2 Columbus Circle - Timeline of The Site

Timeline of The Site

• 1874 – John D. Voorhis, a carriage maker, builds the seven-story Pabst Grand Circle Hotel on this irregular plot. Designed by William H. Cauvet, the hotel was made of brownstone with a mansard roof.
• 1913 – One hundred and twelve stage performers gather at the site and vote to form a union, the Actors' Equity Association.
• 1964 – A&P Heir Huntington Hartford hires Architect Edward Durell Stone to build a museum for him at 2 Columbus Circle. Hartford has one of the world's greatest art collections with a Rembrandt, Claude Monet's, Manet, Turner, Salvador Dalí. Hartford commissions Salvador Dalí to paint a painting called The Discovery of America by Chrisopher Columbus for the opening. The opening attracts many celebrities such as the Duke of Windsor. Hartford poses in the lobby in Black Tie with a Camel. The building at Two Columbus Circle, designed by Edward Durell Stone, opens as the Gallery of Modern Art. It displays the collection of Huntington Hartford, heir to the founder of A&P Supermarkets.
• 1969 – The Gallery of Modern Art closes. Fairleigh Dickinson University receives 2 Columbus Circle as a gift from Hartford and operates it as the New York Cultural Center. Art exhibitions are sometimes hosted there.
• 1975 – Gulf and Western Industries purchases 2 Columbus Circle, Sumner Redsone The building is unused until 1980.
• 1980 – Gulf and Western presents 2 Columbus Circle to the City of New York as a gift. The City of New York accepts 2 Columbus Circle and installs the headquarters for the Department of Cultural Affairs. The New York Convention and Visitors Bureau will also be housed in 2 Columbus Circle.
• 1996 – Jennifer Raab, Chairman of the Landmarks Preservation Commission, reviews with the Designation Committee of the Commission the possibility of recommending a hearing on 2 Columbus Circle.
• 1998 – The Department of Cultural Affairs and the Convention and Visitors Bureau vacate 2 Columbus Circle.
• 2002 – Under Landmarks Preservation Commission Chairman Sherida Paulsen, the Designation Committee reviews the request to hold a hearing and again votes not to.
• June 2002 – The Museum of Arts & Design (MAD) is designated as the site developer of 2 Columbus Circle by the NYC Economic Development Corporation.
• June 2005 – The NYC Department of Buildings approves the permit for the Museum of Arts & Design to begin removing 2 Columbus Circle's facade.