Verizon Office Building wins preservation award.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has presented the Verizon Central Office Building at Barclay and Vesey Streets with a National Preservation Honor Award.

The award was presented during the week-long 2005 National Preservation Conference in Portland, Ore.

The collapse of the Twin Towers on Sept. 11 caused major damage to the facade and interior spaces of the Verizon Central Office Building, located directly across the street. In addition to its significance as a spectacular example of art deco design, the building played an important role in the neighborhood as the base for 2,200 Verizon employees and as a communications hub, linking more than 4.4 million voice and data lines in lower Manhattan. Verizon faced not only the monumental task of restoring communications service, but also the challenge of stabilizing and restoring the historic building.

Both challenges were met and overcome. What started with devastation finished with an exemplary restoration that constituted an important element in the recovery of the city.

Designed by architect Ralph Walker, of McKenzie, Voorhees and Gmelin, the 32-story Barclay-Vesey Building was the second largest building in lower Manhattan at the time of its completion in 1926. The building served as the original headquarters of the New York Telephone Company.

Heralded as an architectural triumph upon its completion, the building has been designated a New York City landmark, with its entire facade, first-floor lobby and entrances protected under the city's preservation statute.

The restoration project was a team effort headed by Verizon corporate real estate group and William E Collins, AIA Architects, LLP. The Syska Henessey Group, Severud Associates Structural Engineers, Merritt Engineering Consultants, Arthur Breuer Consulting Engineers, Tishman Interiors and Evergreen Painting Studios played major roles in the restoration, which included removing hazardous debris, stabilizing the structure, repairing the building's 475,000 exterior face bricks and restoring the historic murals and other decorative features of the interior. The complexity of the restoration process was monumental and required true artisans to repair the magnificent treasures.

"The meticulous restoration of the Verizon/Barclay-Vesey Building and the fact that it was done in such an accurate and timely manner, enabling employees to return to work so quickly, is a testament to this wellrun project," said Richard Moe, president of National Trust for Historic Preservation. "Verizon has truly shown that it is not only a great corporate citizen of New York City, but that it cares about maintaining America's architectural history. The National Trust is pleased to honor this exemplary restoration project--an important element in New York's recovery from 9/11."