(Mr. Frank Prial, Jr. conducting tour of Grand Central Terminal / Dan Dougherty)

Architecture Club Takes Grand Central Terminal By Storm

On December 9, the Architecture Club took a guided tour of Grand Central Terminal, which provided them illuminating access into a history that many pass through daily, but very few truly get to experience. The club was formed a few years ago, at the behest of several students, including Braham Berg ’13, now a sophomore at the Tulane School of Architecture, who were inspired by the construction of Xavier’s new 15th Street building and wanted to create a group at Xavier through which they could learn more about the architectural field. Since the club formed, the group has routinely visited sites of aesthetic and historical importance throughout New York City and engaged in discussions with alumni who are leaders in the field of architecture.

The opportunity to tour Grand Central Terminal originally came through the assistance of Margaret Kittinger, an architect for Beyer Blinder Belle (BBB) and the master planner for the 15th Street project, which will be completed in fall 2015 and provide approximately 35,000 square feet of space for academic and extracurricular use. BBB has directed a continued historical renovation of Grand Central Terminal since the 1980s, and Ms. Kittinger put the Architecture Club in contact with Frank J. Prial, Jr., a partner at BBB who has also worked on the Xavier project, and who graciously offered the club a tour of Grand Central Terminal.

Shortly after school on the 9th, the club met Mr. Prial below the famous clock in the Grand Central Concourse that serves as a meeting point for thousands of commuters daily. Mr. Prial brought along Frank Oliva, the Fire Chief of the Metro-North Railroad, and together, they explored the great architectural history of the Terminal. As BBB is a firm that specializes in historical restoration, as a way to bring greater clarity to the past and uncover the nuances of a building as it has changed over time to face a changing world, Mr. Prial and Mr. Oliva were able to explore the connections of the architectural evolution of Grand Central Terminal with the growth of New York City and America.

There were many highlights to the field trip. The club examined many past and present features of the Terminal. One particularly notable highlight was the decision in the renovation process to keep a hole originally made in the ceiling of the Grand Concourse in the 1950s to galvanize support for America’s space programs in the heat of the Cold War. This decision reflected a desire to restore not just the architecture of the building as it was when it first erected, but rather as it has been, as a living entity that has changed and transformed long after it first entered public use. Club members were also elated to enter the “secret” fourth floor tennis courts, the rooms that served as conduits for illegal alcohol consumption during Prohibition, and the ways in which the original terminal divided commuters by class, as made clear by the fact that the terminal has two distinct layers, one lined with marble to the suit the needs of the upper class, while the less aesthetic terrazzo was intended for the average commuter. As such, the Architecture Club’s trip was much more than just an examination of the architectural features of Grand Central Terminal; rather, it was an examination of New York City history, in that it looked at how a prominent landmark laid claim to various social and political issues throughout the 20th century, and it reverberated how a major institution can evolve over time to meet the advances of industry and technology.

Among the attendees were: Michael Iaccobucci ’18, Michael Popovech ’16, Pasquale Tagliaferro ’17, Frank DiAngelis ’18, Conor Gillespie ’18, and Chris Gentilella ’17, with several more students unable to come. Mr. Daniel Dougherty, Xavier’s Vice President, served as moderator and coordinated the event. In the future, the Xavier Architecture Club hopes to visit several New York City landmarks, including the Empire State Building and the High Line, which have both been renovated recently. They also plan to have several speakers come to Xavier to discuss facets of the architectural world.

Stay tuned for further information!