Strecker Memorial Laboratory
East side in 1970
Strecker Memorial Laboratory is located in New York City
Strecker Memorial Laboratory
LocationRoosevelt Island, New York, New York
Coordinates40°45′8″N 73°57′29″W / 40.75222°N 73.95806°W / 40.75222; -73.95806
Arealess than one acre
Built1892
ArchitectWithers & Dickson
NRHP reference No.72000886[1]
NYSRHP No.06101.000497
NYCL No.0909
Significant dates
Added to NRHPMarch 16, 1972
Designated NYSRHPJune 23, 1980
Designated NYCLMarch 23, 1976[2]

Strecker Memorial Laboratory is a historic building located in Southpoint Park on Roosevelt Island in New York City.

South side, after renovations in 2010

Built in 1892 to serve as a laboratory for City Hospital, it was "the first institution in the nation for pathological and bacteriological research". The project was funded by the Strecker family.[3] The building was designed by architects Frederick Clarke Withers and Walter Dickson in the Romanesque Revival style with large arched windows to provide plenty of natural lighting and ventilation. On the first floor were an autopsy room and an office, while the floor above housed laboratories where specimens were examined. The cellar was used as a mortuary and for storage. Administrative support was provided by the nearby City Hospital. An additional storey was later built, providing room for the examination of histological samples, a scientific library and a pathology museum.[4][3][5]

In 1907, the Russell Sage Institute of Pathology took over the running of the lab.[3] In time, this became associated with the Rockefeller University, and work continued at the laboratory until it closed in the 1950s, after which it fell into disrepair.[3]

In 1972, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places,[6] and in 1976 it was designated a New York City landmark.[2]

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority purchased the building in the late 1990s to house a power conversion substation[7] for the subway trains that run through the 53rd Street Tunnel underneath Roosevelt Island. The MTA restored the building's exterior, and the substation has been active since 2000.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. ^ a b "Strecker Laboratory" (PDF). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Retrieved 8 January 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d Neil Tandon. "Strecker Memorial Laboratory". Roosevelt Island Historical Society. New York Correction History Society. Retrieved 2009-12-04.
  4. ^ Berdy, Judith (2003). Roosevelt Island. Arcadia Publishing. p. 43. ISBN 978-0-7385-1238-9.
  5. ^ a b Judith Berdy (2005-05-23). "Preserving Social History on Roosevelt Island". Gotham Gazette. Archived from the original on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 2009-12-04.
  6. ^ "New York - New York County". National Register of Historic Places. United States National Park Service. Retrieved 2009-12-04.
  7. ^ Lovejoy, Bess (1 June 2015). "Islands of The Undesirables: Roosevelt Island". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
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