Fellheimer and Wagner | Special Bronze Plaque | Extant | Flushing | School or College | 1961 | This major addition to the Queens College campus received a Special Bronze Plaque in 1961. Containing new theaters, classrooms, workshops, rehearsal spaces, a television studio, and a speech clinic, each component of the complex is a different shape. Two major theater spaces, the Colden Auditorium (originally seating 2,143) and the Queens College Theatre (seating 500) face out onto the street, while the rest of the complex faces inward. The other components are separate music and speech wings and a speech clinic. Unusually, the central component is an outdoor amphitheatre accessed by covered walkways between the classroom wings. All buildings are clad in white brick with some accents in light blue. Original metal lettering is visible throughout. From 2010-2012, the theater spaces and music building were renovated and updated by WASA Studio A, the successor firm to the original architects Fellheimer and Wagner. But other than the exterior of the Colden Auditorium, most visible major changes occurred on the interior of the complex.
Sirof and Sivertsen | Honorable Mention | Extant | Woodside | Industrial Building | 1961 | J. J. Newberry was a prominent “Five and Dime” type store that went out of business in the early 1990s. This location most likely used for storage and distribution to the New York area. The corner of the building has a textured concrete block design, the rest is unrelieved brick.
First National City Bank Bank's Premises Department | Honorable Mention | Extant | Woodside | Bank | 1961 | This branch was designed by the bank’s in-house design team, although it is unclear if the architect was William Shenton, an in-house designer who was credited with the design of First National City’s Maspeth Branch the following year. The building is clad in brick and the front elevation is slightly recessed and clad in ceramic tiles. The exposed side panels of the entrance area have square cut-outs that give at least the primary facade some dynamic qualities.
Saltzman, Elliot | Bronze Plaque for Theatres & Other Places of Amusement | Significantly Altered | Other | 1961 | Van Wyck Lanes lasted from 1961-2008. The building is three stories and originally had pastel colors on the exterior and interior and a engaging diamond-shaped canopy over the entrance. In addition to bowling there was also a restaurant and bar and grill. The building has been substantially altered and is unrecognizable except for its general shape and location. It is now a pharmacy.
