{"nrhp_refnum":"72000879","name":"Municipal Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Chambers at Centre St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"Manhattan","state":"NY","lat":40.71306776100005,"lon":-74.00346967899998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1972-10-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 25-story steel-frame civic office skyscraper with a multistoried tower, at Chambers and Centre Streets in Manhattan, New York City. It was built in 1912-14 and designed by William M. Kendall of McKim, Mead & White.","why_significant":"It was an early attempt to house many city agencies and departments in one building and one of the first great civic office buildings, setting a precedent followed in other cities. Its design combines Roman and Italian Renaissance sources and bridges Chambers Street with a barrel-vaulted passage. It also anticipated the 20th-century idea of opening a building at ground level and acts as a terminal feature closing the Chambers Street vista.","narrative":"Rising 25 stories above Chambers and Centre Streets in Manhattan, this granite-faced, steel-frame office tower was completed in 1912-14 to house many city agencies under one roof. William M. Kendall of McKim, Mead & White designed it, drawing on Roman and Italian Renaissance models. A monumental screen of Corinthian columns and a triumphal arch motif front the west side, while a barrel-vaulted passage carries Chambers Street straight through the building, with elevator lobbies on either side. South of the lobby, Guastavino tile vaults on columns give pedestrians free passage at ground level, an idea ahead of its time. A central tower rises above, topped by Adolph A. Weinman's twenty-foot copper figure of Civic Fame. The building also closes the vista along Chambers Street, unusual in a city of endless grid streets. It is recognized as one of the first great civic office buildings and a model for other cities. It remains in government use and in excellent condition.","period_of_significance":"1912-14","architect_builder":"William M. Kendall of McKim, Mead & White; sculptor Adolph A. Weinman (statue \"Civic Fame\")","architectural_style":"Roman antique and Italian Renaissance inspiration","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as in excellent condition, unaltered, on its original site, occupied and in government use.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:39.158965-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/72000879.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72000879/54f94fe4db-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72000879/54f94fe4db-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Momos","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Municipal_Building_-_New_York_City.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Momos</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Municipal_Building_-_New_York_City.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75319754","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_Municipal_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1156778"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/manhattan/municipal-building-72000879/"}