Built for the Food Clerk’s Union, this building is a standard corporate style office building, a flat two-story structure of white concrete and black aluminum windows, fronted by a minimally landscaped entrance courtyard and parking lot.
Joseph Mathieu, this church’s architect, designed another chapel at this same time which won a Queens Chamber Award. Both buildings have stone facade veneer elements that gives texture to the overall design. On the church itself, a stained glass window tops the entrance doors within a recessed frame of polished red granite. The facade has elements of art deco design with streamlined angel carvings and the facade is topped by an image of the church’s patron saint framed with golden rays. The roof is peaked and clad in slate. The neighboring school also incorporates deco elements including a vertical recessed metal window element above the entrance and black bricks patterns in contrast to the lighter colored primary stone. The complex contains numerous other buildings including the rectory, social hall, and separate chapel.
A large auto showroom and repair garage, Village Chevrolet has since been replaced by a contemporary school building. the original structure was a typical auto facility of steel and brick construction with large window expanses along the street and a circular showroom. While primarily horizontal, there was a vertical chimney with the Chevrolet name on it to attract passerby. The company’s name was also present in large neon lettering across the parapet. This facility seems to have been one of a number in the area, with a vintage Ford sign still visible across the street and a motorcycle repair shop immediately next door.
The rehabilitation of this bank structure was done to address “serious deficiencies in design” according to the Queens Chamber program. The original bank was built in 1960 before zoning in the area changed so the bank management was limited in what changes they could make and were unable to extent the building substantially. Instead the space was opened up and stone walls and large glass windows with bronzed aluminum trim were used to frame the exterior.
Sadly this building, a little Miesian box in Queens Village, is no more. It is unclear when it was vanished but today the building is covered in huge awnings and houses a fruit and vegetable seller, although the framework of the building may exist under all that.