Boak and Raad | Bronze Plaque for Commercial | Extant | Kew Gardens Hills | Retail or Shopping Center | Today this shopping center looks quaint and a little ragged, but when it opened, shopping strips like this were considered novel by orienting the entire site toward parking. The building is L-shaped with the anchor supermarket in the central corner. Portions of the flat canopy over the pedestrian sidewalk still remain and the painted brick facade is still visible. Originally a wooden post and rail fence surrounded the parking lot.
Baylinson, S. Brian | Bronze Plaque for Public Buildings | Extant | Kew Gardens Hills | Religious Building | 1949 | This temple is described as modified Georgian Colonial, mostly relating to the use of brick, wood-framed white windows and doors, and symmetrical facade orientation. The design was employed to fit into the the neighborhood, but with the evolution of the community, the Center now seems like one of the oldest structures in the area. There is a low rise youth center to the north with classical elements and originally there was space to the south for expansion, that is now filled with a bank.
Carlson, Harold O. | Bronze Plaque for Banks | Extant | Kew Gardens Hills | Bank | 1954 | The Kew Gardens Hills branch of the Queens County Savings Bank is a high-style interpretation of Philadelphia’s Independence Hall. Like that building, this one is a two-story brick structure with a central six-segment central tower. The details are also similar to Independence Hall, with the tower incorporating four clock faces, a cupola, spire, and weathervane. The main building has wings of two bays wide instead of three like Independence Hall. the interior is decorated with several significant illustrations of American history, most notably a replica of the Liberty Bell inside the lobby. The double-height banking hall has decorative wood paneling, moldings, a decorative cornice, and large reproductions of paintings including Washington Crossing the Delaware and the Signers of the Declaration of Independence behind the teller counter.
