Audubon Ballroom

Coordinates: 40°50′21″N 73°56′26″W / 40.83917°N 73.94056°W / 40.83917; -73.94056
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

40°50′21″N 73°56′26″W / 40.83917°N 73.94056°W / 40.83917; -73.94056

Columbia University Medical Center
's Mary Woodard Lasker Biomedical Research Building, the location of the Audubon Business and Technology Center.

The Audubon Theatre and Ballroom, generally referred to as the Audubon Ballroom, was a theatre and ballroom located at 3940

West 165th Street in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It was built in 1912 and was designed by Thomas W. Lamb. The theatre was known at various times as the William Fox Audubon Theatre, the Beverly Hills Theater, and the San Juan Theater. The ballroom is noted for being the site of the assassination of Malcolm X on February 21, 1965. It is currently the Audubon Business and Technology Center, which is part of Columbia University's Audubon Research Park.[1]

History

The Audubon Ballroom was built in 1912 by

political activists often met.[2][4]

In the 1930s, Congregation Emes Wozedek, a synagogue whose members were predominantly immigrants from

religious services.[5] At around the same time, several trade unions, including the Municipal Transit Workers, the IRT Brotherhood Union, and the Transport Workers' Union, utilized the meeting rooms.[2] In 1950, the congregants purchased the building,[4] and they continued to hold services there until 1983.[6]

Shabazz Center

Among the many events held at the Ballroom was the annual New York Mardi Gras Festival.[2]

After Malcolm X left the Nation of Islam in 1964, he founded the Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU), whose weekly meetings were held at the Audubon Ballroom. It was at one of those meetings, on February 21, 1965, that Malcolm X was assassinated as he was giving a speech.[2]

Because of non-payment of property taxes, New York City took possession of the theatre in 1967. Nevertheless, in the 1960s and 1970s, the Ballroom operated as the San Juan Theater, showing films which catered to the increasingly Hispanic neighborhood. It closed in 1980, and the building remained vacant and the exterior deteriorated.[2]

Adaptive reuse

See also:
Shabazz Center

In 1989, Columbia University, with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey as a partner,[2] reached an agreement with the city,[2] and in 1992 it began the process of demolishing the Audubon Ballroom to replace it with a medical research facility.[2] Although many city officials, including Mayor David Dinkins, were strongly in favor of the project because of the jobs and economic impetus it would bring to the area, which had suffered greatly in the economic downturn of the 1970s,[2] community activists and Columbia University students – who occupied Hamilton Hall on campus – protested the planned demolition, and historic preservation groups unsuccessfully sued to prevent it.[7] They were also unable to persuade the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission to hold a hearing on giving the building landmark status.[2]

Eventually a compromise was reached, at least in part due to pressure brought by

Columbia University Medical Center and the New York state and city governments. In return, two-thirds of the Audubon Ballroom's original facade – the part along Broadway and West 165th Street – would be preserved and restored. In addition, a portion of the interior ballroom where Malcolm X was killed was restored and protected,[2][9]
to be made into a museum honoring him.

Neptune
on a ship above the entrance

In 2005, the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center opened in the lobby to commemorate the contributions Malcolm X made to the civil rights movement.[10]

Architecture

Architect Thomas Lamb, who later would design the nearby eclectic

Neptune on a ship.[2]

Alterations to the building in 1996 were made by the architecture firm of Davis Brody Bond, who also designed Columbia University's new building, while the restoration of the facade was handled by preservation specialist Jan Hird Pokorny.[12]

Further reading

  • Buder, Leonard (May 3, 1990). "A Proposal to Raze Audubon Ballroom Causes Controversy". The New York Times. Retrieved April 14, 2008.
  • Muschamp, Herbert (August 23, 1992). "Once and Future Audubon". The New York Times. Retrieved April 14, 2008.
  • Rozhon, Tracie (June 11, 1995). "Research Park Rising on Site of Audubon Ballroom". The New York Times. Retrieved April 14, 2008.
  • Kugel, Seth (January 2, 2005). "Where Tragedy Struck, a Memorial Will Rise". The New York Times. Retrieved April 14, 2008.
  • Kilgannon, Corey (February 21, 2005). "Remembering Malcolm X in the Place Where He Fell". The New York Times. Retrieved April 21, 2018.

References

  1. ^ Sussell, Abbey (May 2, 2017). "Lessons from Audubon Ballroom | Columbia Public Health". www.publichealth.columbia.edu. Retrieved August 26, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Audubon Ballroom" on the New York Preservation Archive Project website
  3. ^ West, Ashley (April 6, 2017). "Radley Metzger's Beginnings: The Audubon Ballroom". The Rialto Report. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  4. ^ a b c "Discovering Northern Manhattan: Guide to Washington Heights and Inwood" Archived November 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, Chamber of Commerce of Washington Heights and Inwood
  5. ISBN 0-8143-2385-5
    . pp. 109–110
  6. ^ Renner, James, "History of WaHI: Audubon Ballroom" Archived May 28, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, Washington Heights & Inwood Online (May 2003)
  7. ^ Buder, Leonard (May 3, 1990). "A Proposal to Raze Audubon Ballroom Causes Controversy". The New York Times. Retrieved April 14, 2008.
  8. ^ "Fact Sheet" Archived February 11, 2012, at the Wayback Machine on the Audubon Center website
  9. ^ Perry, David C. and Wievel, Wim. The University as Urban Developer: Case Studies and Analysis Lincoln Institute, 2005 pp. 54 ff.
  10. ^ "Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center Launches". Columbia University. May 17, 2005. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
  11. ^ .Dunlap, David W. (April 13, 2001), "Xanadus Rise to a Higher Calling", The New York Times
  12. ^
    ISBN 978-0-19538-386-7
    .

External links

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