Two Free Public Bath buildings designed by York & Sawyer c. 1904 in New York City, one at 327 West 41st Street and the other at 243 East 109th Street. Click HERE to read a 1904 NYTimes article on the opening of the West 41st Street building and the technology employed and HERE for a comprehensive history of NYC's public bath buildings. Both of these York & Sawyer designed bathhouses have since been demolished. 
Photos from The Brickbuilder, 1904.
With some minor tweaks these facades could easily have served as banks, train stations or libraries in any city. Built back in the day as a public amenity to serve the numbers of people who didnt have access to such facilities in their own tenements. Too bad we dont put as much nobility and refinement in todays public buildings of any type.
ReplyDeleteAnd even more to the point, too bad we no longer put such nobility and refinement in out attitude toward the public good
ReplyDeleteMoreover, and still more to the point, the trillions raised annually through federal, state and local taxes are spent on a definition of "the public good" that is simply different from what it once was.
ReplyDeleteIs there really more "nobility and refinement" in a pretty building than in the tsunami of income supports that washes over the country every year? (And if you think so, aren't you "on the wrong side"?)
Cheers, etc,
There is a York & Sawyer bathhouse still standing, at 135 Allen. It is now occupied by a church.
ReplyDelete