{"nrhp_refnum":"06000251","name":"Brooklyn Academy of Music","other_names":["Bam"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"30 Lafayette Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Brooklyn","county":"Brooklyn","state":"NY","lat":40.68662802800003,"lon":-73.97770978699998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2006-05-02","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Performing Arts","Social History"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A single large performing arts building at 30 Lafayette Avenue in Brooklyn, Kings County, New York. It has a cornerstone dated 1906, was built in 1907, and is designed in an Italian Renaissance revival style with brick and terra-cotta walls.","why_significant":"The nomination presents the building as nationally significant for its role as a performing arts center and for its ornate Italian Renaissance design. It hosted major touring artists and companies in the early twentieth century. Since 1967 it has been a nationally and internationally recognized center for dance, theater, opera and avant-garde programming, including the Next Wave Festival begun in 1983.","narrative":"Occupying the full Lafayette Avenue blockfront between Ashland Place and St. Felix Street in Brooklyn, this performing arts building was constructed in 1907, replacing an earlier Academy of Music dating from 1859. It rises about seventy feet over a granite base, with cream-colored brick and polychromatic terra-cotta ornament in an Italian Renaissance manner. Five recessed entrances are framed by terra-cotta bands carrying seventy cherubs playing music, and five tall arched windows define the upper facade. Inside, a vaulted lobby has a marble mosaic floor spelling out BAM, leading to an opera house and a concert hall. The institution thrived in the early twentieth century, declined after World War II, and was acquired by New York City in 1952. Under director Harvey Lichtenstein from 1967 it became a leading center for experimental dance, theater, opera and music, and the Next Wave Festival began in 1983. The building remains in use for performances.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Late 19th & 20th Century Revivals/Italian Renaissance","criteria":[],"status_note":"Still in use as a theater and music facility; the cornice was restored in 2004 and the building is described as retaining a very high degree of integrity.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:53.875816-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/06000251.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06000251/90e95a0786-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06000251/90e95a0786-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Beyond My Ken","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2013_BAM_Peter_Jay_Sharp_Building_from_west.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Beyond My Ken</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2013_BAM_Peter_Jay_Sharp_Building_from_west.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"84002451","name":"Fort Greene Historic District (Boundary Increase)","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/new-york/fort-greene-historic-district-boundary-increase-84002451/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75318327","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q45031924"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/brooklyn/brooklyn-academy-of-music-06000251/"}