Kebbon, Eric | Honorable Mention | Extant | Flushing | School or College | 1955 | Junior HS 216 is a standard mid-1950s design–tan brick exterior, metal framed windows, flat roof, and minimal detailing. The one design feature to call out in the panels of dark red polished granite between the windows and around some entrance ways. The designer, Eric Kebbon, was architect of the NYC Board of Education from 1938 to 1952 so this design was most likely one of his last for the school system. All of his designs follow a similar pattern and more than a hundred examples exist across the city. After the early 50s, more public schools came to be designed by more prominent NYC-based and national firms.
Boegel, William J. | Bronze Plaque for Schools and Colleges | Extant | College Point | School or College | 1960 | St. Agnes is one of William Boegel’s more contemporary designs featuring a facade of buff brick and pale green enamel panels. Boegel tended toward historicist elements on his churches and schools, employing Tudor or Gothic Revival design. Here, the school is modern and square and the main decoration is a striking, curved entranceway of red polished granite topped by a large limestone cross that sits at the roofline. The complex includes amenities typical to a school of this era including an auditorium (entered from a separate wing), gymnasium, and state of the art classrooms. The older convent sits to the south of the school and according to the awards program, passage was provided internally for the nuns to go from convent directly into the school.
Beatty and Berlenbach | Bronze Plaque for Schools and Colleges | Extant | Elmhurst | School or College | 1964 | Cathedral Prep expanded into Queens from Brooklyn, previously located in a Gothic Revival building complete with gargoyles in Clinton Hill. The L-shaped school was meant to accommodate the growing population of students for the seminary and along with the later Cathedral College of 1968 in Douglaston, represented the Brooklyn Diocese’s continued efforts to rapidly expand its facilities. However unlike the later Cathedral College, Cathedra Prep is a much more traditional take in terms of its design aesthetics. By this time, the firm of Beatty & Berlenbach was dwindling down, having had their heyday earlier in the century. The materials here are red brick, limestone, and granite and the details are restrained with only window surrounds and some limestone and granite framing. Overall a much more traditional look that speaks more to the 1950s than 60s.
Ketchum Gina and Sharp | Bronze Plaque for Schools and Colleges | Extant | Flushing | School or College | 1962 | An open plan facility, the Queens College Dining Hall features multiple dining spaces around a central kitchen. The building is one story with floor to ceiling windows throughout within aluminum frames. The entire exterior is enlivened by brickface in a variety of colors including red, brown, yellow, and grey. There is also an outdoor dining area. It is unclear how much the interior treatments remain, but it is expected they have been updated over time.
Boegel, William J. | Honorable Mention | Extant | Long Island City | Religious BuildingSchool or College | 1954 | Our Lady of Mount Carmel RC Church dates from 1873 and had an elaborate French Gothic facade added in 1915 to designs of Thomas Henry Poole. The large school and convent next door however are comparitively fairly restrained. Both buildings are clad in yellow brick and have minimal detailing. Architect William Boegel tended to keep his designs somewhat spartan or traditional. The main decoration on the school (now covered by contemporary signage) is a large cross over the entrance, rising two stories in limestone.
