Aymar Embury II Gallery of NYC New Deal Projects - Photo #140 - Individual buildings designed by Embury

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mountprospect
Photo: S. Spellen, Brownstoner.com
The former Mount Prospect Laboratory in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, built in 1938, architect: Aymur Embury II[1]. The lab was designed to fit into the neighborhood; it looked like a residence, not an official city structure. It would serve as the city's water testing laboratory until it was replaced by the current building in 1938. That unique Moderne style building was designed by the prominent architect Aymar Embury II for the Department of Water Supply, Gas & Electric of the City of New York. Embury is most famous for his collaboration with Robert Moses during the Great Depression years, creating recreation centers, city pools and other park buildings throughout the city. ... The new Mount Prospect Laboratory stayed in operation, testing water from all across the systems, until the 1960s. It was then transferred over to the Department of Education, which still has the building. Today, it is the only remaining structure in the neighborhood that references the great public works complex that was the Mount Prospect Reservoir.[1]
References:
  1. Prospect Heights Historic District Designation Report, New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission June 23, 2009, pp.21-22: "The former Mount Prospect Laboratory (now DOE) built c.1938 by the Department of Water Supply, Gas & Electric of the City of New York at 349-355 Park Place aka 147-151 Underhill Avenue was designed by prominent architect Aymar Embury II. The former Mount Prospect Laboratory was built during the latter years of the Great Depression when the City was upgrading and expanding its infrastructure with funds provided by the federal Works Progress Administration. ... The present structure replaced a laboratory building that had been constructed in 1897 and continued to serve as the city's chief water testing lab into the 1960s. The building is presently used as the offices of Community School District 13. The limestone-faced building's rectilinear design and restrained detailing, represented in the used of polished green granite spandrels and button moldings at the parapets, are hallmarks of the Moderne style as it was usually applied to non-ceremonial public buildings. The building, which is remarkably intact, is a significant example of Depression-era public architecture."