bounda- attractive one. Then come inside ries — grade schools, high schools, and explore at leisure what is there. colleges, libraries, and museums — It stands in sharp contrast to its and the continuing education for adults near neighbor, the New York State nowadays so important. Capitol. This was the intention when Initially the State Library occu- it was erected. An Education Build- pied the second floor in its entirety. ing, its planners felt, ought to radiate The State Museum, with a profusion an aura of culture and spiritual values, of natural history and anthropological as distinct from the affairs of govern- displays occupied the fifth floor. In its ment and politics. It should “generate hay day, the Museum tallied as many intellectual energy.” as 225,000 visitors in a year. Guided The State Education Building, groups often were taken to admire the then, is neoclassical in style, with the Regents Room and Chancellors Hall. Grecian note dominant. Its most salient Students who were subject to the outward feature is the colonnade of 36 Regents examinations would like to giant pillars — the longest colonnade get a glimpse of the places where they in the United States and presumably were printed and shipped out to the in the world. These columns belong to schools. These rooms were protected the Corinthian order of architecture, by barred doors and windows, and somewhat modified. kept under security restrictions against Because of its many-pillared clas- any possible advance “leak” of ques- sicism upon a hillcrest, this structure tions. Today the printing and shipping of the 20th century readily brings is housed in the Cultural Education to mind the Parthenon with which Center. In 1976, the State Museum Pericles crowned the heights of ancient moved to the Cultural Education Athens. The parallel is not too far- Center and in 1978, the State Library fetched in yet another sense: It tends followed. the flame of the quest for knowledge In 1980, the services of architects and wisdom which first glowed fleet- Quinlivan, Pierek and Krause were ingly during the Periclean Golden Age. obtained to evaluate the Education It is a monumental symbol of the Department’s space needs and to American ideal of education for all provide a comprehensive, long-range people. But this building is vastly program for the building’s future more than a shrine, temple, or symbol. use. In their five-volume report, The interplay of sunlight and shadow was in the architect’s mind when It is the working home of the New QPK developed and recommended a he planned the colonnade with a southern exposure. This view along York State Education Department, of program of 14 self-contained projects the arcade behind the columns shows how well his idea worked. It also The University of the State of New that could proceed sequentially to displays the elaborate tiled and terracotta ceiling. Detail of the modified York, and of the Board of Regents. expand, fully use and upgrade the Corinthian capitals may be seen at the top. Behind its serene columns throbs the building to present-day standards. heart of the educational system of 2 3 In 1983, the services of Einhorn Yaffee Prescott, Architecture and Engi- neering, P.C., of Albany were obtained to design two of the main building projects — conversion of the fifth floor space formerly occupied by the State Museum to office use, and replacement of the electrical/mechanical systems throughout the building. In subsequent years, other promi- nent architectural and engineering firms were engaged in various structural, mechanical, electrical and code projects to bring the National Historic Register building up to 21st century standards. Notable amoung these, in 1995, the ar- chitectural firm of Collins and Scoville took on the task to restore and redesign the massive second floor rotunda and former State Library spaces. The Dream of Dr. Draper Ground was broken in 1908, and the building was dedicated in October 1912. The cost, including purchase of site, approximated $4 million. When opened it was lauded as “one of the 12 most beautiful buildings in the world.” Whatever the basis for that extravagant claim, it was undeniable the first major governmental building ever erected for exclusively educational purposes. Hence it was widely hailed as The longest colonnade in history was a bold stroke on the part of the architect, marking the dawn of a new era in education. Its dedication brought to Albany a Henry Hornbostel. He further flouted tradition by making the entablature myriad of prominent educators, some from foreign countries. That occasion was above it abnormally thick. The doors at the basement end, in foreground, a personal triumph for Dr. Andrew Sloan Draper, New York’s first Commissioner are entrances to Chancellors Hall. of Education. If one man could be said to have fathered the building, it was he. Although weakened by illness so that he came to the stage in a wheelchair, Dr. Draper gave the dedicatory address, in which he said: “This building recognizes the fact that the culture of the soul is a work which the State is not only to consent to and encourage, but which it is to aid and promote.” 4 5 The Architecture Paris-trained, he was a daring They planned a building of suf- innovator who liked to add his own The building was born of the ficient majesty, beauty, and repose to ideas to classical architecture. He unification of the State Education speak its purpose to the world. They was noted for solving problems that Department. Prior to then, the school thought it should “impress the popular stumped other architects, and for affairs of New York State had been mind with the important place which winning competitions. handicapped by an awkward split in education holds in the thought and The long colonnade was the authority. There existed a Department policies of the Empire State.” It ought bold stroke that clinched the Albany of Public Instruction, responsible for to be of an architectural style that contract — a dramatic instance the elementary schools only. Wholly would retain its charm through the of Hornbostel’s flair for artistic separate from that was the Board of shifting tastes of years to come. perspective. Regents, holding jurisdiction over A design competition was adver- Never in history had so many high schools, academies, colleges, tised, and 63 architects responded. columns been placed in a single row. and universities. For a long time The Board of Award singled out the Some rivals and critics protested its educational leaders, including Dr. 10 proposals it liked best, and invited length as being monotonous Draper, had preached an end to this the authors of these to submit fresh and as violating the sacred tenets schism. The Unification Act of 1904 drawings for a final contest. of architecture. at last merged the two agencies into The choice then fell upon a design For another thing, the entab- the State Education Department, with of Greek classical flavor from a New lature upheld by the columns was the Board of Regents as its govern- York firm, Palmer & Hornbostel.