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Joyce Kilmer Park, bounded by the Grand Concourse and Walton Avenue on the east and west, and 164th and 161st Streets on the north and south, was called Concourse Plaza from 1902 until the Board of Aldermen renamed it for Kilmer in 1926, two years after it was acquired by Parks. It was completely redesigned in 1936, at which time its two monuments, the Louis J. Heintz statue and the Lorelei fountain, were placed in their present locations.
The Lorelei fountain celebrates the German poet, Heinrich Heine (1797-1856), author of an ode to Die Lorelei -- a siren from German mythology who lured sailors to their deaths on the Rhine. The fountain was created by German sculptor Ernest Herter for the poet's home city, Dusseldorf. However, political groups opposed to Heine's Jewish origins and political views blocked its installation there. The fountain was finally erected in the Bronx in 1899, thanks to a subscription led by Americans of German ancestry. Funds are now being raised to restore the fountain, the victim of decades of weathering and vandalism, to its former glory.
Tags: Lorelei Fountain Joyce Kilmer Park park Bronx New York City NYC Heintz Park Heine Park Concourse Plaza fountain Heinrich Heine Fountain ny greek mythology mythology New York concourse concourse village grand concourse
Joyce Kilmer Park, bounded by the Grand Concourse and Walton Avenue on the east and west, and 164th and 161st Streets on the north and south, was called Concourse Plaza from 1902 until the Board of Aldermen renamed it for Kilmer in 1926, two years after it was acquired by Parks. It was completely redesigned in 1936, at which time its two monuments, the Louis J. Heintz statue and the Lorelei fountain, were placed in their present locations.
The Lorelei fountain celebrates the German poet, Heinrich Heine (1797-1856), author of an ode to Die Lorelei -- a siren from German mythology who lured sailors to their deaths on the Rhine. The fountain was created by German sculptor Ernest Herter for the poet's home city, Dusseldorf. However, political groups opposed to Heine's Jewish origins and political views blocked its installation there. The fountain was finally erected in the Bronx in 1899, thanks to a subscription led by Americans of German ancestry. Funds are now being raised to restore the fountain, the victim of decades of weathering and vandalism, to its former glory.
Tags: Heinrich Heine Fountain Lorelei Fountain Joyce Kilmer Park park Bronx New York City NYC Heintz Park Heine Park Concourse Plaza fountain Yankee Stadium ballpark stadium Yankees The House that Ruth Built The Stadium baseball mlb AIA150 ny greek mythology mythology New York concourse concourse village grand concourse
Joyce Kilmer Park, bounded by the Grand Concourse and Walton Avenue on the east and west, and 164th and 161st Streets on the north and south, was called Concourse Plaza from 1902 until the Board of Aldermen renamed it for Kilmer in 1926, two years after it was acquired by Parks. It was completely redesigned in 1936, at which time its two monuments, the Louis J. Heintz statue and the Lorelei fountain, were placed in their present locations. The Heintz statue by Pierre Fietu was dedicated in 1909 in honor of the Bronx’s first commissioner of street improvements, who pioneered the construction of the Grand Concourse.
Tags: statue Louis J. Heintz Louis Heintz Heintz Joyce Kilmer Park park Bronx New York City NYC Heintz Park Heine Park Concourse Plaza Pierre Fietu ny New York concourse concourse village grand concourse
Bounded by the Grand Concourse, East 161st Street, Walton Avenue and East 158th Street, the Bronx County Courthouse/Mario Merola Building houses the Surrogate's Court, Supreme Court, County Clerk, Sheriff, Public Administrator, District Attorney, Bronx Borough President, and other civic agencies.
Max Hausel and Joseph H. Freedlander designed this monumental civic edifice, a dominant feature of the Grand Concourse, in a style that combines bold modern massing with no-classic elements. Its massive form is relieved by sleek modern sculpture, both in the round and on friezes which beribbon its walls.
Built in 1933 during the Depression at a cost of $8 million, this public project provided sorely needed jobs for the architects, sculptors and various construction workers responsible for its creation. After the site was chosen in 1928, construction began in 1931 and took three and a half years to complete. In 1934, Mayor LaGuardia received a bronze key during the building's three-day dedication and celebration. The steel-framed building, with its granite and limestone facade, has a total floor area of 555,600 square feet.
After its construction was complete, the Herald Tribune called the courthouse a prime example of the "Twentieth Century American style", a combination of neoclassical and Modern which was popular in Europe in the 1920s and 30s. The monumental structure rises nine stories over a high-rusticated granite base while the upper windows are set in vertical ribbons with copper and nickel Art Deco style spandrels separated by limestone piers. A large flight of stairs leads to a columned entrance portico, in typical courthouse style.
The architects of this historic building were the European trained Joseph Freedlander and Max Hausel, who collaborated on this one venture. Joseph Freedlander (1870-1943) was born in New York and trained at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Ecolé des Beaux Arts in Paris. He designed the neo-Georgian style Museum of the City of New York and the nearby Bronx County House of Detention for Men. Mr. Freedlander was also President of the Fine Arts Federation.
Max Hausel was responsible for the design of at least four courthouses in the Bronx. He was born in Switzerland in 1879, where he trained as an architect. After emigrating to the United States in 1897, Mr. Hausel became associated with Michael Garvin, the Bronx architect who designed the Bronx Borough Courthouse in 1905. After Garvin's death in 1918, Hausel designed the Bronx Municipal Courthouse, the Bronx Magistrate's or Traffic Courthouse and the demolished Bronx Family Courthouse at 118 Grand Concourse. His austere classical style has had a major influence on Bronx civic architecture.
The Bronx County Courthouse is renowned for the quality and quantity of its sculpture. Charles Keck, who also sculpted figures for Columbia University and the facade of the Brooklyn Museum, designed the frieze above the base. The frieze depicts the activities of the working man with such themes as agriculture, commerce, industry, religion, and the arts. Adolph Weinman, who created the Manhattan Municipal Building facade sculpture, including the Civic Fame statue, supervised the creation of two pink marble sculptural groups at the entrances. Other sculptors included George Snowden, Joseph Kiselewski, and Edward Sandford, Jr.
The interior of the building includes arched marble entrances to the lobbies and vaulted elevator lobbies with bronze doors topped by pediments. All of the courtrooms have wood paneling with classical ornament, in a number of different styles and variety of wood types.
Bronx County Courthouse National Register #83001636
Grand Concourse Historic District #87001388
Tags: Bronx New York City Bronx County Courthouse Courthouse NYC Mario Merola Building neoclassical classical Grand Concourse Historic District neoclassicism American Renaissance Neo-Baroque Georgian Revival USCC:NY:Bronx Bronx County county courthouse Bronx, New York ny landmark New York National Register of Historic Places concourse concourse village grand concourse NRHP U.S. National Register of Historic Places