Vestibule
The Eli Apartments
227 Church Street
Or it would be, if one could gain entrance. But the doorways of Oz are often locked, and there is not always a working bell. My opportunity for access had some resemblance to the Cowardly Lion slipping inside the witch’s castle before the gate clanged shut, though without the costume and spear. I mention this only because objects of splendor such as this lobby are not always restored when the building which contains them is given over to other uses, as has happened in this case.
But the developers of the former SNET building, originally constructed in 1937 to a design by architects R.W. Foote and Douglas Orr, have been considerate and thorough in their preservation of what were once the spaces most open to the traffic of the city around them. All the burnished details recall the glory of local public utilities, before deregulation and mergers displaced them to banal corporate malls in the suburbs. But salvation has come at a price. Now a container for luxury apartments, the building has become a private confine, as if one of those outlying gated communities had been transported downtown to keep fear at bay.
One can always peer through the glass doors, which are at least still transparent. Or perhaps present oneself, lavishly dressed, as an interested buyer, and demand to see every surviving art deco flourish close up.
Previous installments:
Object Lesson #10
Object Lesson #9
Object Lesson #8
Object Lesson #7
Object Lessons #5 & #6
Object Lesson #4
Object Lesson #3
Object Lesson#2
Object Lesson #1